The Adventures of Little Miss Candy Cane Jayne, Entry #3

I CANNOT believe it has been almost three years since I last wrote on Alex and Amy's blog!  Time has literally flown by so quickly, but it has been such a whirlwind that I absolutely MUST tell you at least one exciting story since it has been so long since I last visited the Lucys!  I am not exactly sure where to start, so I guess I should tell you my very first encounter with one of the members of the Lucy family. It began around the middle of February in 2008.  

It was a bitterly cold night.  The stars shone in the sky and the moon was a pale pink color with all of its fullness led by Donder on his path.  I remember I was flying over Canada when something really strange caught my eye.  There was a small shimmer coming from a bunch of pine trees in the dark forest below us along with a small tuft of white smoke.  I remember thinking it was odd and thought I would check it out to make sure everything was okay...

As I yanked on Donder's reign to fly down to the ground, I felt an incredibly strong difference in the air temperature...it began to get much warmer.  The closer we got to the ground, the warmer it got.  I thought that was so strange but felt like I should keep landing to see if there was something or someone who may need my help (us elves are obligated to help those in need at all times).  Once we landed, Donder found a fresh patch of grass in the middle of all that snow.  Can you believe it, there was grass that was not packed under snow in September IN CANADA?!?!  Looking back, I bet Santa made sure Donder had plenty of energy for that night.

It was then I saw the biggest bonfire I have ever seen!  There was this small little man with a long beard dancing around the fire singing, "I will be king of the world one day because I got Little Faye!"  I hid behind a large birch tree and watched this odd little fellow for a few minutes when I stepped out and said, "Hello!"

I guess he was just as startled as I was because he turned around and tripped on a branch sticking out from his fire.  I ran over quickly and helped him to his feet.  He was quite rude.  He told me, "Stop touching me!"  I stared at him for a few seconds and studied his appearance.  His long dingy beard had not been cleaned in a while.  Parts of his supper from the previous night was still hiding out in it.  His long stringy hair was oily and slicked back underneath a dilapidated burlap stocking cap.  He had a small hole on the right side of his cap just above his ear that I could have sworn there was a little gray mouse that kept sticking its nose through.  He had on a pair of ragged denim overalls with a small green patch on his left knee.  He had no shoes on his dirty feet and his hands were black from dealing with the ash in his fire.  He was shorter than me by about three inches.  The most astonishing feature were his eyes.  They were as lavender as a bouquet of spring flowers, and extremely piercing.  When this little fellow looked at me, I felt as if he were looking directly into my soul.

I was shaken out of my stupor by his screechy voice barking at me, "Well, what is it you want!?" I was abruptly snapped back to the reality I was seeing.  I stammered on my unarticulated words and thought, "What a horrid little man!"   I tried to politely tell him I was traveling through the area when I heard him and wondered if he needed help.  At that point, this little brute's face turned as red as a firetruck; that I honestly thought he was going to spontaneously combust.  And to my astonishment, he did!  He burst into bluish-red flames and disappeared completely into the thin Canadian air!  I wasn't sure what to think and waited for a few minutes for him to reappear.  It was then, after about 10 minutes I heard the faint cry of a baby coming from the woods.  

I stumbled toward the edge of the woods to find a maze of thick brush and small juniper trees.  There, nestled in a patch of holly bushes was a small carriage with a tiny infant crying loudly.  She was wrapped in a pink blanket and held a tiny rattle in her delicate fingers.  Snow had begun falling and was landing gently on her chubby cheeks.  I raced through this prickly green labyrinth to get to the baby and quickly picked her up and held her as close as I could to my heart.  She nuzzled right up to me as if to say thank you.  

I knew I needed to get this sweet baby to her home and quickly!  In the sleigh, a bottle full of warm milk was waiting on us.  It was then that I knew Santa had been watching on his radar and managed to get the milk to me through our magical network.  I promptly fed this sweet baby and held her tight to make sure she stayed warm.  I waited for the nasty little man to reappear, but he never did.  I wondered what it was I was supposed to do with this beautiful child when I heard Santa's voice radio me through the JINGLE JAM network.

"Candy Cane Jayne, are you there?"

"Yes, Santa.  I am here, but I seem to have run into a snaffu."

"Oh yes, I am well aware!"

"What shall I do, Santa?"  

"Well, you should probably return this baby to her mother and father. I will send you the directions."

It wasn't but a few seconds later that I received an email from Santa telling me where to return this rosy-cheeked baby.  She seemed content and full from the bottle Santa provided, so I gently placed her into our sleigh and wrapped her up tight in warm blankets.  It wasn't long before Santa sent word on where to take her...Virginia.  

I had never flown over the state of Virginia, but I knew Donder had been many times with Santa.  He would lead me in the right direction.  And boy, was I glad he had found that patch of grass!  I knew I didn't have enough deer dongs to make it back to the North Pole!  We flew south over the great lakes, through the Appalachian mountains and over towards central Virginia.  It was in the middle of the night when I found a cute brick house decorated in red ribbon and white lights.  I used our magic flue powder to take little Faye inside to her warm house.  

The house smelled like freshly-baked sugar cookies and was strung with green garland and red ribbons.  The Christmas tree was lit and had numerous presents beneath it.  Faye's parents were sleeping in the back bedroom.  I snuck into their room and found the imprint of a small person in between them. It was obvious this angelic child slept with her parents each night.  I laid little "Faye" gently between them.  She snuggled right up to her Dad's back. And I am pretty sure she smiled as if to say, "thank you."

I scampered back into the living room and left two small dog treats for the pups that were sound asleep next to the fireplace and scurried right back up the chimney flue.  But before I left, I happened to peek to my left and there hanging on the wall was a portrait of that beautiful little baby and underneath her picture was a small plaque with the name, "Emily Lucy."  So who was Faye?  I dialed up Santa on the JINGLE JAM network and asked if I was at the correct house.  He chuckled and told me I had returned the baby to the correct family.

Fast forward about 8 or 9 years later and I met Emily again!  Do you remember when I got lost over Virginia when I was convinced I was in Pennsylvania?  That sweet little girl who took me to meet her parents, was indeed Emily Lucy...the SAME baby I had rescued from that HORRID little man!!

Funny how we are sometimes meant to find one another again in life.  All those years ago when I had returned Emily to her parents, I remember rushing back to get a debriefing from Santa.  He told me over a warm mug of hot cocoa that Emily had been stolen in the middle of the night by Rumpelstiltskin.  Yes, that SAME little man who tried to steal that queen's baby all those years ago.  Apparently, he could become the king in his land if he stole a human baby to raise as the next heir.  He had been tricked by the queen he wove all that gold for and looked for centuries for the next baby who could rule the land when he had passed on.  I'm pretty sure Santa knew about all of this from my cousin in Ireland...she is a leprechaun and her land borders Rumpelstiltskin's!  

What a story, right?  I couldn't imagine little Emily being raised away from her parents.  I guess that is enough sharing for now.  I have been writing this blog post for so long that I forgot tonight was Rudolph's birthday!  Mrs. Clause loves to make his favorite cake...red velvet with mint icing.  Santa strings up red lights around the ice skating rink and we all skate and eat cake!  Living in the North Pole is so much fun!  Until next time, my friends! Oh! Before I forget, I had Emily draw a picture for you since it is against the rules to have my picture taken.