News bulletin…..

 

Santa says WHAT?

The Icelandic Yule Lads are in an uproar today as shocking news comes in from the North Pole. It is said that the communication comes directly from the big guy, Santa, himself. Sources report that Window Peeper, the social media representative of the Yule Lads, was literally knocked over with a puffin feather after reading Santa’s message.

 

In a ground-breaking decision, Santa has notified that the Yule Lads, all 13, have been banned from the annual Nice List. It is not clear whether the decision is for this year only or is a permanent status for the Lads.

While details are still sketchy, reports from sources at the North Pole indicate that Santa has lost patience with the Yule Lad’s antics and mischief-making. Between Pot Licker, Spoon Licker, and Stufur, Mrs. Claus wasn’t able to serve a decent meal until March last year. This year’s ruckus seems to have started at the Southern Reindeer training camp and before the Reindeer Council could meet, the Yule Lads showed up at the North Pole.

Sources say all thirteen Yule Lads were involved in one of four separate incidents around the village. There was the disappearance of a large number of sausages and meats from the smokehouse, most of the yogurt was eaten, the milk was completely drained dry, and the entire stock of candles has gone missing. The final straw, it seems, was the destruction the kitchen storage room and many of the cookies and cakes that had been prepared for the upcoming holiday season.

Mrs. Claus is doubtful that the holiday cookie stores can be replenished in time. Rumor has it the reindeer threatening to boycott deliveries this year so Santa felt he had no choice but to take this extreme action.

No word yet from the Yule Lads on what they think of this -

Yule Lads: Mayhem at the North Pole Part 20

 

“Santa, we got troll trouble!”

Mrs. Claus stood with her hands on her hips, fifteen elves, four reindeer, three sprites, two reindeer trainers, and eight fairies stood behind her.  They all began speaking at once.

“The cookies are gone”

“The reindeer barn is a mess of hay mixed with the straw and milk dumped everywhere”

“There’s no skyr for the morning oatmeal”

“It will take days to clean up the mess in the kitchen”

Santa held up both hands in defense, “ho – ho – ho.”  He shook his head laughing, “one at a time please.”

“You there, what seems to be the problem?” he said to a little sprite.

“Santa, you have to do something!  These Yule Lads come up here and run around causing trouble and we always have to spend days cleaning up the mess!”

“Hmm,” said Santa, “Well, now OK.  I see that would be quite upsetting, yes.”

“Mrs. Claus, what do you think?”

“Santa, they are so active and they act without thinking and turn everything upside down.  And I don’t know if we have enough time this year to replace all the cookies they just ruined.  I just don’t know if we can welcome them here in the future.”  She shook her head, sad because she like them but they really did cause such a mess.

“I like those guys, all thirteen.”  Santa said, pacing as he continued, “They were raised to be very bad, well their mother was an ogre-troll after all.  But, now they do TRY not to be bad.  It’s really not their fault they really don’t know how to be good.”

He stopped suddenly, “But a year with no cookies?  I don’t know, I don’t know.  They should learn a lesson.  We should send a puffin message that they cannot come for a visit for at least six months.”

An elf jumped up and ran to Santa.  Standing on his tip-toes as Santa leaned down, the elf whispered urgently into his ear.

Santa smiled, “Yes, yes, that is an excellent idea.  Everyone!   No toys or gifts for the Icelandic Yule Lads this year.”

The elves, reindeer, sprites, fairies and Mrs. Claus all gasped. 

“Surely, you don’t mean it!”  Mrs. Claus sputtered, “You have never made such a decision so far before Christmas.  Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sorry.  I have no choice but to move the Yule Lads to the Naughty List.” He smiled again and Mrs C. looked closely. 

Something was up.  Santa hated for anyone to be on the Naughty List.  What was he thinking?

 

Yule Lads: Mayhem at the North Pole Part 19

 

“Quick – go – go –go” Bowl Licker shouted after he swallowed the glob of honey-flour-nutmeg mixture that had filled his mouth.

“Phew-ack!” Spoon Licker hacked as he coughed up a cloud of powdered sugar and cinnamon.  He slipped as he tried to stand and slid toward the door.

Door Sniffer raised his head, covered in four and gooey corn syrup.  He tried to wipe the stickiness from his nose and just added to the mess when he smeared the raspberry preserves from his hands to his face.  As he stood, he leaned on the wall, leaving behind grimy handprints.

Bowl Licker grabbed Pot Scraper and pulled him along to the door.  The room behind them was in shambles.  They didn’t look back and they moved as fast as their troll legs would go toward the back door of the kitchen.  They had just reached the outdoors when they heard the chaos from the kitchen.

“Yikes!  The cookies and cakes are destroyed”

“What a mess – look at the piles of gook!  And there’s flour on EVERYTHING!”

“Look!  Troll handprints and troll footprints!”

“Agh!  We got troll trouble!”

“MRS C is gonna cry when she sees her kitchen!”

Pot Scraper and his three troll brothers ran for the closest barn.  They found Sheep Cote Clod and quickly explained their new mischief. 

“Yikes!  We’ve got to get out of here” he shouted, “Go get the rest of our troll brothers and get back to the cave.  I’ll get Gully Gawk.”

They flew through the North Pole compound, barely avoiding the elves, reindeer and other creatures tracking their very obvious stick and gooey footprints.  Very quickly, all thirteen had been gathered and took off towards Iceland.  Suddenly, dealing with Gryla didn’t sound too bad.

They were all afraid of what would happen if they stayed here -

 

 

#YuleLads

#Iceland

#Christmas

#Trolls

 

Part 19 of 20 - Yule Lads: Mayhem at the North Pole, written by Heidi Herman, illustrated by Colleen Stiles

Yule Lads: Mayhem at the North Pole Part 18

Bowl Licker had tried to snatch the bowl from Rufus.  The huge North Pole sheepdog had latched on the edge with his teeth as Bowl Licker pulled with both hands. 

Door Sniffer fell over laughing when he saw Bowl Licker brace his feet against the sheepdog’s chest.  Rufus refused to let go of the bowl.  He shook his mighty head back and forth and poor Bowl Licker flapped around like a wet rag.

The sound of running footsteps in the hall sent them all through the closest doorway.  Door Sniffer, Spoon Licker, Pot Scraper and Bowl Licker scrambled around the dim room, each finding a small hiding place. 

Bowl Licker ducked behind the door.  Door Sniffer jumped in a large open barrel.  Pot Scraper scrambled up the shelves with Spoon Licker hot on his heels.  They each found canisters and boxes to hide behind.  This was some closet!

They listened for a moment to the sound in the kitchen.  It was calming down, so they felt a bit braver. 

The small dim room smelled wonderful.  Door Sniffer popped his head up and reached over to a nearby shelf.  Cookies!  He nibbled on a few.

Getting more daring, he crawled out of the barrel and up to the next shelf.  It was lined with fruit-filled cakes!  He nibbled some more.  Spoon Licker started exploring too. 

There weren’t any ooey-gooey spoons in there, but he saw a canister of clean ones waiting to be used.  He needed one!  Carefully, he crawled over to snatch one as Pot Scraper explored the shelf below.

Bowl Licker was on the other side of the room, watching his three troll brothers crawl around, sniffing, slurping, and drooling over everything. 

He heard a creaking sound.

He heard a crack.

The wood shelves started to moan and groan and Bowl Licker saw the whole wall come crashing towards him.

Flour flew in the air, sugar sprayed everywhere and there was a choking thick cloud of cinnamon that rose in a puff of smoke.  Corn syrup oozed from jars and dripped, joining with globs of honey and strawberry preserves to make a huge sticky mess in the center of the floor.

The four Yule Lads were buried!

Yule Lads: Mayhem at the North Pole Part 17

The polar bears landed on the southern shore of the North Pole.  All twelve Yule Lads scrambled off, waved their thanks, and then took off for the village. 

“Stufur!” a happy elf with a crooked smile gave the troll a big hug.  “I didn’t think you’d be around here for a while after the troll trouble you caused last year.”

“Um, yeah, well, that was an accident,” Stufur mumbled, looking away and shuffling his feet.  “I know Mrs. C probably hasn’t forgiven us yet, but we had another little misunderstanding.”

“Har-Har!” the elf laughed as he clapped Stufur on the back.  “That’s what I love about the Icelandic Yule Lads! Never a dull moment.  How can the Council help?”

Stufur put his arm around the elf and whispered in his ear.  Across the villages, groups of trolls pleaded their case with elves, reindeer and a variety of other magical creatures.  As they finished, each couldn’t resist the temptations around the village. 

Sheep Cote Clod snuck into the barn for some milk.

Skyr Gobbler crept into the dairy in search of yogurt while Sausage Swiper and Meathook tiptoed into the smokehouse.

Door Sniffer could not keep still.  This was the source of the most wonderful kitchen smells in the world.  When the wind was just right, he could smell the fresh baked goods all the way to Iceland.  The cookies and sweetbreads, pies and cakes, even the thick fluffy frosting in the layered tertas smelled better than anywhere else.

He crept closer and looked in the window, globs of troll-drool dripping from the corners of his mouth.  His huge nose twitched as he savored the scents of cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, and sugar.  His toes tapped and his fingers curled.  He was trying so hard to be good.

Spoon Licker joined him at the window, his eyes tracking every ooey-gooey spoon from tabletop to counter.

Pot Scraper stood on his toes, eyeing the huge pile of pans waiting to be washed, whining a little as, like Door Sniffer, the troll-slobber and drool dripped from his mouth in anticipation.

“GGGGRRRRR” a ferocious growl followed by a furious barking broke the silence.

Yule Lads: Mayhem at the North Pole Part 16

Stufur watched as Gully Gawk was tackled by three Elf Supervisors just on the other side of the bushes. Each of the elves were covered in chicken feathers and straw and looked like they had been in the barn when they ruckus took place. They didn’t look happy about it either.

“You come with us!” Stufur heard one shout.

“The Reindeer Council will want to hear about this,” said another, “you’ve thrown our training schedule completely out of whack. The camp’s a mess and I’m not getting blamed for this!”

Pot Scraper crawled over to a break in the bushes and squinted for a better look. The Elves were joined by a small herd of reindeer and they all surrounded Gully Gawk. Pot Scraper watched as they jumped on the reindeer, who quickly leapt into the air and few towards the north.

Pot Scraper, Bowl Licker and the rest of the Yule Lads hiding in the trees looked at each other. They had to get to the Council to tell their side of the story before the Elves did!

Bowl Licker sent a puffin ahead to make arrangements for all twelve Yule Lads to get ride across the ocean. As quickly as they could, the troll brothers took off for the coast. When they arrived, they jumped on a polar bear transport and headed for the North Pole.

On the way, Stufur laid out the plan.

“Sheep Cote, Door Slammer, Window Peeper and I will go see the Council,” he said. “Spoon Licker, you take Pot Scraper, Bowl Licker and Door Sniffer and find where they’re keeping Gully Gawk. Keep him company so nothing else happens. Everyone BEHAVE.” He warned.

“Candle Beggar, you and Meat Hook go with Sausage Swiper, and Skyr Gobbler. See if you can get any friends you have up there – elf or reindeer – to help us out.”

Let’s go get Gully Gawk!

 

Yule Lads: Mayhem at the North Pole Part 15

The Southern Reindeer Training Camp was in a state of pandemonium. 

A terrible racket rose from each building – reindeer bellowing, men shouting, women screeching, cows moo’ing, and the clatter of dishes falling and breaking.

The thirteen Yule Lads hadn’t really meant to cause such a fuss.  Gully Gawk and Sheep Cote Clod just snuck into the barn for a little milk. 

It was a total accident that Gully Gawk slipped off the beam while he was walking and landed on the backside of a sleeping reindeer, who jumped up so suddenly she kicked the water bucket, which went flying into the wall, spraying water all over two cows, a horse and three other reindeer and a small flock of chickens.  Truly, it was the chickens that raised such a fuss and then the whole barn was in a tizzy.

Stufur, Door Sniffer, Pot Scraper, Bowl Licker, Spoon Licker, Sausage Swiper and Meat Hook were all in the kitchen and couldn’t be blamed for the ruckus outside.  Inside was a different story.  When everyone ran outside to see what was going on, Door Sniffer took advantage of the empty kitchen – and the other six Yule Lads were right behind him. 

Well, empty kitchen except the one girl that screamed and fell over faint at the sight of the Yule Lads.   They tore through the kitchen, snatching every sweet treat, spoon, pot, pan, and sausage link they could find, leaving behind a terrible mess.

Grinning wickedly, they ran to the forest nearby and devoured the stolen goods.  Their troll lips smacked together as they drooled and slobbered their way through the treats. 

Pot Scraper spit out a mouthful when the forest around them exploded in shouts and snorts!