Alerted to a problem at the troll bridge, the Fairy Godmother dashed out of her cottage. She left her untrained kitchen android unattended. She did not think about what could happen if any children visited her cottage and met her android. As the resulting ecological disaster developed, the Elders took notice. Then things got complicated.

Chapter 1. A Hard Day’s Night

Junior anthropologist Marie GottMothercus never understood how her actions triggered events on Sol #3 and Zorcon. The unanticipated side effects of Good Deeds in the Cinderella Affair built up over time. No one could stop what was coming. Grimmicus: A Biography. Stuarticus Cardicus, Declassified Archives of the Zorcon Empire.

anta started at around 8:00PM on the west side of the International Dateline. That is halfway around the world from Greenwich, England. In his sleigh, Santa chased the dark shadow of night around the world. He saw the insides of many chimneys. It took him about twenty-six to deliver gifts around the world.

Santa’s sleigh flies at supersonic speeds. He works into the early morning hours of the next day. When he is done, he flies to Oberland Kingdom to spend time with his old friends. Time-bending magic is required to arrive there on Christmas Eve.

On this particular Christmas morning, Santa was happy and tired. It had been a hard day’s night. The elves said that he was “working like a dog.” When elves tease him about working, Nick thinks about his early life as Cinderella’s dog, Poochy. Life was simpler then. He had more time to play. Now he had a meaningful life like he wanted, but he was not having much fun.

When Santa reached Oberland kingdom, he landed the sleigh on the roof of a quaint home near Elf Village. This last stop was for Little Red Riding Hood, who was spending Christmas Eve with her grandma. Elfin James accompanied him that night. James would fly the sleigh to the North Pole. After delivering these gifts, Nick planned to sleep in his old coachman quarters, at the castle of Queen Cinderella and King Jorgan.

Santa and James made quite a clatter. Granny Hood and Red were fast asleep. Santa hopped out of the sleigh with his bag full of gifts for Red and Granny. He walked across the roof to the chimney and went down in a flash.

Granny Hood’s front room was decorated for the holidays. As Santa put presents around the tree, he saw a note, a glass of milk, and some cookies. What a welcome treat!

He decided to rest for just a minute. He lit the logs in the fireplace. He did not worry about going back up the chimney in a blazing fire. His gold tooth was Zorconian technology. It had a power antenna, the ability to transform him to his Poochy form, and learning capabilities. After zipping through so many chimneys, the gold tooth had learned how to keep Santa safe from fire and also to whoosh him up with a wink of his eye.

Nick rested on a fur rug by the fire, munched on cookies, and drank milk. These were the best cookies he had ever tasted.

Nick wished that there was more fun in his life. Making and delivering toys was great, but he never took a break. Even though the elves were a friendly and fun group, Santa felt that he didn’t have anyone to share his life. He remembered a rhyme that Cinderella taught him:

A play day is a play day

No matter how small.

A life without play

Is no life at all.

Nick thought about his younger days as Poochy, running in fields of wildflowers. He didn’t realize as he drifted off to sleep that he had wished himself into his Poochy form.`

 

Chapter 2. A Wolf in the House

ittle Red Riding Hood always woke up early on Christmas morning. There would be presents to open! She was at her Granny’s house. She got out of bed quietly.

Red slipped her feet into her slippers. Why did they call them slippers? Slippers weren’t slippery and would not be very good if they were. With a candle and the early morning light, she made her way downstairs to the front room.

Red blinked the sleep from her eyes. Her candle and the faint glow of coals from the fire lighted the room. There was the Christmas tree that she and Granny had decorated. There was the fur rug on the floor. It looked like Granny had fallen asleep on the rug with her head on a pillow from the sofa.

But those weren’t Granny’s big black ears on the pillow!

Red exclaimed, “Granny – what big ears you have!”

Poochy stirred. He hadn’t meant to fall asleep. The cookies and milk were so good. Did someone say something?

“Ruff,” he sneezed. He saw a girl in red pajamas. She had to be Red Riding Hood. “What about my ears, my dear?” rhymed Poochy sleepily. Red did not understand him.

Red wasn’t fully awake either. Granny’s voice sounded too deep. She thought that she heard something like, “The better to hear you with, my dear.”

Something wasn’t right. Red walked closer. Poochy rolled over. He stretched his eyes wide open and peered at Red.

“What big eyes you have, Granny!” exclaimed Red.

Before Poochy could bark, Red screamed. “Help! There’s a wolf in the house!”

Red picked up a pillow and threw it at Poochy. Poochy got tangled up in the rug. He tripped as he stood.

Poochy fell to the floor and made quite a clatter.

Granny sprang from her bed to see what was the matter.

Out of her bed, she jumped in a flash.

She put on her robe and tied up her sash.

She ran to the kitchen and picked up a spoon.

She zoomed to help Red quite marvelously soon.

Granny saw Red standing on the sofa across from the Christmas tree, screaming. A cute but confused dog was tangled in the fur rug. A cookie plate and a glass were on the floor.

Granny noticed that the fire was still burning. This had to be a new fire. Last night’s fire would have burned out hours ago.

Then Granny started to laugh. Red looked at her like she was crazy. The dog sat up with a cute doggy smile and his bright gold tooth.

“That’s not a wolf, that’s a dog, sort of,” said Granny sagely.

“What’s he doing here?” asked Red. “Did he scare Santa away? Did he eat Santa’s cookies?”

With a nod to the presents under the tree, Granny said, “It looks like Santa was here.”

Red picked up a pillow and threw it at Poochy. Poochy got tangled up in the rug. He tripped as he stood.

Poochy fell to the floor and made quite a clatter.

Granny sprang from her bed to see what was the matter.

Out of her bed, she jumped in a flash.

She put on her robe and tied up her sash.

She ran to the kitchen and picked up a spoon.

She zoomed to help Red quite marvelously soon.

Granny saw Red standing on the sofa across from the Christmas tree, screaming. A cute but confused dog was tangled in the fur rug. A cookie plate and a glass were on the floor.

Granny noticed that the fire was still burning. This had to be a new fire. Last night’s fire would have burned out hours ago.

Then Granny started to laugh. Red looked at her like she was crazy. The dog sat up with a cute doggy smile and his bright gold tooth.

“That’s not a wolf, that’s a dog, sort of,” said Granny sagely.

“What’s he doing here?” asked Red. “Did he scare Santa away? Did he eat Santa’s cookies?”

With a nod to the presents under the tree, Granny said, “It looks like Santa was here.”

 

Chapter 3. Breakfast with Santa

ed Riding Hood stopped screaming. Her eyes opened wide. Although she was a big girl, she jumped right into Granny’s arms.

“You can call me ‘Nicholas Piccolos’ when you make such fine cookies,” he laughed.

By now Red had recovered herself and was feeling less frightened and more gracious. It would be smart to be nice to Santa. She smiled and said, “Wow. Wow. Wow! Christmas morning with Santa! This is so cool. Wait till I tell my friends!”

Granny snickered and asked Red, “Was that Bow! Wow! Wow?”

Then Granny turned to Nick.  “Nicholas Piccolos, perhaps you could stay for breakfast and tea? We are having strawberry waffles this Christmas morning.”

Breakfast sounded really good. In a few minutes, they were all seated in Granny’s kitchen. Nick put his red coachman’s coat on the green rack on the wall. On the table, plates were heaped high with waffles, fresh butter, maple syrup, and sliced, fresh strawberries.

Red served herself and started eating. Granny poured tea. Nick looked over the fine breakfast. “This is delightful. Thank you very much,” he said. And then without thinking, he asked, “How do you happen to have fresh strawberries in December?”

Granny’s eyes twinkled. She looked Nick in the eye and winked. Then she said, “Nicholas Piccolos, that’s for me to know and for you to wonder!” And then she laughed again.

“So, you are a lady of mystery,” Nick said. He turned to Red and said, “Of course, I know you are Red Riding Hood.” He turned to Red’s granny and asked, “But what should I call you?”

Granny thought for a moment. “Well, I’ve been called Granny for a very long time,” she said.

Red interrupted her and said, “Yeah. She was my mom’s granny, her mom’s granny, and her granny’s granny too!”

Granny shushed Red and said to Nick, “When I was a young woman growing up in Amerland, I was called Immay. Now, my friends call me Sage.”

Nick noticed that Sage had beautiful eyes.

Then Red had lots of questions. “Do you really live at the North Pole? What do the elves do all year? Do they miss their families? How can you go around the whole world in just one night?”

Nick answered as best he could. He was curious about Sage. He thought to himself that there was more to Granny than met the eye.

As they finished Sage said to Red. “Dearie, on your way back to your parents, could you drop off a basket of cookies for Marie?”

Marie was Marie GottMothercus. Most people knew her as The Fairy Godmother. Sage had become friends with her and sometimes they had tea together.

“Marie is very fond of my cookies,” she explained to Nick. “I make them for the Christmas Faire, but that is finished now. Marie has them with her tea,” she added.

Sage handed Red Riding Hood a basket of cookies. Red put on her warm, red hood and set off down the trail through the woods to the Fairy Godmother’s house.

 

Chapter 4. The Cookie Machine

arie GottMothercus was in her kitchen drinking tea. Earlier in the morning, Red Riding Hood dropped off a basket of fresh cookies. The Fairy Godmother enjoyed those cookies. Tea and cookies are a fine combination.

Sometimes when she is having tea, there will be a knock at the door, and someone will ask her for help. But today was Christmas. Marie remembered that Oberlanders tended to visit each other or stay home on Christmas. Probably there would be no more visitors today.

If only Sage’s cookies were available all year long. Sage made them for the Christmas Faire, but that was now past. Sometimes the grocery store in Elf Village sold them. But there could be a long time without cookies. The Fairy Godmother was not known for her patience.

Marie got up and walked around her kitchen. She was a Zorconian after all. Zorconians got what they wanted when they wanted it. She was getting tired of living in a primitive age. She wished that things could be more civilized, at least inside her cottage. Making a few changes inside her cottage should be OK. She wouldn’t be giving high technology to the natives. It would not violate her rules as a planetary anthropologist. Holding her wand, Marie said, “I wish to have a Cookie Machine.”

Her magic wand and the power generators at Zorcon snapped to attention. The anthropologist had made a wish.

Questions appeared in the air in front of the Fairy Godmother. “What kind of cookie? How is a cookie properly made?”

Marie did not know how Granny Sage made cookies. She just liked to eat them. She looked at one old cookie still left on the plate. It was cracked and a little piece had broken off it. She pointed to the old cookie and said, “A cookie like that one.”

The Fairy Godmother didn’t know about the need for fresh ingredients or the love that went into Sage’s cookies. She didn’t think about how cookies were best when they were served warm and fresh. It didn’t help that the last cookie on the plate was a few days old and rather dried out. That cookie was not from the fresh batch of cookies that Red had brought earlier that morning.

The wand and the generators at Zorcon did the best that they could. Generators powered up on Zorcon. Cosmic energies raced to Sol #3 through the wormhole. Red sparkles filled the kitchen. A shiny titanium Model #67 mobile general-purpose home appliance materialized in her kitchen. It was customized to make cookies.

The appliance was standing on two folding appendages. It had an energy antenna for drawing power from Zorcon. It had nano-assembly arrays inside that took water from a nearby stream, minerals from nearby rocks, and various other molecules from nearby plants and trees. It had a green button on the front. The green button said, “Start.” There was also a dial labeled “More” and a counter for the number of cookies to make. The counter was set to one.

Like all Zorconian technology, the Cookie Machine had built-in learning systems. There was a blue light in the left eye that lit up when it was observing things, and a red light in the right eye that blinked when the machine was learning. There was a cookie door that could slide open and a conveyor belt inside that could deliver cookies out through the door.

The Cookie Machine appliance raised itself to the kitchen counter and folded itself and sat. It was ready to make cookies.

Marie looked up when the machine seated itself on her counter. She smiled and pushed the green start button. A light blinked. Power generators sped up on Zorcon. Red sparkles surrounded the machine. The Cookie Machine took a little water from the nearby spring, a tiny amount of minerals from nearby rocks, and a few sugars and other molecules from plants near her cottage. The door opened, the conveyor belt turned, and a cookie came out the door and dropped down to the counter.

Marie nodded. This was better.  Now getting a cookie would be easy. She was not a cook or a baker, but now she could have a cookie any time that she wanted. She picked up the cookie and ate a little piece of it. It was a little stale, but okay.

The machine-made cookie looked exactly like the old cookie on the plate. It was cracked like the old cookie.  A little piece had broken off of it. It was a little dry. It did not taste as great as the fresh cookies from Sage today.

Just then, there was a tap at her window. A little bird chirped from outside. Marie GottMothercus was done with her tea. “Come in, little one,” she said. The little bird flew to her shoulder and whispered in her ear.

The Fairy Godmother listened and spoke out loud. “The troll is misbehaving again? He is being rude to people crossing the bridge? A princess needs to spin straw into gold?” 

The little bird’s story was worth investigating. First, she should check the bridge and see what the troll was doing.

 “Oh, well,” she said. “It looks like we may need a Good Deed or two today after all.” The Fairy Godmother rushed out the cottage door and headed to the Troll Bridge. She was in a hurry. She did not close the door behind her.  It swung back and forth as she ran down the path.

Marie GottMothercus was in such a hurry getting to the troll bridge that she did not look closely in the woods.

Sitting in the shadows a coyote watched her quietly.

The coyote could smell the new but stale cookie. He had seen the red sparkles of Zorcon energy as the Cookie Machine materialized in the Fairy Godmother’s kitchen. He nodded to himself. There was a slight rustle of leaves as Elder Coyote disappeared into the forest.

End of Excerpt.

Available on Amazon