“WOW”, thought Toksie Turbie as she put away the last of her Christmas presents, “Christmas is very cool thing!”
This had been eight-year-old Toksie’s very first Christmas experience and it happened at the North Pole. Santa himself gave Toksie the first Christmas present she ever received. It was a doll. But, it was a very special doll, because just like Toksie, the doll could change colors. Her hair, teeth, skin, eyes, EVERYTHING about her could change color. And patterns, too. Toksie could have stripes and polka dots and paisleys and, OMGosh, just about anything. And, so could the doll that Santa gave her. It was pretty cool, indeed.
Christmas at the North Pole is a very laid back affair. Everyone is tired after Santa’s big ride. And the circus that Toksie now lived with, well, all those people were tired from performing for the elves all night while Santa delivered presents. So, about 6:00 PM everyone gathers in the Great Hall for dinner and a gift exchange. That’s because they have been sleeping all day.
Most of the elves and the circus people attend church beforehand. But everyone arrives in the Great Hall at six o’clock. They all dress in their best clothes, not tuxes and gowns, but very nicely dressed. Suits and ties for gents and fancy (not fancy-schmancy, just fancy) for the ladies.
The circus people were helping Toksie get a wardrobe that wasn’t all beige. They found her a lovely red pants suit and a green blouse to wear. She had new gold shoes and silver socks, too. Not real gold and silver, just the colors. She sure looked Christmassy. And, that was the idea.
Toksie Gets Some Cool Christmas Presents
Almost everyone was dressed in greens, reds, silvers, and golds. There was some white. A couple of people wore blue. And, lots of other things as well.
And EVERYONE had a present for Toksie. Some people had two or three presents for her. Every elf and every circus performer has something for Toksie. Everyone had gone to very special trouble to be sure Toksie’s first Christmas was memorable.
And it was. She was NEVER going to have to wear beige again, that was for sure. There were sweaters and pants and blouses and dresses and shoes and boots and necklaces and rings and bracelets and lockets and t-shirts and watches and sweatshirts and hoodies and OMGosh! There was so much stuff to open it wasn’t even funny.
And the TOYS! WOWSIE-ZOWIE COOL! Toksie had never seen toys before she got to the North Pole, they were illegal in Crudville. She had never played before. That was illegal, too. Children, as soon as they were old enough to understand, went right to work at something to bring in money. That’s it. Straight to work, no school. Nobody could read anyway. That was illegal in Crudville, too.
Still Toksie liked these toys. She got a yo-yo, a deck of cards, some balls of all different sizes and shapes, a tennis racket (with lessons, too), lots of dolls, some furniture for the dolls, a train set (WAY COOL!), drawing paper and pencils, some paints, video games (with LOTS and LOTS of batteries), a doll house, building blocks, building logs, plastic thingies to build stuff with, and just about every toy that anybody could have ever wanted to have.
And, she got a magical toy chest. “Magical?” you ask, “How?”
Well, that toy chest was just a normal looking sized storage place. Just big enough for an eight-year-old to carry. BUT EVERYTHING fit. YES, E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G!!!! It was not bigger than a suitcase, but it fit all these toys. Honest. Really. It did. AND, it was LIGHT, too. All those toys should have been really heavy, but Toksie had no trouble picking it all up.
She got something Mrs. Claus called a “travelling closet”. It was the size of a HUGE closet. I mean, you never in your life saw a closet this big. Which was a good thing, because Toksie received a LOT of clothes. Of course, everything fit. But she wondered how she would ever get all this back to her room. The closet seemed bigger than the room, too.
But then, Mrs. Claus told Toksie about her secret password. And, she showed Toksie where to whisper the secret password into the closet. Toksie did it and you will NEVER believe what happened. The closet shrunk. Down to almost nothing. Toksie could put the travelling closet in her pocket! All her clothes and shoes and jewelry and hats and caps and OMGosh EVERYTHING fit in her pocket.
So, now Toksie Turbie had a magic travelling closet and a magic toy chest. And then the really cool stuff started to come in. THE MAGIC STUFF.
Elves can do magic, and some of the circus people, they could, too. All of them wanted to make sure that a little girl like Toksie would be safe in the world because she was all on her own. The magic things they gave her were their way of making sure she was looked after, without her knowing it.
She got a hat that would give her three wishes. She got a jar of pills that would never get smaller but made her invisible when she took one. She got THREE magic wands, each had a different trick that would protect her if she was ever in danger. She got so many magical things for this that and the other thing, it is impossible to list it all. Most of them came with instructions, too. Some came with lessons (to be had later).
And, she got another magical storage crate for all her magical stuff. Everything fit. Then she said a magic word and it shrunk to fit in her other pocket.
Toksie couldn’t read. Never learned in Crudville. No school. Reading was illegal, so why have school?
But, a lovely grey elf named Waldorf had a very, very special gift for her. He gave her a book. When she protested that she couldn’t yet read (but really wanted to learn), Santa and Waldorf and all the other elves, told her to just open the book. So, she did as she was told. And Waldorf threw some special magic dust on her and low and behold…Toksie could read. She could read all the words in the magic book. She could read all the books she got for presents, too.
And, yes, she also got a magical library for all her books. It was small, but everything fit. Just like the travelling closet and the magic toy chest and the magical crate.
After all that, Morty and Santa brought out some furniture for her. Just the stuff little girls love. Frills and stuff. A dresser with a mirror for her to dress at, and a bed with a canopy.
But the bed had special instructions. It came with a BOOK to read about how to use it. AND, it had a console in the headboard with a voice-activated computer in it. AND, are you ready for this? Are you sitting down? Can you take it? THE BED COULD FLY!
Yes, the bed could fly anywhere in the world, even beyond. It could go to the moon and the stars and other planets. Or, it could go down into the oceans and seas. It was the coolest bed you ever saw.
Morty explained how it worked. It was kind of like Santa’s sleigh. But where it was different it was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay different. First, you could have as many people on it as you wanted. And, like the travelling closet and the toy chest and the magical library, whatever you put in it, fit. It just did.
Adults could not go on the bed. Well, they could. But something happened to them when they did. They became 12-years-old again. No one older than twelve was ever on the bed. As soon as they put a foot in, the foot became twelve. And, the rest of them followed as they went on the bed.
It was an amazing sight to see.
Toksie had a TERRIFIC first Christmas!
The flying bed was one of the greatest gifts Toksie got that first Christmas. Morty suggested that some of them take a ride on it, (just to try it out, of course), to the South Pole Village. Santa has a twin brother named Zanta. Every New Year’s most of the elves and Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus, take a trip to the South Pole Village to see the South Pole elves and Mr. and Mrs. Zanta Claus.
So, on New Year’s Day, everyone got ready to spend a week or so with the Zanta Clauses and their friends. Some people travelled by sleigh, with Santa and Mrs. Claus. Other people went via the flying bed with Toksie, Morty, Waldorf and a few other people.
Watch this space for the details of Toksie Turbie’s exciting trip to the South Pole.
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