Santa's Secret Potion

December has barely begun and Santa is already behind on schedule! In one of the North Pole's many bakeries jolly Saint Nick is busy at work with his most trusted elves. Each year billions of children count on Santa to bring some holiday cheer under their Christmas tree. In the fear of not making it on time this year, Santa had to resort to brewing his special potion. After all the bad luck the North Pole encountered, keeping up with the toy production took a lot of work. The melting of the Ice caps had put toy production down by 40 percent. Because of global warming, the snowmen weren't around to help this year! They retreated to the top of the coldest mountains to prevent going extinct. Jack Frost led their mission and hence it became warmer on the polar caps.

On top of that, the lack of Christmas cheer this year had affected the magic of the North Pole. Santa hadn't been this stressed out since the Dark Ages. In a desperate attempt to not disappoint the good little girls and boys of the world, he asked Mrs. Claus for the secret cookbook.

At first, Mrs. Claus had difficulty recalling where she hid the book. After all, it's been a couple of centuries since they've last used it. All the elves searched around! In none of the toy factories the book was to be found! That was until they went back to their old house! You see throughout the centuries as technology evolved, so did Santa! The Claus'es were the kind of people that had to keep up with modern times, to keep the Christmas cheer alive. So far they've managed to do an excellent job! Especially with the absence of the snowmen, technology has helped ease the pressure from the elves. Or else their mental health would have come crashing down, a long time ago!

If that happened, Santa knew that the Elf Union would make his Christmas miserable! That's why he came up with the genius idea to look for the cookbook! He remembered a gingerbread and candy cane cookie recipe that could multiply elves by the dozen! If he uses it on the elves, they will all have enough free time without Christmas being at risk! It was a good thing that Gulby the elf working in the dessert kitchen, mentioned to Mrs. Claus that his grandfather told him about the way things used to be made in the old house. Back then we used to make all our candy canes by hand! It was a long time ago! We're always focusing on the future of Christmas and as time passes we forget the past. Throughout the centuries Mrs. Claus and I have moved through so many houses. Each held a special place in our hearts. The last time we used the cookbook it was the dark ages and we lived in a small cottage cabin. It was right next to our old factory! Back then the elves made all the toys by hand. One Christmas an awful and deadly flue broke out among the elves. We lost many of our friends and weren't capable of making all the boys and girls in the world their Christmas dreams come true! Hence the dark ages started and we had almost lost hope that the Christmas Cheer would return to Earth. The Cookbook has been passed on from Holiday deity to deity throughout the centuries for cases like this! All the memories of how I summoned and begged the Easter Bunny to borrow the Cookbook returned to me once we arrived at our old home. We couldn't find the key so one of the elves picked the locket and opened the door for us. " Darling, do you remember this floor mat?". " I looked down on the floor and saw our old mat. " Of course, it's the one you had handmade for us as an anniversary gift.". Misses Claus had knitted a picture of her and me into it. I wonder why we never took it with us to the new house? We entered our old home and the many memories we created in this place magically rushed back to us. I was the first one to step into our old home. Behind me, Mrs. Claus and some of our loyal elves followed. I looked behind me to reach out my hand to my wife. Just like I had many years ago when we first began living together. She grabbed my hand and followed me into the kitchen. The place was falling apart after being abandoned for many years. " My cabinets, I loved these so much! I had an entire organization system for all our supplies.". " I hope you remember where we left the cookbook.". " Of course I did, it shouldn't be too far from here. It's in the safe where I used to hide all our family's secret recipes. Including the casserole recipe that I got from your mother as our wedding gift.". Mrs. Clause walked over to the wooden cabinets. On the wall next to one of the cabinets there was a light switch. She flipped it on but instead of the lights appearing a secret entrance in the kitchen floor was revealed. " Did anyone here bring a light?". " Jekeline the elf took out her flashlight. It was bright enough to light up our path. " Why don't you lead the way Jekeline. You can be our guiding light in the dark. We'll just keep going down the stairs until we reach the safe.". " Of course Mrs. Claus." the loyal elf led us down the stairs. My wife and I were right behind Jekeline as the rest of the elves followed us. " It's funny, I don't remember the stairs being this long.". " Oh darling don't be ridiculous. It's been ages since we've been here. Besides, even back then you didn't like coming down here. You used to spend most of your time in the factory."." That's right, I do remember hating walking down these stairs. But you on the other hand used to love coming down here.". " Whenever I was upset at you, I'd come here and cool off.". " At least it was a good place to hide my naughty and nice list."." Time does go by fast. We've been by each other for ages."." That's true sweetheart, but for me, it seems like it's only been a few moments. With you by my side time has no hold on us!". " Uh boss, I think we've arrived." We all looked in the direction that Jekeline pointed his light at. Right in front of us, a giant metal door blocked the entrance to the safe. The only way to enter was by entering the correct password. If the wrong code was entered into the panel, then a series of boogy traps would be unleashed upon us. " Darling would you be a dear, and enter the password for us.". Mrs Claus frowned for a moment but then she smiled. I'd recognize that smile anywhere! It was the smile she got on her face when she found something she had lost. " I think I remember the password now."." Are you sure love? I don't want anything bad to happen if we accidentally unleash the boogy traps.". " Trust me, love, I know what I'm doing.". I let go of her hand and allowed her to do her thing. She walked to the panel and entered the passcode. My heart was beating faster but once the lights turned green and I heard the buzzing sound of the safe door opening, I was relieved. " Let's go lads, we can't let the Mrs. enter those doors alone. Jekeline used his lights to show us the way ahead. Once we were inside the safe we immediately spotted the big black box of doom. It's a box protected by a magical spell. Only Holiday deities can open it. That's why hiding the cookbook in it, is the best way to keep it safe. The only problem was that the big black box of doom was stacked on the top shelf. Even a snow giant wouldn't be able to reach it. And even if somehow the snow giant managed to get to the top shelf, he wouldn't be able to touch the box. This was clearly a job that Santa had to finish on his own. " How are you going to get up there darling?". " I guess I'll just have to use some Christmas magic. After all that was what our home was built from.". I asked everyone to be quiet for a second. With my eyes closed I reached a meditative trance. I kept focusing on summoning the spirit of Christmas magic to help me out of this situation. Gold dust began to appear in the air. The first ones who noticed it were the elves. They gasped to let out a couple of "Oohs" and " Aahs!". The golden dust took on the shape of a reindeer and flew higher by the second. When it finally reached the top shelf it got close to the box of doom. Santa used the magic of his Christmas spirit to make the reindeer touch the Box of Doom. He hoped that the magical reindeer would be able to knock over the box so he could catch it. But the moment the golden reindeer's nose touched the box, it exploded. The gold dust fell to the ground. " Oh, oh this is bad. I think  I accidentally destroyed Christmas Spirit guys." Santa said.

                                To be continued...