Hi, I'm Twumble and welcome to today’s class. Today I will tell you the story of how Anastasia Belov moved to the Nice list. It was New York and there were two weeks till Christmas. My job was to look after the Naughty children and help them on their way to be nice. I had just received a letter from the North Pole that Anastasia was moving onto the Naughty list. If you have studied the rules for the Naughty list, you know that a child have to be overwhelmingly naughty before they move onto the list. So the first thing we do when a child moves onto the Naughty list is to check it twice to confirm whether the child really is naughty. Then we will observe them and plan a course of action on how to help them get back on the Nice list. So I used the tracking spell and found her skipping school. And this is where our story begins.
Twumble spins his hands and a big magical circle starts moving. It zooms in on New York and a tween girl with black hair and black clothes, dragging a wooden baseball bat after her. She knocks over cups, cans, mannequins and even clothes racks. She bumps into unobservant people so they drop their drinks and phones. She hits on trashcans, signs and Christmas decorations with her bat. In the background Twumble follows her using magic to disappear and appear from place to place. He follows her all the way to an abandoned apartment building. She moves a board and sneaks inside, like she has done so often before. At the moment she is alone but the place shows signs that others also frequent this place. She finds a spot in the yard and with her bat hits stones through the windows of the different apartments, with no care for whom or what she might hit.
“Nice hit” a boy laughs as she misses a stone. Behind him is a small group of children, some of them look older and some younger; one of them barely looks eight. “You weren’t in school today Ana?”
Ana picks up another stone and hits it up to a third floor window “don’t care, Tobs”.
“But won’t you get in trouble with your mom?” another child asks.
“She would have to be home or awake” Ana says as apathetic as she can.
Tobs takes a deep breath before he speaks again “we think you should start taking school a little more serious”.
Ana gives Tobs a weird look. She has never heard him being serious about school. In fact he has skipped school almost as much as she has. “Why should I? Spending six to eight hours a day in school won’t make our lives better. It will only set us on a long grueling path of hard work and being underpaid so some old fat white guy can take even more of our money and freedom. They don’t care about us. Nobody cares about us. We are nothing but easily replaceable spare parts in this capitalistic machinery that is our entire world”.
“Our moms say we aren’t allowed to hang out with you anymore. They say you are a bad influence. And if we continue to hang out with you Santa won’t be giving us any presents” the youngest child says.
“Is it true Tobs? You can’t hang out with me?” Ana asks, slightly teasing. Tobs is her best friend; they have been hanging out for as long as she remembers. There is no way he’ll leave her.
Tobs nervously looks at his feet to avoid eye contact “it’s true Ana. We can’t be friends anymore. I’m going to try to do better at school”.
Ana is shocked. She looks to the others but one by one they all agree that they can’t be friends anymore. “Then leave. I don’t need you. As I said, nobody cares about anyone” she smashes a vase she had saved for Tobs. “Oh and Gremlin. Santa isn’t real” she says to the youngest as they are leaving.
As soon as they all are gone, she violently swings her bat at a pillar, screaming. She hates them, how can they all just leave her like that. She hits the pillar over and over again until her arms hurt. She is exhausted when she returns home that evening. She doesn’t even have time for the five year old running at her as she walks through the door. Usually she picks him up to start playing. She loves her little brother. But today she just wants to go to her room and disappear.
“Anastasia, you're home late. Where’ve you been? I got call from school that you skipped out again. Principal Tansin says you’ll get expelled. And you didn’t pick up Alexei from kindergarten. I had to leave early to pick him up. Now I have to work night to make it up. You’re grounded Anastasia. Now feed your brother and put him to bed” Ms. Belov scolds in a Russian accent.
“So you had to leave your precious job to take care of your children. It’s not like that should be your first priority. No, just dump the responsibility on your oldest child so you can go back to your job again” Ana snaps at her mother.
“ANASTASIA!” Ms. Belov yells. She looks tired like she hasn’t had a single moment to relax for years. “Don’t talk to your mother like that. You’ve become real brat. No more telephone or computer for you. No more television either” she is struggling to find things to punish Ana with.
“Well good luck with enforcing that punishment, mom. You would have to be home. But you haven’t been home ever since you threw dad out. I wish he had taken me with him to Russia” Ana yells and slams her door.
Ms. Belov stops at the door. She wants to talk with her daughter and explain it all. But she has to go. She doesn’t have time to make everything better and be there. She turns around and kisses Alexei on the head and silently cries as she walks out of the apartment. Twumble takes a look around to see what he is working with. Alexei follows him around with a big grin on his face. Young children are often able to see elfs. It’s not a big apartment. Ana has her own room while Ms. Belov and Alexei sleep in the living room. There’s a few homemade Christmas decorations hanging but by the looks of it you wouldn’t believe Christmas is only two weeks away. In the nightstand beside Ms. Belov’s bed he finds a bundle of bills and paychecks for Katarina Belov. She works sixty hours a week trying to earn enough so neither Ana or Alexei will need anything. So far she has managed to build a nice college fund for Ana while she hasn’t started one for Alexei yet. He is impressed by how hard Ms. Belov works for her children. He puts the papers back in the drawer and then he claps his hands. He’s going to fix up this place and get Alexei some food. He swings his hands around and with the sound of small bells the dirt, dust and trash is cleaned away. Dishes, toys and clothes sorts themselves up and gets put away. Garlands with hearts and elfs flies up and hangs on the walls. And fir with small ornaments appears on the cabinets. Lastly colorful Christmas lights sparkling like magic decorates a wall like a Christmas tree for there is no room for the real thing. Alexei claps and laughs with innocent joy while a bowl of rice pudding lands on the table before him. And when he has finished eating Twumble tucks him into bed.
Ana on the other hand hasn’t been out of her room since she got home. Hoping that she didn’t skip out Twumble opens the door; it’s dark inside. The room is a mess; there are clothes and books and trash all over the floor. On her table are cups and plates and a picture of her dad and her holding the baseball bat. The picture reads “Happy Seventh Birthday”. There are a couple of little league baseball trophies placed on a shelf; the first three are pristine but last she got when she was eight is dented and beaten. She’s lying on her bed with music in her ears, sleeping. And above her bed is a dark hole with a monster trying to take her away. This was what he feared. That big evil slimy mouth with teeth as sharp as knives and a tongue the length of an arm and those small red glowing eyes that can see into your soul; Krampus the naughty children eater has found an interest in Ana. His long thin arms are lifting her up in the air to pull her through the portal into his world where he will devour her. Many elfs and naughty children have been lost to him over the centuries, and a lesser experienced elf might have stepped back and given up but not Twumble. With a flip of his hand he turns on the light and throws a glitter ball into Krampus’s eyes. Ana gets dropped and falls to the floor with a big thump. She sits up confused; an elf and a monster are in her room. Twumble gets in between them ready to protect her but Krampus shoves him away with ease and reaches for Ana with his long bony hand. He grabs around her waist and pulls her towards the portal. She screams. Twumble grabs her arms and tries to pull her back but his feet are slipping. She is halfway inside the portal. Twumble is standing sideways on the bed pulling as hard as he can. He carefully lets go with one hand and shoots some magic into the portal. And then for the second time Ana gets dropped on the floor.
“Naughty children will be punished” Krampus says and the portal disappears.
Ana rolls over, stands up, grabs her bat and points it at Twumble. She has no idea what is going on. Her eyes darts around the room trying to figure out what to do.
Twumble stands up “it’s okay calm…” Ana hits him with the bat before can finish the sentence. He falls sideways into the bed. “Ana stop!”
“Who are you? What’s happening? Why do you know my name?” Ana has never been so scared and confused before.
Twumble slowly puts his hands above his head “I’m Twumble. I’m an elf. I’m here to save you from Krampus; the big monster that just tried to take you”.
“An elf? Like… Like Santa and Christmas and Reindeer? But those things don't exist. I must still be dreaming. It’s a nightmare. A lucid nightmare” Ana mumbles and starts pinching herself really hard “why can’t I wake up? Answer me!”
“It’s all real. Just calm down a little and I’ll explain everything” Twumble says in his most calming tone. “I’m an elf sent here by Santa to protect the children of New York. Santa has elfs all over the world to watch over the naughty children and protect them from Krampus. Krampus is a being as old as Santa; he is the Yin to his Yang. Where Santa rewards children for good behavior, Krampus eats those who are bad. And today you moved onto the Naughty list” he explains.
Ana stares at him in disbelief. Santa is real. And she was about to be eaten. She vomits on the floor as the thought sets in. There are so many things to ask about. So much that doesn’t make sense. Questions flood her head. “Then why did he let me go?” she finally asks. She continues to point her bat at him.
“I… I don’t know. I have never heard of Krampus just willingly throwing a child back. Maybe he sensed another naughty child that was easier to capture. Maybe he’ll be back” Twumble says.
“This will be your punishment Anastasia” Krampus’ chilling hollow voice echoes from the living room followed by Alexei screaming.
They quickly run into the living room but Alexei is gone. There are drawings on the freshly cleaned walls and crayons on the floor.
“Where’s Alexei?” Ana asks with growing panic in her voice.
“He must have gotten up to draw on the walls after I put him to bed” Twumble mumbles to himself.
“Has Alexei been taken? Is Krampus going to eat my baby brother? WHY AREN’T YOU DOING ANYTHING? YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT US” Ana yells. She can’t lose him. She loves him.
Twumble pulls out some dust from a pocket and starts swinging it around in the apartment “relax Ana, I’ll get him back. I did save you after all”. A dark portal similar to the one Krampus used opens in front of him and he walks through it. He hates this place but he isn't going to lose another child.
“You didn’t save me. You almost lost me. Krampus just decided that it would be easier to punish me by eating my brother instead” Ana snaps and follows through the portal.
“Why are you following? This is a dangerous place Ana. Look around, those are the bones of elfs and children who have been eaten by Krampus” Twumble starts to get a little agitated himself. This place has a very eerie feeling and a coldness that pierces your bones.
Ana takes a closer look at her surroundings and just as Twumble said, this place is filled with small bones. She tightens her grip on the bat as she follows. “He is my brother and my responsibility. I’m going to save him” she says determinately.
Twumble shakes his head, he wants to send her back but there is no telling how much time he has to save Alexei. “If you really want to help your brother, you should start thinking about how you behave. He looks up to you and learns by imitating your behavior. And I know it’s an unfair burden that you have to be an adult for your brother while you are only a child yourself. But your mother works very hard to give both of you a future where you don’t have to work as much as she does to live. And she might have more time for you when she is home if you helped out instead of creating more problems that she has to stress over” he berates her. It’s rare he actually gets to tell anyone how wrong they are.
“So I should just conform to the system and be a mindless slave for the capitalistic elite or some magical beings will judge my actions and decide whether I should be eaten or get a present” Ana snaps sarcastically. Like some dusty old elf who probably knows nothing about what it’s like being human should tell her how to behave.
Twumble stops because Ana’s snarky attitude is starting to annoy him. “No Ana, I want you to think about your actions. You keep complaining that your mother is never there for you. But she is there every single day. You just have your head so deep in your own butt that you don’t notice. And if she didn’t have to clean up your mess, she might even have time for you. You say you wish your dad had taken you with him. But how often have you seen or talked with your dad since he left? I’m guessing you haven’t heard from him once and you blame your mother for it. But if he really wanted to be in your life he would have contacted you. If he really cared he would have tried. And no, you don’t have to conform to the system and be a mindless slave. You can continue to be a troublemaker for the rest of your life if you want. But there are two types of trouble; good and stupid. Do you think women had gotten the right to vote, get education, get a job, be respected as people if they hadn’t stood up and fought the system? Or what about people of color do you think they would have gotten the same if they hadn’t stood up and fought the system? Do you think people of the LGBTQ community had gotten the right to exist and marry those they love if people hadn’t stood up and fought the system? You can make the world a better place with the right kind of trouble. But what you do now is just mindless destruction that only hurts people and uses resources that could have been spent better elsewhere. Think about what you do, the consequences for your actions and the message you want to send and then you can make some real trouble”.
Ana is hurt. Nobody has ever talked to her like that before. How dare he talk to her like that? She wants to say something but she’s lost for words. She just keeps walking in silence. The worst part is that he is right. Alexei was taken because she didn’t take care of him. And she only had to take care of him because she didn’t pick him up today so their mother had to do it and then had to go back to work.
It’s a long walk through the cave. They are surrounded by silence; only their footsteps are heard softly echoing off the walls. With every step Ana gets more and more anxious. The silence is getting to her and she doesn’t know how far they have walked. “Has anyone told you that you look like Danny DeVito” Ana comments to break the eerie silence.
Twumble can see that she is anxious about the situation and he understands, he too is feeling it. They might fail and if they do it will mean the death of both of them. “Thank you; he is a very good man”. The comment makes Ana giggle and he can see her relax a little more. And then the silence surrounds them again.
And finally after walking for what felt like hours they can hear the screams and cries of children up ahead. Many other than Alexei have been taken by Krampus. And as they get closer to his lair they can see cages everywhere; there are at least a hundred children caged; children of all ages and from all over the world. Krampus walks out of another portal with a new child and puts it in a cage. He is seven meters tall with long dangly arms and legs and a fat belly. He looks both comically and scary at the same time. Ana and Twumble hides just outside the entrance.
“Why did we have to go that long way if we could have just come here directly?” Ana whispers.
“To keep the element of surprise. The best way to save your brother and all these other children is to sneak in and free them all before Krampus sees us. Here take this magic powder, it should unlock the cages. Just sprinkle a little on the locks. It’s how elfs get in everywhere. Stay out of sight, be quiet and if anything happens, you run” Twumble throws a small pouch to Ana and then he sneaks inside.
Ana sneaks in after Twumble and approaches the nearest cage. There’s a small Asian girl inside who starts talking as she sees Ana. She doesn’t understand what the girl is saying and she can see Krampus turning his head trying to hear through the screams and cries. Ana quickly puts a finger to her mouth and then points to Krampus to signal that she should be quiet. The girl seems to understand. Ana takes a pinch of the magic dust and sprinkles it on the lock and it pops open. She opens the cage and points the girl towards the exit. With every child she frees more and more seems to notice what's going on and the screams and cries dies out. The lair becomes silent. The sound of a lock opening echoes loudly.
“Who dares enter my lair?” Krampus calls out. Everything shakes from the power in his voice.
Ana covers behind a cage and holds her breath. After a few seconds she dares to sneak a peek at Krampus to see if she can continue freeing the children. He is gone; there is no trace of him anywhere. She quickly finds the next lock and opens it with a loud clunk.
“There you are” Krampus laughs as his hand grabs Ana and lifts her up in the air “we meet again Ana. You will make a fine treat”.
The long tongue runs over his face as he prepares to eat her. His mouth opens up wide enough to fit her entirely in one bite.
“She’s not for you ham-face” Twumble taunts from the top of a stack of cages. He throws a cookie into Krampus’ mouth and it explodes into a cloud of pepper.
Krampus huffs and puffs as he chokes on the pepper. He drops Ana on the floor. She is winded but gets up as fast as she can to find more cages to unlock. Krampus grabs an empty cage and throws it after Twumble who avoids it by disappearing. He appears again a couple of cages to the left and throws some glitter at Krampus. And every time Krampus gets too close for comfort he disappears, keeping him distracted. Ana no longer takes time to be careful; she opens as many cages as she can. Yet she still hasn’t found her brother. Another cage open and another one. How long Twumble can keep going.
“Ana, help me” Alexei calls for her.
He is sitting in a cage at the other side of the room next to a big chair. Krampus smiles, he might not be able to catch Twumble but now he knows exactly where Ana is going. She opens the last cage on this side before she runs towards Alexei. Krampus reaches for her but she ducks under his long fingers. He reaches for her again but she stops and turns around. It reminds her of baseball; when she was running bases, sometimes she had to turn back to an earlier base in order to stay safe. Krampus reaches for her a third time and she turns on the spot and runs directly at him, in between his legs and out on the other side. She can run straight to Alexei now. Something bumps into her and she falls sideways on the floor. She turns to see what happened. Krampus is holding Twumble in his hand. He must have pushed her out of the way to save her. She stands up, grabs her bat and a stone. Krampus is about to eat Twumble and bam. She hits him right in the face. She picks up another stone and hits into Krampus face. Krampus throws Twumble to the side, he looks annoyed now. He grabs Ana with one hand and with the other he takes the bat and breaks it in two. She hits and bites him as hard as she can but it doesn’t help. This is it, this is her end. She failed her baby brother and he bat is broken. Alexei is crying. She can hear him crying and calling for her. A stone flies by her head. She looks down and all the children are back. They run around hitting, biting and Kicking Krampus. They stab him and throw stones at him. She freed all them and now they are trying to save her. They come from all around the world and don’t understand each other but still they work together to save her. Some children bind Krampus legs together with a rope. Krampus falls flat on the ground and gets knocked out. Alexei runs into her arms giving her a big hug as she gets freed. Twumble has released him.
“I think it’s time we get everybody home” Twumble says and throws some dust into the air.
Several portals open and elfs jump in and out grabbing children to take them home. Twumble shows Ana and Alexei through their own portal.
“Anastasia get up. It’s time for school sweetheart” Ms. Belov says as she opens the door to Ana’s room.
Ana is in her bed. She doesn’t remember what happened after she went through the portal to get back home. It all sort of feels like a weird dream. She sits up. No it wasn’t a dream; her body is still sore after being dropped on the ground several times. It feels even worse now, how did she keep moving last night.
She walks out in the living room and gives her mother a big hug. She’s so happy to see her mother again. “Mom, I’m sorry about last night. I’m going to do better. And I think I want to start playing baseball again” she says as she sits down for breakfast.
Ms. Belov lovingly puts her hand on Ana’s head “you want to play baseball again? You can play baseball if you start behaving better and get better grades” she says. It makes her happy to hear that Ana wants to play baseball. But she has to be tough. Ana has made too many troubles and needs to show responsibility. “Now I have to go to work again. And Ana dear, thanks for cleaning the apartment. But you are still grounded and go to school” Ms. Belov leaves with Alexei leaving Ana alone.
The magical circle stops spinning and Twumble steps forward. “Ana here is a great example of why we don’t give up on children just because they have moved onto the naughty list. When she was given the opportunity she stepped up and did the right thing. She saved one hundred and three children that night. And her behavior has improved both at home and at school. Thanks for coming to the class today”.
The light turns on in the auditorium and three-hundred young elfs starts packing their things and leave. Twumble turns around and walks through a portal right into Ana’s living room. It is Christmas Eve. Ana is doing the dishes as Ms. Belov is sleeping with Alexei on the couch. It has been one of the best Christmases in a long time.
“Merry Christmas Ana” Twumble greets.
Ana carefully drops the plate she was washing back in the sink “why are you here?” she whispers and looks around the room “is Krampus coming after us again?”
“No you are good. I came because you did really good the other day saving all those children and I wanted to give you a present” Twumble says and pulls a bat shaped present out of his pocket “and I have heard that you want to start playing baseball again” he smiles “I also got you a second present to remind you of what you have overcome” he then pulls out a wrapped box.
Ana sits down and opens the first present that turns out to be a bat as expected. An all new wooden baseball bat with her name engraved with gold in the handle. The second present is the two pieces of her old bat and a picture of her and her dad framed. “Thank you Twumble, but I couldn’t have saved Alexei without you” she gives him a big hug as thanks. If she had known he would come by, she would have made him a present.
“But wait there is more. Those presents were just from me” Twumble laughs. “Santa was very impressed by what you did and you have been very good the last two weeks that you have moved back on the Nice list. His Christmas present for you is more time with you mom. When she goes back to work again she will receive a promotion. It will mean more money and fewer hours. He is really proud of you”.
Ana is about to squeal but muffles it with a pillow to not wake the others. “Do you want something to eat?” she asks to show him how much this means to her.
“Sorry Ana I have to go; there are other children out there who need my help. I just wanted to bring you, your presents myself” Twumble opens a portal and steps through it “be good Ana and Merry Christmas”.
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