Secret Santa – Part Six

Published: December 23, 2004

Secret Santa
Part 6: Frackle Rocks

Sullivan	“Well, Fred has led the elves to a successful escape… and now they’re on their way to rescue Santa. But it wasn’t going to be easy. For one thing, they had to sneak right past Cosmo…”
Lothar	Listen, oh punctual potentate, it’s a quarter of twelve! According to the plan, you’re supposed to leave in the sleigh at midnight!
Cosmo	I guess I’ll go up to the workshop and hitch up the reindeer!
Lothar	Right.

Meanwhile, the elves sneak through the hall…

Cosmo	Now, I’ve gotta put this in a safe place…
Frackle	What’s that? What’s that key for?
Cosmo	It’s the only key that unlocks Santa’s dungeon!
Fred	Aha!
Cosmo	… Who said that?
Frackle	Who said what?
Cosmo	Who said “Aha”?
Frackle	I didn’t say anything!

Frackle	Hey! I think one of those rocks said “Aha”!
Cosmo	The rock said “Aha”?
Frackle	Yeah! Look!
Cosmo	Well, whatta ya know! An elf in rock’s clothing!

The Frackles scream and whimper as Cosmo grabs a sack, and starts collecting elves. He catches Fred, who bites Cosmo on the finger and gets away. Frustrated, Cosmo hops around looking for the renegade elf. He kicks a rock, thinking it’s Fred in disguise — but it’s a real rock, and he hurts his foot. He sounds the alarm — which is just a Frackle in a box shouting “Alarm, alarm, emergency, help, help! Ding ding ding ding ding…” — and there’s general chaos in the cave.

Now all the Frackles are squirming around, shrieking and trying to figure out what to do. Cosmo tells them to look for Fred — he looks like a rock! The Frackles all scurry about, investigating every rock.

In the confusion, Fred gets hold of the key to Santa’s cell. Lothar reminds Cosmo that it’s almost midnight; he’s got to get up to the sleigh.

Cosmo leaves a Frackle in charge of finding Fred, and tells him to make sure that nobody leaves the cave.

Cosmo

Come on, Lothar! To the sleigh! Nothing can stop us now!

Fred

An elf named Fred can stop him… and he will, too!

Sullivan

“Now, Fred had only a few more minutes in which to find Santa Claus. That was the problem. Cosmo’s cave had about a million miles of tunnels, and poor Fred was lost…”

Meanwhile, in Santa’s cell…

Thig	It’s no use, Santa. I can’t break the lock.
Santa	I know, I know, Thig.
Thog	Hey, Santa — why don’t you open the lock with your magic?
Santa	No, Thog. I’m afraid I can’t do that. The magic of Christmas can bring toys and candy canes and joy, and things like that, but it can’t open padlocks. It’s not that kind of magic.
Thog	But you said nothing could stop old Santa from delivering those toys.
Santa	Well, that’s true, I did say that. Something will happen. Something’s got to happen!

And something does… All of a sudden, the ceiling bursts, and two elf legs dangle down through a hole!

It’s Fred! The floor gave way underneath him, and now he’s looking down at Santa! He drops the key down, and now Santa can get out of his cell.

Santa	Fred, you’ve done a wonderful job!
Fred	Why, thank you, Santa, sir.
Santa	Here, Thig. Unlock the door.
Thig	All right.
Fred	I’ll just wait up here until you come.
Santa	No, no, it’s almost midnight! You better go on ahead and stop Cosmo from leaving with my sleigh!
Fred	But, uh… How do I do that?
Santa	You’ll think of a way.
Fred	But, Santa Claus…
Santa	I said, you’ll think of a way!
Fred	Okay. I’ll think of a way!
Santa	We’ll join you as soon as we can!
Thig	Hey, it’s unlocked, Santa!
Santa	Good. Let’s go!