Elf Vince the Prince save Christmas

ELF VINCE the PRINCE saves CHRISTMAS



There’s big trouble at the North Pole. Trouble, that’s never ever happened before. A scene so sad and horrible it can only be called an execution. Yes, it is true, a murder at the top of the world.
It’s neither human nor animal. Sadly, it’s Mother Nature’s winter season. The polluted air has killed the winter wonderland at the North Pole. The fluffy snow, glistening ice, and the freezing cold north winds are gone.
Old St. Nick (aka Santa) leans against his long red barn stroking his great white beard. His jolly red face is now filled with worry and concern. The shiny bright twinkle in his eyes was replaced by a dull stare.
All about him the once frozen tundra of ice and snow is a slushy sea of rising salt water. The ever present cold north winds warm over him. Above he searches the dark sky of dazzling stars for answers.
“What to do? What to do?” sad Santa mutters aloud. “The presents are wrapped, the bright ribbons tied, my red sleigh decorated and ready, the reindeer prance and dance awaiting our trip around the world. What to do but with Christmas only a week away? What can I do to save Christmas?”
Gathered above him, several Elves and worker assistants hang out from the open windows peering down at their distressed Boss. Overcome with woe and despair, the Elves and others jabber amongst themselves. Finally Elf Ralph, the Glass Maker, asks, “Is there anything we can do?”
“All cannot be lost, sobs little Elfie Erie. Think of all the children! They’ll cry their tiny hearts out over broken dreams and promises.”

Elf Queen Emilia steps forward and in a soothing voice says, “Surely, St. Nick will find a way. It’s his purpose and his promise.”

Just then from around the corner of the barn Elf Vince, the Prince, rows his paddle boat toward Santa. Although Elf Vince is young and small, he’s strong and super smart. Not seeing him, Santa sloshes his big black boots about in the growing tide. Without question, he is engaged in deep thought. The waves created by Santa’s boot kicking knock Elf Vince, the Prince, off his paddle boat and into the freezing water.

From a window above, Elf Queen Emilia shouts out,” Watch out! my sweet little Prince Vince. The water grows in its swirls and fury.”

Santa’s daze is immediately broken and he quickly steps forward and gently grabs a floating Vince.

“Sorry my dear little friend” says Santa, “My thoughts were elsewhere.”

Santa then lifts Elf Vince up and using his long white beard; wipes the salty seawater from Vince’s smiling face. A tuft of his curly blonde hair lays flat across his pale forehead covering his eyes. Quickly using his long fingers, Vince casts his wet hair aside. His eyes, deep sky blue and unusually large, look up into Santa’s worried face then states “Seems we have a prodigious problem before us here at the North Pole.”

Santa nods in sad agreement and says,” I’m afraid I must agree. The stars in heaven do not favor our special season. And our climate appears irreparably damaged. We must find a way.”

“And we shall.” says a confident Vince now sitting on Santa's great lap. From inside his green jacket, Vince pulls out an optical contraption.

He begins to assemble all the various lenses. They appear to be different colors and various shapes and some even have fluid floating inside the thicker lenses. Curious, but somewhat baffled, Santa looks on, watching Vince arrange the glasses.

Feeling Santa’s curiosity on him, Vince explains, “See heaven's glasses” then places the disjointed contraption above his eyes and stares into the dark night continuing to expound. “There, very, very high above lies all the answers. “Here, see for yourself,” Vince says, giving Santa the glasses. “Elf Ralph, the Glass Maker, and Electrona assembled the glasses this past week,” Vince acknowledged.

Santa quickly arranges the lenses and looks deep into the infinite cosmos. Scowling his face, he sighs, “Indeed my wise little friend. The answers to solve our Polar problems are missing.”

Vince, the Prince, smirches and proclaims, “Or Hiding!”

Looking above again with the telescopic glasses, Santa says,” I believe you may be correct. Boreas, the swirling force of the Polar North Winds, has certainly disappeared from our winter skies. His absence has disrupted our winter climate.”

“And so is the Snow Queen of the Winter Winds,” says Vince in his convincing voice.

“What to do?” sadly muses Santa.

“I have an idea sir! I must find Pepper the Polar Fairy. She will at least have a clue about our winter skies,” proclaims Elf Vince.

Santa looks at Vince and nods in agreement. Vince slips into the salty water and simultaneously reshapes into a slender silver fish. He looks funny with his large blue eyes popping out on the sides of his head. The tuft of blond hair stuck at the top of his head while his hands are now large fins shaped for speed. Vince explodes forward like some kind of supersonic torpedo.

Within minutes, Vince encounters an ice cave, deep in the icy waters. Looking deep into the frozen cave castle, Vince sees Pepper, the Polar Fairy; sound asleep in her crystalline bubble.

Vince’s fish-like moments awakens Pepper and she darts through her castle and emerges on the ocean surface knowing that the Elf would soon surface.

Sure enough Elf Vince, the funny looking fish pops up landing on an ice floe. He immediately changes back to his ordinary form. Looking about he cannot find Pepper. From above him, Pepper laughs, her voice soft like the sound of wind chimes. She giggles and says, “Behold the Fish Elf!”

Elf Vince stands and claps his still fins together. “I am sorry my little fairy friend for awakening you,” Vince says in an apologetic voice. Noticing his fins, he begins shaking them to change them back into his long slender fingers. “You know why I have come,” Vince continues. “We need your infinite wisdom and assistance. Will you help?”Vince queries.

“Maybe,” Pepper, the Polar Fairy, giggles as her aquamarine green eyes sparkle. We shall see!” In that moment her bubble begins spinning and twirling like a cyclone across the water and suddenly she disappears into the night’s horizon.

Back at the North Pole, Elf Vince meets with Santa and all the Elf families and friends. In simple but concise terms, Vince explains his visit with Pepper, the Polar Fairy.

They all agree with Vince’s story. Pepper, the Polar Fairy, seeks to help but they all know that she is only one Fairy against the all powerful Boreas, the King of the North Winds and the always unpredictable Snow Queen of the North Vortex.
“First, we must find her, " says Vince. Then make certain she understands the life supporting task she must undertake, and then aid her.”

Elf Electrona steps forward and offers, “I will give you my new electron locator watch to help you in locating her whereabouts. At this moment, Pepper is south flying over Canada according to my watch’s precise calculations, “she confirms.

Next Elf Ralph, the Glass Maker, comes forward and chimes in, "I have expanded and increased the power and focus of your telescopic eyes to hasten your search.”

“Well then," says Santa, in his more usual confident voice. “The future of the North Pole rests upon your strong shoulders, keen vision, and unshakeable wisdom. Go forth and save our special season for the whole world.”

Santa now looks above and in a shrill whistle calls forth a Great White Snowy Owl. Without another word Elf Vince, the Prince, climbs up on the thick neck of the Owl; places his new glasses on his long-upturned nose, reads the calculations on the electron watch and points to the southern skies.
All wave and shout good tidings as the Great Owl disappears in the darkness of the night horizon. What seems like minutes in the sonic flight, Vince observes little Pepper’s shining bubble hovering over the Great White Mountains of the Northeast. Focusing his glasses, he watches from the Owl’s necks. Pepper, the Polar Fairy, flutters down into a cluster of thick fir trees and settles down amongst a thicket of long pointed fir needles.

The Great Snowy Owls lands unnoticed in another stand of fir trees high up on this mountainous region. Satisfied with his hidden position above Pepper, Vince quietly directs the Owl to rest on higher elevations of the White Mountains. Focusing his telescopic glasses, Vince zooms in on Pepper and watches with great interest. Soon little Pepper begins warbling and spinning counter clockwise while thrilling out in a high pitched sound. Before long another bubbled fairy appears next to Pepper. Pleased and excited, Pepper greets Fern, the Forest Fairy. Pepper starts whispering and dancing on the thick encrusted fir branch. Vince watches with growing curiosity. He instinctively knows the two are up to something. It is their nature to be mischievous. Playing jokes and tricks upon all living beings, especially Elves and humankind, is commonplace. Without any further notice, both Fairies zip to a nearby granite mountain surface by the bright green moss which clings to a long slim crevice in the mountain’s sunless side. Hovering by the crack in the mountain granite, both Fairies reshape into slender brown speckled lizards. Vince, knowing something is going on, moves closer and watches the two tiny lizards slip soundlessly into the rock crevice. Filled with curiosity but conscious of sudden tricks, Elf Vince repositions himself on a lone branch of a white pine tree; close to the mountain crevice.

Using Electrona’s watch, he sends out a message: I have located Pepper and fellow Fairy. I sit close on a branch to see what’s next.

Electrona quickly replies: Beware of Fairies with good intentions. They’re tricksters! Proceed with utmost cautions.

Suddenly as Vince watches, both lizards explode out of the mountain encased in a solid block of ice like stuffed toys in ice cubes. Quickly Vince turns his hands into fishing nets and snags both out of the hissing winds. Turning his hands into large warm oven mittens, Elf Vince holds them tightly. Within moments both are warm and reshaped into their fairy forms sitting in Vince’s comforting embrace.

“Well, well ladies, seems like you both found old Boreas and his companion the Snow Queen of the North,” he says looking kindly down at the still shivering Fairies.

“Boreas and Khione, the Snow Queen, are hiding deep in the frozen caverns of this granite mountain with absolutely no intention of leaving,” sings out Pepper. “We are hopeless against their determination and strength.”

Vince thinks for a moment and shaking his head says, “It all comes down to us!. Winter and Christmas are at stake, and only Mother Nature knows what happens next. What to do? What to do?" Vince echoes Santa's plea.

Fern, the Forest Fairy’s bubble lights up bright and shiny. She screeches into the air like a clarion call, "GLOOSCAP! GLOOSCAP!” Her shrill echoes throughout the dark night air up to the tops of mountains and down into the deep valleys below.

“GLOOSEHAT?”, Elf Vince repeats the sound with a confused look on his face. He looks about wondering what’s all this shrieking; what can it possibly mean?"

All turns silent. Everyone stands mute and looks up at the top of the mountain high in the cloudless sky. Suddenly, thick grey clouds assemble that slowly crawl like an earth slug down the mountainside. A frenzy of blinding lightning flashes in the dark sky, accompanied by a sonic shock wave creating booming thunder. The descending dark cloud, cold and misty, rain down as if some huge boulder collapsed from a rock pile above.

Vince, Pepper, the Polar Fairy and Fern, the Forest Fairy stand in awe, as they become surrounded by the cold, dark mist. Nervously Fern, the Forest Fairy, whispers again, “Glooscap.”

From within the mist, a giant Indian Magic Chieftain emerges. Dressed in full Abenaki attire with a beautiful royal eagle perched on his huge right shoulder, the Indian Chief raises his large hand and says, “Kawi!”

“Greetings,” says an awe-struck Vince, as Fern, the Forest Fairy, flies high next to his large stern looking face.

Fern immediately begins tweeting away, “Glooscap, we desperately need your mystic powers. Our upper and lower atmospheres are failing away. The North Pole Vortex has weakened and is split apart because of toxic air. Boreas and Khione are hidden deep in your mountain caverns, fearing for their future existence. Without your omnipotence and help, all living things will cease to be.”

The Great Abenaki Magic Man turns his great head to look deep into the now cloudless blue skies. He simply nods. The majestic eagle squeaks and begins to flap his great wings. The Chieftain quietly speaks to Fern, the Forest Fairy, who flies up to the mossy crevice in the granite mountain; showing the Chieftain the mossy crack in the granite wall.

“Back!” Glooscap roars as all three present quickly retreat farther back into the green forest. He begins to twirl faster and faster showing his unstoppable power; sweeping everything before him. In less than a minute, he reappears holding a long iron track of rail from some long forgotten railway.

Holding the long heavy steel rail aloft, he quickly fixes it to his long glistening bow. Shouting some unrecognizable chant, he pulls the string back on the now molten iron arrow. He takes aim then sends the fiery arrow into the mountain side, right at the mossy crevice. A roar like thunder explodes when the blistering arrow smashes into the granite; creating a large passageway. When the smoke and falling rock debris clear; all stare at the entrance. Glooscap nods his great head in satisfaction and says loudly to those present, “Go now, see ancient ancestors!”

Inside, the walls of the great chamber cavern are thoroughly iced over; the air is Arctic cold, frosty and travel is perilous. The Great Eagle, Paloma, lifts off from the Chieftain’s great shoulders in search of Boreas and Khione. He soon locates them, calls out a deafening screech and returns to perched on his shoulder. The Great Indian Magic Man walks up to the large frozen cavern and peers down.

Both Fairies stop Elf Vince from drawing close, warning, “Do not draw near until Glooscap speaks first.”

Soon there erupts a furious battle of sounds and languages; a dialect no one seems to comprehend. Then high-speed winds begin moving in a funnel-shaped pattern, swallowing up Glooscap. The Fairies retreat in horror urging Vince to follow; to move further away from the mountain cave. Elf Vince stands firm and soon the booming sounds and swirling winds cease.
On the cave floor lies Glooscap, entombed in solid ice. Paloma flies and lands upon what appears to be a frozen monument. With its long razor-sharp talons and great curved beak, the Great Eagle starts splitting and breaking the ice. Elf Vince, the Prince, hurries to the block of ice. His large hands are now mighty steel hammers. Huge pieces of ice are smashed away as both The Great Eagle and Vince calf through the ice block. With the Fairies return to the ice mausoleum, Glooscap shakes himself and rises up. Walking toward the entrance, the Great High Abenaki Spirit speaks, “No can do. Polar blood not returns to poison skies high in North Pole.

All at once, Pepper, the Polar Fairy, weeps in sorrow at his words, saying,” We will be all lost…forever!”

Vince shakes his head in disagreement. “We can never give up. We have centuries to live and must protect this environment for those in the future. Every problem has a solution. We tried your way and now I will try my way!” Elf Vince begins to skate about the ice cave; his head down in deep thought.

“What to do?,” Vince echoes Santa's mantra as he skates about. At the cave opening, Vince stops and stares out at the forest; the trees, suburbs, plants and other green life stretching up the mountain side. He exclaims in an excited voice, “There is the solution right before our eyes! PHOTOSYNTHESIS!” Vince blurted.

Knagni ni….Photo????” mumbles the Great Chieftain, still flicking ice from his hair and clothing.

“Great Spirit of the North,” sings out Fern, the Forest Fairy, “its nature’s science of life across the world.”

“Exactly right my little Fairy friend,” clamors Elf Vince. “Here let me show you all.” Vince now stands before a great sheet of ice on the frozen wall. Extending his long-pointed pencil finger, he begins carving formulas and calculations across the ice wall.

Pepper, the Polar Fairy, flutters beside him and speaks, “Humm! It seems simple enough. You, us, earth, gas and water mist with mighty Sun rays and get good air and food for all leafy things on the Earth,"

“That’s basically correct but it isn’t quite that simple,” Vince says. In science terms, we need to invent a way for the natural process of photosynthesis to occur high up in the atmosphere where it’s cold and filled with polluted air.” And for this we need help!”

Elf Vince skates over to the craggy rock entrance and whistles in a high tone for the Great Snowy Owl. Within minutes, The Great Owl is perched on the rocky edge of the cave’s opening. Elf Vince speaks loudly to ensure the Great Owl understands the importance of his mission. “You need to quickly return home to the North Pole and fletch Elf Electrona, that crabby Elf, the Elder Professor, and Elf Ralph, the Glassmaker, at once. Without another word, The Great Snowy Owl swiftly ascends into the blue skies above.

Now peering at all his collected friends, Elf Vince explains,” Now we need to create a vessel to the stratosphere. Yes, a monumental task at best, but necessary.”

Within what seemed like minutes, the Great Owl returned with his passengers clinging to his long and large neck feathers. “What in tarnation is so urgent that I had to be woken from a peaceful sleep and transported to an icy refrigerator in some gigantic cave?” the old Elf Professor exasperated.

“Hush Old Grandpa says a confident Elf Electrona. Vince, the Prince, must truly need us to help send the King of the Polar Vortex back into the high skies where he and the Snow Queen belong, for the sake of Christmas and Christmas’s in the Future.”

Shaking from the cold Elf Elder, the Professor and Elf both move to the ice board and quietly read through Elf Vince’s formulas and calculations. “Your calculations are somewhat skewed. Your proposed carbon catchers will not survive the cold temperatures in the Earth’s stratosphere. And you will need high concentrations of solar energy to complete the necessary chemical transactions. What you really need is a magician and not a scientist to make this work” pronounces the Elder Professor.

Elf Pepper, the Polar Fairy, flutters close to the group and warns,” If we don’t at least try, we could all be doomed!”

Elf, the Professor, grunts as he stares at Pepper's round bubble. Without a word, The Elder Professor’s large eyes were immediately drawn to her round bubble. Fixing his glasses to observe Pepper’s bubble he then states, “At first glance, it looked like a crystalline globe but on closer examination, it appears to be a complex of clear and sophisticated living membranes that serves as an environmental protection.”
Elf Pepper pushes her encased finger and touches The Professor's long nose. Pulling back she giggles and sings out,” You’re warm like humans!”

“Amazing!” exclaimed Elf Electrona, “You see through it, breathe through it and act through it without fear from your outside surroundings. It appears indestructible. That’s our answer.” Smiling and confident Elf Vince proclaims “a protective membrane pod fashioned like the Fairies’ bubbles.”

“Now it is time to assemble all our work here and return to Elf Elder Professor’s laboratory back at the North Pole to build our Fairy Pods” says Elf Vince. In a flash the collective group is back at the North Pole Lab. “We have but little time left so with our plans we will work in teams of two. If further help is needed, just whistle” explains Elf Vince.

Within minutes all began to work with their assignments.

“First and foremost, we must design our vessel or bubble pod,” says Vince.

Pepper, the Polar Fairy, flies forward and sticks her small thumb in her tiny mouth in order to blow her bubble into the size of a large ripe melon.

“Wow, Pepper, that's extraordinary!” exclaims an astonished Vince.

Pepper smiles proudly from Vince’s outcry; she begins pointing at places in her bubble and with her squeaky voice, she explains “These covered holes let sky gas and water mist in and those on the bottom, let new air out with the help of our living lining, the invisible Cyanobacteria. These little living friends have been around for millions of years and help us to live in our bubbles."

Both the Elder Elf Professor and Elf Electrona grin in delight. Stepping closer, Elf Ralph, the Glass Maker, casts his large magnifying glass to inspect the pores. Now smiling, he says, "Yes, this appears quite true. Nonetheless, we will most definitely require a stronger catalyst to increase the rate of the chemical reaction one hundredfold.”

“Hum! The Elder Professor finally says. “To increase this rate, we will require far greater energy than what normally occurs in nature’s photosynthesis process.”
“You mean more intense direct energy from our brightest star, the Sun,” pipes in Elf Electrona.

“We know just the right contraption, don’t we Electrona,” says the Elder Professor in a blissful voice. He continues by pointing at the diagram on Vince’s blackboard. We will now attach super hyper sun magnifiers shown there on the board all across the top of our pods. This will certainly increase more energy production and therefore greatly expand our rate of oxygen delivery out into the polluted atmosphere.”

“What about the actual carbon catchers” asks Elf Vince.

“That’s the easy part,” says a gleeful Fern, the Forest Fairy. “We will gather and place long rows of green reindeer moss and lichens inside the pod bubble. The moss can live even in very cold temperatures.”

“Wunderbar!” exclaims Vince. “Well we now must go to work since our timetable is very short and I know that all the Elves and Elf helpers will indubitably work around the clock,”

The entire team claps in unison creating a rumbling sound across the room. The back door suddenly opens and Santa appears. Surveying the room, he finally says in a loud jovial voice,” I hear jubilation going on here. Good news, my dearest friends?”

With a broad and toothy smile, Elf Vince, the Prince, says “Yes and No! Like any good experiment we must first test, tweak, retest. But we all agree it’s a go, Boss!”

“Five days to Christmas,” Santa says in his commanding voice. “It must work! For all the children across the world, who counts on our success and for the continuation of our long and treasured tradition?”

Queen Emilia holding tiny Elfie Erin bows her head and says, "Thanks to all courageous folks involved and May we be blessed with success."

A loud Whoosh erupts at the back of the lab. All eyes turn to see Glooscap. Now dressed in his native Indian attire with a breechcloth, leather leggings, and a colorful feathered war bonnet on his head, he stood tall. On his large right shoulder, Paloma is quietly perched; wings tied and his long sharp talons gripping golden arrows. In one hand Glooscap holds a long wooden bow. Looking around the room, he says," Me, High Spirit of the People of the Dawn shoot mighty sacred arrows with your giant round balls up into the heavens.”

Excited and pleased, all clap and chant, “Glooscap, Glooscap!”

Soon the entire barn is in a fury of activity. Hundreds of Elves and helpers plus others, work furiously and tirelessly to assemble the pods and sun magnifiers. Outside in the Southern Arctic, Fairies, Pepper and Fern, point the way as Paloma uses his strong beak to rip up long swaths of fresh green reindeer moss and white lichens while the mighty Glooscap wraps them up for the trip back to the North Pole.

By the end of two days of tireless work, thousands of completed pods are ready for their launch into the dark heavens above. A proud Santa stands at the back, hands resting on his large hips as he looks across the room. He bows his head and murmurs a short prayer then looking up he states loudly, “It’s a GO!”

The top of the big red barn gently slides open to warm weather in the dark skies. Below, Glooscap with the help of Paloma’s wings, circulates about in a mass of wind and pods before levitating into the dark night air.

After many, many trips back and forth from the barn into the starry heavens above, finally Glooscap and Paloma settle on the barn floor and the mighty Indian proclaims, "IT'S DONE!”

All present cheer and stamp their feet in loving approval and genuine appreciation creating a thunderous roar across the soupy waters of the North Pole. Santa raises his large hands in praise for all the hard work to hopefully save Christmas.

A day and night passes and all remain quiet and calm at the North Pole, the skies still black and empty. Everyone appears worried, anxious, and many pacing back and forth; looking above while others busy themselves with games and cleaning their tools. Anxiety and worry incapacitates the once joyful barn.

Elf Vince, the Prince, is now perched on the highest point atop of the Red Barn. Using his strongest telescope, he diligently searches the dark sky. Pepper, the Polar Fairy, waits near Vince, vigilantly praying for snow. Elf Vince, the Prince, finally asks “Pepper do you think we should return to the mountain deep into the South and tell Boreas and Khione about our mission in the skies?”

“NO!” screeches Pepper. “Telling them will only serve to harden their ways to remain frozen and inactive in the safety of their iced mountain den.”

Frustrated, Elf Vince, the Prince, lays back and continues to scan the skies until his large weary and tired eyes close. All is quiet except for a few light snores that fill the night air. Then suddenly the sky is pulsating and dancing with spectacular ribbons of bright light, the Aurora Boreas. The heavens above become electrified with energy. Feeling a cold wind, Vince slowly opens his eyes to discover snow crystals stuck upon his long-pointed nose. Jumping up, he cries out, "Hey Pepper, wake up! Something’s happening!”

Pepper and now Fern whiz by Vince and in that very moment as the snow is falling, two bright explosions of light rocket up into the dark heavens and rumble with thunder. Vince, the Prince, raises his telescope and shouts to whoever has ears to hear, "Boreas and Khione are home in the heavens above."

The next day with the temperatures plummeting, a North Pole blizzard rages throughout the region. Ice is now forming over the once soupy sea water. Huge mounds of windswept snow quickly accumulate as far as the eye can see.
Elf Vince, the Prince, still on top of the barn is gleefully jumping and somersaulting in the snow. Soon he is joined by Elf Electrona and the two jubilant Fairies, Pepper and Fern, all wistfully jabbering away.

All of a sudden a strong gale, laden with zillions of snowflakes whips across the barn’s rooftop. All are caught up in a hurricane gust and are pitched up into the sky. Hurling, twirling, and swirling through the air, Vince and Electrona become elated with joy and laughter. Up above them, Pepper and Fern dance and trill in their magic bubbles.

Below them, they all see the great feathered wings of Paloma spread out like some giant landing pathway. Tumbling, they are soon nestled into the soft safety of his wings as they sing and clap in unison. Paloma turns his majestic head and makes a piercing high-pitched cackling cry. They all look in the direction of his call and behold, sure enough, they see the unmistakable red sleigh pulled by nine prancing reindeer; all adorned with silver harnesses and tiny bells twinkling.

Santa sits up on his bench seat, waves as he shouts in his deep voice, “Ho, Ho, Ho, and Merry Christmas to all.”

Santa tips his bright red cap and exclaims, “And thanks to Elf Vince, the Prince, for saving Christmas!!”