“No, you’re on the Naughty List!”
Red, gold and dark green sparks of magick flew through the air as the bunny slippers faced off.
“Santa wrote Fluff on the naughty list,” Puff insisted, glaring at his brother slipper.
“The name there is Puff,” Fluff countered, shooting another a red spear of power at him. The slipper deftly avoided the weapon.
“Hey! What in Hades is going on here?” A wide-eyed Jazz stared the disaster zone once known as her bedroom.
Her black and white print comforter hung from the ceiling while red and black throw pillows floated around the room. Perfume bottles drifted around like scented ornaments. She quickly ducked just in time as a shot of magick almost created a new part in her hair.
“Stop it now!” She threw out her hands and froze the slippers in place. Their eyes rolled and tiny growls left their mouths as they glared at her. “If you promise to behave and clean up this mess I will release you. And then I want to know why you two are acting like this. Blink one for yes, you’ll behave.” After the receiving the signal. She reversed her spell. “Now, why are you fighting?”
“Fluff is on the Naughty List and he claims it’s me,” Puff shouted, bouncing up and down.
“It’s Puff who’s on the Naughty List!”
“So why the battle?”
Fluff tipped his ear toward Jazz and a long scroll unrolled in front of her.
Her lips parted in shock. “You stole Santa’s Naughty List? It’s Christmas Eve! Santa needs this list tonight.”
“And he’s on it.” They pointed at each other.
“But it doesn’t say exactly which one of us is on it,” Puff explained. “Look under the Us.”
Jazz scanned the List and soon saw why the problem. “Uff,” she said.
“For Puff.”
“For Fluff!”
They glared at each other and started revving up some magick until Jazz pointed a warning finger at each.
“You know what? I don’t have time for this. Nick, Krebs, and Letitia and I are going to a party tonight.” She headed for her closet and pulled out a red sparkly dress. “I want this mess cleaned up by the time I get out of the shower. And the two of you make up. Personally, I wouldn’t put either of you on the Nice List. And I’m sure Santa would agree with me.” After pulling lingerie out of drawers she sailed into the bathroom. “And clean up my room!”
“Like she cleans it up,” Puff muttered, zapping the floating pillows while Fluff worked on bringing the comforter back to the bed. The perfume bottles returned to their upright position on the dresser. “As if there’s someone out there named Uff.”
Fluff’s dark eyes lit up and he spun around. “There’s one way to find out for sure,” he said slowly.
Puff stared at his partner in magickal crime and smiled.
“Yeah.”
This time, they linked their ears and willed their power to a new high.
“Santa, come to us. Come to us now. Santa, bring our presents and bring them swift. Prove we’re on the Nice List,” they chanted. “And give it to us now right away!”
“Whoa, something went wrong!” Fluff’s fangs chattered from the ice cold.
“The sound of sleigh bells rang loud in their ears and they ducked as something large swooped over their heads.
“Why have you called me here? This is my busiest night of the year.” The large man dressed in red trimmed with white fur climbed out of his sleigh and loomed over the bunny slippers. He spied the scroll lying nearby. “So that’s where it went.” He snapped his fingers, The scroll instantly appeared between his gloved fingertips and he tucked it away. Then he turned his gaze on the slippers. “Why did you steal my Naughty List?”
“To see which one of us was on it,” the slippers said in unison.
His belly jiggled as he laughed. “Silly bunny slippers. You have your very own list.” He snapped his fingers again and a scroll unrolled until it almost filled the room. “Master Uff only had a few transgressions to rate being on the Naughty List. The two of you surpassed that.” He frowned at them.
“Soooo, no gifts?” Fluff asked, trying unsuccessfully to wrap his ears around his shivering body.
“No sled? ATV? Race car?” Puff added hopefully.
“Only what you deserve.” Santa hopped into his sleigh and took off in a wink of red and gold lights.
A holiday dressed Jazz walked out of the bathroom in a cloud of her favorite perfume. “Now you better have cleaned everythi—“ She stopped short, stared at the chaos that used to be her room and shook her head. She took several deep breaths but the rolling thunder overhead warned everyone her temper was rapidly fraying. She returned to the bathroom and came back out holding two scrub brushes and a bottle of cleaner. “Get to it.” She navigated the room on red high heels and closed the door behind her.
Fluff zapped his cleaning brush at his brother. “You just had to steal the List and get us in even more trouble, didn’t you?”
“Me? It was you!” Both brushes flew at Puff. They bounced off the mountain of coal, sending black dust everywhere that created a nasty black paste thanks to the snow Santa left behind.
PS: It took a lot of Jazz’s magick to get the room back to what it was and as for the slippers, they weren’t off the Naughty List for a Very Long Time.
So whether you’re on the Nice List or Naughty List, have a wonderful holiday
