The Christmas Owl

- - - : : - - - : : - - - : : - - - Road to the North Pole - - - : : - - - : : - - - : : - - -

It was a couple of months after Christmas, and a small group of supply elves were sledging their way back to the North Pole. After coming around the last bend, they had to jerk their ponies to an abrupt halt. Their path was blocked by a small avalanche that must've rumbled down the side of Mount Talisman sometime after they'd passed it leaving town. The head elf, Jimson, sighed as he pinched the bridge of his bulbous nose. Edging around the ice rubble would not be a problem. The extra time it was going to take to shift or crush ice boulders, though, that meant a significant delay. He was sure Mrs Claus was going to be rather cross. And it was never a good idea to let that happen. He sighed again and inspected the mountainside after eyeing the road ahead. When he was quite sure that everything that was going to fall had fallen, he stood up on his seat and called out to his crew.

"Alright, guys, let's get a move on... We'll only need to clear this 6-foot swath of rubble right here," he pointed, "And then we'll be able to squeeze by. Mirzam, you hand out tools to the big guys. Digit, you stay with the ponies and keep them calm, maybe back them up a bit, too. Caldo, since you have a way with words, would you please get a message to Mrs Claus? I'm sure she doesn't wanna hear from MY grumpy ol' arse, thanks. Everyone else pairs up, two's and three's. Mirzam, you're in charge of shovelling the smaller stuff, Tenor, you work with the groups." He turned to jump down and stopped. "Wait!" he yelled, holding up his hands, "Where are those two young troublemakers... Prell? Cam? I need one of you on this side of the rubble and the other one over there," he pointed. "You need to keep your eyes on the mountainside, yes? The slide may have loosened rubble in the middle, too. If you see anything moving holler 'Slide!' so that we can get out of the way. You got that?" He eyed them both fiercely, and they both nodded vigorously in return. Jimson jumped down off the sleigh, grabbed his pickax, and the industry began.

Twenty minutes later, a squeaky yet loud voice yelled, "Slide!" and everybody scattered. They all looked up to see one large ice boulder bouncing down the side of Mount Talisman, chipping smaller and smaller as it came. It landed in a soft snowbank with a 'plop' at the edge of the rubble, followed by a small shower of gravel and ice pieces. When it became apparent that nothing else was falling, work continued. Jimson walked over to the modest-sized ice boulder, pickax in hand, bent on smashing it into smaller chunks that could be driven over the side of the road but paused. Leaning down, he brushed snow and ice chips from the boulder's surface and stared. Then he stood and hollered, "Prell!"

"Yes, sir?" squeaked Prell.

"Can you lift this?" At the young elf's fervent nodding, Jimson smiled. "Good. I want you to carry this back to the sleigh and find a place for it with the cargo, eh?" More nodding. "And Prell? Good job back there, son," he said, clapping the young elf on the shoulder before walking away.

Prell leaned down to wrap his arms around the boulder then squeaked and fell back onto his bum. "Geebs!!" he gulped, "Tha--, that boulder's staring at me!" After eyeing it for a moment, he crawled back over to look down at the dark frozen owl inside the boulder, clutching a letter in its petrified claws. "Geebs!" he whispered. Picking up the block of ice with a grunt, he trudged towards the sleigh.

- - - : : - - - : : - - - : : - - - The North Pole - - - : : - - - : : - - - : : - - -

Mrs Claus looked up as Jimson walked in through the kitchen door carrying a by, dripping sack over his shoulder. "Are those my supplies, Jims?" she asked with a raised brow.

"Nope. Still being unloaded," he grumbled. He shook the sack. "This'n's for the old man, Missus," he shrugged, "But you might wanna take a look, too. And we'll need a giant bowl, maybe an ice pick too, and some towels," Jimson announced as he walked out of the kitchen, headed towards the sitting room.