home in time for Christmas

Nissy stood on his hind legs and reached for the door knob before him. He grabbed hold of it with both front paws.  The handle repeatedly slipped from under his grip but with unfettered determination, he managed to turn it just enough to do the trick.  Using all his weight, he pushed on the glass door.  It opened slightly and he quietly slipped inside the living room.

Nerissa studied his modified compass carefully.  Just as he thought, there was a radioactive anomaly in the room.  A reindeer had been here.

Of course, Nissy had expected a visit from the North Pole.  Santa was known for outsourcing certain nip mice work and once again, he had asked Peep #1 to help him out.  The peep had been busy knitting and sewing up nip toys all month long but he was pretty sure she had finished her elfin' work over the weekend.  Nissy knew from past experience that once the nip toys were made, Santa would send elves to Nova Scotia to pick them up so that they could be wrapped and delivered, by him, early Christmas morning.

Having satisfied his curiosity, Nerissa started to leave the living room but stopped short, realising something was out of place.  Turning around slowly, he noticed an unfamiliar gift under the tree.  All of a sudden, the top of the gift box moved and before he knew it, there was a little kitten staring out at him from inside the box.  "MOUSES!  Who are you?" asked Nerissa, "and what are you doin' in my living room?"

The kitten meowed and then answered, "Angel.  My name is Angel.  I live at the North Pole with Santa Claus."

Nissy checked his modified compass.  The dial was spinning in circles as he approached the little kitten.  Sure enough, Angel was from the North Pole.  She was covered in radioactive reindeer dust.

Angel immediately explained the situation at paw to Nissy.  "So you see, Santa asked me to ride along with these two new apprentice elves because they keep making mistakes with the pick-ups.  They've been messing up all of Santa's out-sourced orders.  Once I saw what they had done at your house, I knew I had to stay behind and let you know what had happened.  I knew you'd want to fix this debacle right away."

"They took all the peep's prezzies from us cats?  MOUSES!  I sure am glad you stayed behind to let me know. We'll have to head on up to the North Pole right away.  I know just what to do, Angel."

"SIVVERS!  PREPARE THE TELEPORTATION DEVICE," Nissy cried and moments later, his brother Seville appeared dragging a frying pan, a couple egg beaters and various other teleportation paraphernalia.  The three cats climbed into the frying pan.  Nissy and Seville each started revving up an egg beater.  "Hang on tight, Angel!  This isn't reindeer travel."

"Nerissa," began Angel, "I would be extremely grateful if you could drop me off on the pick-up sleigh on your way to the North Pole.  I really should check in on those two elves and make sure they don't make any more mistakes with today's pick-ups."

"No probs," interjected Seville.  "Nissy, you track that sleigh with your compass and give me directions.  I'll steer the teleportation device."

Nerissa tracked the sleigh's flight path, finding it somewhere over Newfoundland and Labrador.  Much to Nerissa's surprise, he and Seville were able to do a quick fly-by and safely transfer Angel to the sleigh, mid-air...  a delicate but successful manoeuvre.  Clearly, Seville's steering was improving. The boys then headed straight north-west and moments later, landed in a snowy winter wonderland.

It wasn't long before Nerissa and Seville met up with a snowman chatting to a family of polar bears. "You're from down south?" asked the snowman.  "How nice to meet you.  The workshop is about a mile that way, on the other side of that forest.  I doubt you'll be able to get in though.  The elves don't take well to strangers."

Nissy thanked the snowman for his directions and the two cats began their journey through the snowy forest. Should have brought snacks, thought Nissy to himself.  Bet those bears had snacks.  Should have asked 'em for a couple.

Before long, the two cats found themselves on the far side of the forest. Santa's Workshop was within sight but Nissy was so tired from trudging through the snow, he didn't know if he could go much further.  Snow was falling and with every passing moment, their path became deeper and deeper. The pads of his paws were so cold and all he could think of was how much he wanted a mug of hot nip cider.  "Should have brought some nip cider," he muttered to himself.  "That and some snacks."

"HALT!"  A precocious little elf stood in the path the two cats.  "Who are you and what is your business here?"

Nissy began to explain how the elves had mistaken his peep's prezzies for nip toys needing to be picked up before the night's deliveries but the elf interrupted.  "Not possible.  All elves are highly trained.  Such a thing could never happen."

"But Angel said..."

The elf cut Nissy off in mid-sentence.  "That cat?  Never you mind what that cat says.  She probably made the whole thing up.  Imagine Santa asking a kitten to keep an eye on elves.  Never heard such nonsense.  You just turn around right now and head back on down south."

Nissy was mortified.  They had travelled all this way only to be turned back by an elf?  And how would he and his fur family face the peep in the morning when she found not a single present for herself under the tree?

"Hey Nissy!" cried Seville.  "Look who I found...  it's Rudolf!  Rudy says he'll get us into the workshop.  He's a little miffed that Santa didn't take him on his practise run this afternoon.  Left him behind with all these elves, some of whom," and Seville looked pointedly at the elf who had refused the boys workshop access, "aren't overly friendly."

"That's great!" cried Nissy and he once again explained, but this time to Rudolf, what had happened earlier in the day.

"Oh yeah...  those two apprentice elves have been getting things wrong all season," agreed Rudolf.  "Don't know why Santa continues to allow them to do pick-ups.  But you're in luck," continued the reindeer.  "I know exactly where this morning's pick-ups were dumped...  I mean, carefully laid...  in the workshop.  I'll help you find your peep's presents.  It'll just take a minute or two.  You two stay right here and I'll be back in  the wink of an eye."

Nissy blinked.  Then he winked.  Then he winked again.  He looked around. No sign of Rudolf.  No sign of Seville, either.  Moments later, several gift boxes appeared before him along with a snowman whom Nissy had never met before.

"Rudolf wants to know if these are your peep's gifts," explained the snowman.

Nissy peered at the boxes.  Gingerly, he opened one and then another and finally, a third.  "These aren't the right gifts," he told the snowman.  These are not the prezzies we cats got for the peep.  Besides, we wrapped her prezzies in gold foil so that they'd sparkle under the tree."

Sleigh bells could be heard overheard and Nissy looked into the sky.  There was Santa, flying about without a care in the world.  "MOUSES!" Nissy muttered.  "He should be down here helpin' me sort out this mess caused by those apprentice elves of his."

As if by magic, Nerissa suddenly found himself inside Santa's workshop.  He spotted Rudolf and asked why he was suddenly being allowed access.

"I thought it might be easier for you to find the correct gifts, yourself."

Nissy padded around the workshop and before long, he found Peep #1's presents, still wrapped in foil just as he had wrapped them.  "Thank goodness!" he cried.  "Rudolf, you're the best."

Nissy caught a glimpse of his brother and spun around.  "Seville?  SEVILLE?  Get out of that snow globe this instant," he demanded.

"But I don't even know how I got in it!" his brother wailed.

"Just a little Christmas magic," whispered Rudolf, eyes sparkling with mischief.  "Come on you two. I need to get you both home and settled in for Christmas Eve with your family.  Hop on my back and I'll fly you over the forest to pick up your teleportation device."

"That would be wonderful," sighed Nissy with relief.  "The thought of trudging through that forest again was...  was...  well, it was unthinkable.  But how did you know...?

Nerissa and Seville found themselves in the snow on the far side of the forest, their teleportation device lying before them.

"MOUSES!" cried Nissy.  "That Christmas magic sure is strong stuff. Rudolf flew us over here and we didn't even... "  He stopped and peered at his brother.  "That a carrot in your fur?"

"Ummm.... yeah...  I think it belonged to that snowman in the snow globe.  I think it might have been his nose.  But speaking of noses...  I mean, carrots... we should leave some out on the mantle tonight.  You know, next to the cookies and milk for Santa."

"Good idea, Seville.  But first...  SIVVERS!  PREPARE THE TELEPORATION DEVICE.  Let's head on home.  It's that-a-way," and Nerissa pointed south.  "Home, Sivvers.  Take us home.  Take us home in time for Christmas."