The Shrinking Christmas - Chapter 1
Isabella
Isabella
It was Christmas night, and Father Christmas’s new, triangular shaped sleigh dropped from a cloudy sky and landed on the flat roof of Bigginsdale town hall. Presents were piled high on its deck, all wrapped in glittering paper like a huge multi-coloured mountain. Isabella, along with four hundred and ninety-nine other elves, selected the present she needed for her next delivery.
With the present under her arm she leapt over the side with everyone else. Her magic went with her, encircling her tiny, colourful body with a golden glow which ensured she remained only two millimetres tall and a hundred times faster than any human.
The house on the outskirts of town was easy to find. The address written on the present said:
Nathan Napp
Railway Cottage
Bigginsdale
As the moon made a very brief appearance through the thundery clouds, she could see why it was called Railway Cottage because, below her, in the front garden, was one of the biggest, outdoor model railways she had ever seen. It snaked through the frosty grass of a large front garden where model villages, towns and stations had been built all along the route.
Through a bedroom window, a little boy was looking out with his elbows resting on the window ledge; but that was no problem for Isabella, the boy would not be able to see her – not while she was so small and so fast. She flew through a vent into the bathroom and under the door to the upstairs landing. The little boy’s stocking was resting on the floor outside his bedroom. As soon as she dropped the present in, it exploded to normal size and poked out of the top.
She returned outside through the bathroom vent, flew over the roof and, just as she was about to return to the sleigh, she noticed that a mince pie and a saucer of milk had been left on the doorstep. She landed at the side of them.
The pie towered over her like a huge, upside down mountain and the saucer of milk looked like a vast, white ocean. But, with a touch of her finger, she quickly enchanted them and they shrank to match her size.
Stored in a bag around her middle was a bottle for the milk, a box for the pie, and her panic button. As soon as she put the milk and the pie inside, she rocketed up into the night sky but, in the glare of a nearby street light, she did not see the telephone line strung across the street and she crashed into it head first!
There was a huge, blinding flash! and she could only watch in horror as a vast amount of her spell broke away from her body. It headed back towards the sleigh without her, leaving her unable to fly.
Down and down she fell and, as she twirled around and around, the milk container, the box and her panic button, all fell from her bag. As soon as they broke away from the last of her spell, they exploded to normal size and plummeted towards the icy ground. She could only watch in horror as everything smashed to pieces on the cold concrete below.
A breeze blew her tiny body into a nearby bush and she dropped from branch to branch. She yelped in pain as she twisted her ankle before landing heavily in a tuft of long, icy grass. Then, just to add to all her problems, the front door opened and the little boy she had seen in the window stepped out wearing a green dressing gown and slippers.
She was in real trouble now because she had grown about three centimetres and, not only that, she had lost her speed spell which meant she was now in normal time.
The branches of the bush swayed above her, causing the boy to spot her right away. She hurried into the undergrowth, but the pain from her ankle shot up her leg and she fell over in agony.
A hand descended towards her. She put out her arms and shouted. “No! Don’t pick me up!”
It was too late. Huge finger tips closed around her and then, just as she feared, her remaining spell shrunk the boy to the same size as her. The boy’s yell hurt her ears, but now he was too small for anyone else to hear his cry for help.
With the present under her arm she leapt over the side with everyone else. Her magic went with her, encircling her tiny, colourful body with a golden glow which ensured she remained only two millimetres tall and a hundred times faster than any human.
The house on the outskirts of town was easy to find. The address written on the present said:
Nathan Napp
Railway Cottage
Bigginsdale
As the moon made a very brief appearance through the thundery clouds, she could see why it was called Railway Cottage because, below her, in the front garden, was one of the biggest, outdoor model railways she had ever seen. It snaked through the frosty grass of a large front garden where model villages, towns and stations had been built all along the route.
Through a bedroom window, a little boy was looking out with his elbows resting on the window ledge; but that was no problem for Isabella, the boy would not be able to see her – not while she was so small and so fast. She flew through a vent into the bathroom and under the door to the upstairs landing. The little boy’s stocking was resting on the floor outside his bedroom. As soon as she dropped the present in, it exploded to normal size and poked out of the top.
She returned outside through the bathroom vent, flew over the roof and, just as she was about to return to the sleigh, she noticed that a mince pie and a saucer of milk had been left on the doorstep. She landed at the side of them.
The pie towered over her like a huge, upside down mountain and the saucer of milk looked like a vast, white ocean. But, with a touch of her finger, she quickly enchanted them and they shrank to match her size.
Stored in a bag around her middle was a bottle for the milk, a box for the pie, and her panic button. As soon as she put the milk and the pie inside, she rocketed up into the night sky but, in the glare of a nearby street light, she did not see the telephone line strung across the street and she crashed into it head first!
There was a huge, blinding flash! and she could only watch in horror as a vast amount of her spell broke away from her body. It headed back towards the sleigh without her, leaving her unable to fly.
Down and down she fell and, as she twirled around and around, the milk container, the box and her panic button, all fell from her bag. As soon as they broke away from the last of her spell, they exploded to normal size and plummeted towards the icy ground. She could only watch in horror as everything smashed to pieces on the cold concrete below.
A breeze blew her tiny body into a nearby bush and she dropped from branch to branch. She yelped in pain as she twisted her ankle before landing heavily in a tuft of long, icy grass. Then, just to add to all her problems, the front door opened and the little boy she had seen in the window stepped out wearing a green dressing gown and slippers.
She was in real trouble now because she had grown about three centimetres and, not only that, she had lost her speed spell which meant she was now in normal time.
The branches of the bush swayed above her, causing the boy to spot her right away. She hurried into the undergrowth, but the pain from her ankle shot up her leg and she fell over in agony.
A hand descended towards her. She put out her arms and shouted. “No! Don’t pick me up!”
It was too late. Huge finger tips closed around her and then, just as she feared, her remaining spell shrunk the boy to the same size as her. The boy’s yell hurt her ears, but now he was too small for anyone else to hear his cry for help.