Mangle’s department store was set at the very center of town just across from the Claus house. Jessie loved to look out the front window and watch the Elves busily going in and out of the building. It wasn’t strange for Jessie to see one of her friends entering the building. Everyone in the North Pole went to Mangles. There was no better place to shop.
Each morning Santa had his coffee and then took Jessie for a walk through Mangles. He always joined one or two of his friends at the Mangle’s coffee shop for tea and scones.
It stretched high above her. Green, silver and rusty, the machine chortled and grunted as it mixed Santa’s special bubble mixture together.
When the mixture cooled Molly planned to package the bubbles in candy cane colured bottles with clover leaf bubble blowers. She said the clover leaf would bring the children luck. Once they were package, Santa would place the bubbles in the children’s Christmas stockings next season.
The mixture was gurgling away and Molly had come over to the manufacturing facility to oversee the bottling of the product.
Since Santa was away at a conference Jessie had accompanied Molly to the facility.
Jessie sniffed the ground and tried to pull Santa into the ice cave. From the moment Santa had told her she was going on the carnival ride she had been excited. Jessie loved rides and she was so excited that she she tried to push herself to the front of the line.
“Patience, Jessie,” said Santa. “We have to wait our turn.”
Jessie looked at the people ahead of her. There was a small group of teenagers climbing into a light blue car.It was on a track that led deep into the man-made ice cave. She whined but tried to wait patiently. When it was finally their turn, Jessie bolted forward pulling Santa into the front car. Jessie stood with her feet on the handle bars, her ears alert and her tail whipping Santa on the back of the head.
Shortly after they climbed in the car began to move. It sped up so fast that Jessie’s ears and tongue whipped from side to side.
The jiggly balloon jiggled back and forth in the winter sun as groups of children ran up and through the opening in Santa’s house. . They slid out of the other side and landed in sand boxes full of snow.
Jessie’s ears twitched as she watched the children play. She had always loved children, and had tried earlier to go play with them. But Chris had told her that her claws would damage the balloon so she had sad patiently waiting until the children lost interest in the balloon and came to see Santa..
Exasperated, Jessie plopped down on her haunches. She put her head between her paws and watched the children run to and fro. Behind her, Chris, Molly and the owner talked about the Red Holly Berry Park. Continue reading Jan. 14th – Jessie meets a white squirrel→
