“What new cheating will you come up with!” Nivea gave him the side-eye, as she stroked her lyre.
This somewhat tense exchange at the poker table was a contrast to Icelyn and Blizzard's moment. While she whispered in his ear what Skinow was supposed to do next, Blizzard just dipped his hands into the candy bowl and pretended to understand what was going on.
“Full house, losers,” Skinow shouted, lunging his five trump cards at the round table.
“Don't play dumb, Skinow, you hid the pair of 3's in your snowy belly,” claimed Nivea before surprisingly releasing her diamond straight flush.
“Nivea, I can't believe my eyes. That was a masterstroke. What a counterattack! Even with cheating, you lost, Skinow,” stressed Icelyn still in shock.
“He's not the only cheater,” Blizzard commented carelessly as he ate stick candy with his mouth open.
“Shut up, you're not even playing, Blizzard!” shouted Nivea before tossing the poker chips at the stick candy eater.
“I was just thinking a rookie couldn't beat me just like that,” commented an inebriated Skinow with utmost arrogance and his wine bottle empty.
From that moment, began a hubbub where the shouting, table banging, chip clattering and candy hovering, kept mingling to render inaudible any meaningful discourse among them.
The snowones lived that night as if it were their last. Their fun was so, but so great, that they forgot that their job was not gambling.
“Guys, don't you think there's something wrong with this?” shouted Icelyn several times until the others could pay attention to her.
“Yes, GaMbliNg with yOU is evil itSELF!” barely stammered Skinow.
Regarding this comment, Nivea and Blizzard wanted to give him more furious replies, but Icelyn interrupted once again.
“Shh! I don't know about the game, be quiet and listen well outside, guys,” she warned as she moved her rounded, heavy body to the window of the hut.
As if they were one snowman, Skinow, Nivea, Icelyn and Blizzard let out a groan of fright in unison as they heard the lyrics of the song that heralded Christmas Eve. They had completely forgotten that they were not apostates, but Santa's workers.
A path of despair engulfed them as they exited as quickly as they could from the hut, not knowing what else, besides a scolding, would await them at Santa Klaus' palace.
In Merry Town, gingerbread houses zigzagged behind a trail of leafless trees highlighted by Christmas lights lines. The snow made a polar carpet, in whose crystalline reflection only two things were barely distinguishable: the colorful fireworks and the desperation on the faces of the snowones.
“We're almost there, we still have time to help Santa,” supported Icelyn leading the quartet.
“Speak for yourself you idiot, I can't even drag the drunken Skinow anymore,” complained Nivea.
Blizzard tried to say something about it, but he was all melting. His vision was blurry and his body was about to drop.
“Don't stress your mind, they say you don't do much in the factory either,” said Icelyn defiantly to Nivea.
“Soon you're going to see how I do a lot to pull the carrot out of your ugly icy face,” Nivea threatened right away.
This argument seemed to be getting worse very fast, to which Blizzard had to react with his last breath and shout.
“Bad habits die hard, eh? I swear if you don't stop arguing, I'll tell everybody in the palace that you used me as a decoy to escape to play poker!” warned Blizzard with a seriousness never seen before.
Even the intoxicated Skinow seemed to return from the afterlife of alcohol with such a situation, and started an accelerated movement towards the ice palace where Santa was already getting dressed to go out to deliver presents.
The quartet, uneven in their gait, finally reached the site and descended into the toy factory sector.
The very air itself was almost melting from all the work the other snowones and elves were doing to finish everything on time.
A great sense of guilt overwhelmed Skinow, and as best he could he began to assemble nutcrackers along with his peers. Moreover, in some of them he even put some of the money he had won playing poker.
For their part, Nivea and Icelyn moved among desperate elves, who were bumping into and scattering boxes of gifts around. They, at the limit of their strength, picked up some of them with their stick arms and then asked which door they were going to.
The most affected by the hot atmosphere, the gingerbread men, were cooled by icy puffs from Blizzard who, from time to time, gave—almost in tears—his sweets as a form of gift, as well.
“Time's up!!!” shouted from the top of the factory, Santa's eldest elf at the sound of the Lego clock, which showed a Christmas ballerina as an alarm.
An all-encompassing no filled the whole place with anguish. It was almost Christmas and not all the toys had been packed away. Oh my Rudolph! How Santa would react to this mess.
All but one of the factory doors closed. In a matter of seconds, everyone fell silent as the solid sound of boots approached.
Some didn't want to see, others even cried. Skinow could already imagine himself apologizing to Santa on his knees. Everyone was waiting for the worldwide Christmas meltdown, until from the front door appeared, looking inquisitive, Martha, Santa's mom.
“For the one thing you are asked to cooperate and still you fail?” the manager of the palace snapped.
She began to search for the causes of the disaster, and among the groups of snowones, elves and gingerbread men, she found Skinow and his friends.
“Look at them, so disheveled, all around their bodies there are scraps of candy, cards and poker chips. Absolutely unacceptable,” exclaimed Martha so furious that her face looked like lava.
The four were immediately expelled, and the work was requested to be finished as soon as possible by the others.
Out in the open, amidst the fireworks and carols, Nivea, Blizzard and Icelyn lay sobbing. Skinow wanted to comfort them, but nothing seemed to be encouraging enough to improve the situation.
Everyone thought that Christmas had been ruined by indulging in their bad habits, neglecting the most meaningful tradition of the year.
However, beyond the wailing, a cannon shot suddenly sounded: it was the announcement that Santa was preparing to leave in his sleigh.
All the creatures of Merry Town gathered around the palace to witness the most iconic moment of the year, but to everyone's surprise, the sleigh did not take off. All that could be seen were the poor reindeer kicking uselessly in the air.
Skinow noticed this, and it didn't take long to hear that it was because of all the previous mess, they ended up not only being late, but also putting extra presents in Santa's big sack.
Skinow commented on this to the others, and proposed the fusion. Blizzard readily agreed, but the girls hesitated.
“What if we can't split up later?” asked Nivea worriedly.
“We'll be one forever!” exclaimed Icelyn in despair, holding her icy big head.
“We'll make it our wish to be separated by next Christmas,” Skinow assured them, smiling kindly.
So it was that, before everyone's astonished gaze, the foursome became one big snowman and with their great size and strength, took that super-heavy part of the sleigh and lifted it into the sky, like a toy, until Santa and his reindeer set off on their Christmas delivery around the world.
Such a gesture was applauded by all of Merry Town. Even Martha offered words of gratitude for the sacrifice, to which the big snowman reacted by dropping several snowflakes from his coaly eyes.
It was a mixed feeling of sorrow and joy, which became only jubilation when the following year, Santa, as a reward, gave them the gift of becoming Skinow, Nivea, Blizzard and Icelyn again, following the Christmas tradition of making everyone happy.
Merry Christmas to everyone who has made to it the end! I wish all writers at The Ink Well have a marvelous time with their loved ones, and recharged with holiday joy, we might come back brighter in 2025 to keep on creating stories🎄🌟.
Thank you for making this community a warm place to be.
