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On a peaceful night in autumn, two young girls were watching TV with their beloved nutcracker toy nestled between them. The TV was currently playing a puppet show, wherein a prince battles an evil king with the help of a beautiful princess. The elder of the two girls, Lucy, turned to look at her sister.
“Wanna draw?” she asked.
“Yeah!” Gabriela agreed, and the two sisters went off to find art supplies. Finding them quickly, they set up shop on the floor.
“Wait!” Lucy cried out. “We can’t start without our nutcracker!” And so Lucy went to grab the nutcracker off the couch, setting him down on the floor with the two of them.
“Now we can draw!” Gabriela declared happily. And so the girls began drawing, even leaving a piece of paper and some crayons in front of their nutcracker toy. Soon they finished and were ready to present their artwork to each other.
“I drew a Christmas tree!” Lucy announced, showing off her drawing of a green pine tree with several different colored ornaments on it and topped off with a gold star.
“I drew an owl!” Gabriela declared, showing off her own drawing of a brown owl with its wings spread in flight, surrounded by light blue specks representing snowflakes.
“Oooh, that’s really pretty!” Lucy complimented. The sisters then turned to their nutcracker. “What did you draw, Nutcracker?” Lucy asked.
“Come on, show us!” Gabriela insisted as she grabbed the piece of paper from the toy. Looking at it, the girls’ expressions morphed into one of confusion. On the paper, an image was drawn of a dark blue…thing that Lucy and Gabriela found themselves unable to identify.
“Oh, it’s, uh…really nice,” Gabriela stated, giving up on trying to figure out what exactly it was.
“Yeah,” Lucy agreed, having also given up on the fruitless endeavor. “So, what should we do now?” Gabriela hummed in thought, tapping her chin. The two girls then got an idea at the same time.
“Let’s watch a movie!” the girls declared to each other, jumping up and dashing out the door, taking their nutcracker with them. Neither of them noticed a blue-clad figure watching them from afar. But the nutcracker did.
“Hi, can we watch a movie, please?” the girls asked the person manning the ticket booth. The ticket taker looked down to see two young girls, one of whom was carrying a wooden doll.
“Uh, are you kids old enough to be here on your own?” he asked.
“Yes, we’re old enough!” Lucy declared.
“Can we get tickets for a holiday movie?” Gabriela asked.
“Uh…sure,” the ticket taker said as he gave them tickets to a G-rated, winter-themed film.
“Thank you!” the girls chorused as they dashed to the theater with their nutcracker in tow. The ticket taker sighed.
“What is it with people being so ready for Christmas immediately after Halloween?” he asked himself. “They were even wearing costumes.”
Lucy and Gabriela were happily watching the movie with their nutcracker sitting beside them. While the girls were engrossed with the action on the screen, the Nutcracker took the opportunity to slip away without them noticing. He’d seen the figure again (or maybe it was a different one?). He had to protect Lucy and Gabriela.
The Nutcracker exited the theater, making sure to stay concealed from wandering eyes. He made it to an alleyway adjacent to the theater, and there they were. The person in the blue cloak. Surely, they had seen Lucy and Gabriela enter, and was waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. Well, the Nutcracker wasn’t going to give them that opportunity. He called upon his soldiers and, when they arrived, they struck.
Against the onslaught of living tin soldiers led by their nutcracker captain, there was little the cloaked figure could do. Every time they got rid of one, three seemed to take their place. Finally, the figure was forced to retreat. But the Nutcracker knew they’d be back. And he also knew they weren’t the only one. He had to remain prepared to protect Lucy and Gabriela. With his life, if necessary.
Back in the theater, Gabriela noticed something amiss. She leaned over to peek past her sister to where their nutcracker was seated, only to find said seat empty.
“Lucy, where’s our nutcracker?” Gabriela asked. Lucy looked to her side, seeing that their beloved toy was nowhere to be seen.
“I dunno,” she answered her sister.
“We should go find him,” Gabriela said. Lucy nodded in agreement, and the two girls abandoned their movie to search for their nutcracker. They exited the theater and glanced into a nearby alley. They discovered some broken tin soldier toys, but no nutcracker.
“Maybe we should tell the police?” Lucy suggested, worried that their beloved nutcracker may have been stolen.
“But who can help us tell them?” Gabriela wondered. The two girls pondered this question for a bit before coming to a realization.
“Robyn!” And with that, the jolly duo sped off to the chocolate shop where the pink-haired woman worked.
At the chocolate shop, there was a lull in customers. Robyn was grateful for these brief moments of peace and quiet. She suppressed a small sigh when she heard the little bell above the door jingle. Oh, well. It had to end sometime. Robyn turned around to greet the customer, only to see no one there but a wooden nutcracker toy.
Puzzled, Robyn walked up to the toy. And then, much to her shock, it started dancing. Robyn could only stare in disbelief as the wooden toy gracefully danced to a soothing, bell-like tune. Where was that coming from? Robyn’s confusion was interrupted by a tap on her hip. She looked down to see another doll, this one modeled after a ballerina. The doll offered her hand to Robyn, and, after some hesitation, Robyn took it and allowed the doll to lead her in a dance.
Robyn and the dolls danced gracefully, at times seeming as if they were floating rather than dancing. After a few minutes of this (or hours, Robyn couldn’t really tell), the dance stopped and the dolls retreated out the back door, leaving Robyn standing in the middle of the floor in shock and confusion.
What the heck was that?!
The bell above the door jingled again, this time signaling the entrance of Lucy and Gabriela.
“Hi, Robyn!” both girls greeted. Robyn just looked at them, still trying to process what the hell had just transpired mere moments ago.
“Robyn, we need your help,” Lucy explained. “We lost our nutcracker, and we need to tell the police about it. It’s really special to us, and we’re worried someone might have taken it.”
“Nutcracker?” Robyn questioned breathlessly.
“Yeah! Have you seen it?” Gabriela asked. Robyn wordlessly pointed to the backdoor.
“Thank you, Robyn!” the girls chorused as they dashed out the backdoor. Robyn, still in shock, didn’t respond.
The Nutcracker found himself in an alleyway behind the chocolate shop. After he and his companions parted ways, he exited the alley, only to stiffen when he heard footsteps on the sidewalk. The Gemstones were walking to the chocolate shop to get as much chocolate as they could pressure the cashier into giving them for free (despite the fact that they could easily pay for it) when Ruby’s shoe knocked against something small and wooden.
“Huh?” Ruby questioned, looking down at the thing that she had knocked into and seeing a wooden nutcracker toy. She picked it up, curiously examining it while her friends gathered around her to do the same.
“Is that a nutcracker?” Emerald asked.
“What the heck is it doing out here?” Sapphire added.
“Hey!” The Gemstones looked up at the small voice to see those two Christmas-obsessed weirdos. “That’s ours!” Lucy shouted, pointing to the toy in Ruby’s hands.
“Please give it back,” Gabriela pleaded.
“Oh, so this is your toy?” Ruby smirked, holding up the nutcracker.
“Uh-huh,” Lucy and Gabriela responded.
“And you want it back?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Okay,” Ruby shrugged, holding the doll out to the younger girls. Lucy and Gabriela couldn’t believe it! Ruby was giving them back their doll? Just like that? Maybe she wasn’t so bad after all. Lucy reached out and grabbed the doll, but just as she was about to pull it back, Ruby suddenly grabbed the doll's arm and yanked, snapping it off.
“Whoops,” Ruby said, grinning evilly as she unceremoniously dropped the arm to the ground in front of the shocked twins. “Clumsy me.” And with that, she, Sapphire, and Emerald walked off, laughing at the redhead’s cruel prank.
Lucy and Gabriela could only stare in shock. Of course Ruby hadn’t just suddenly had a change of heart. Of course that was just a setup for another of her mean tricks. Solemnly, Gabriela scooped up the discarded arm and the two girls tearfully made their way home.
Lucy and Gabriela opened the door to their home and walked in, downtrodden. Their mother Luzcretia noticed and became concerned.
“What’s wrong, girls?” she asked them. Lucy and Gabriela simply held up the nutcracker and his broken arm. Luzcretia gasped a bit. “What happened?”
“He broke,” Lucy whimpered.
“Well, let’s see if we can fix him up, hmmm?” Luzcretia said gently as she took the broken parts from her daughters. The girls simply nodded. Before long, the nutcracker was repaired with glue, his broken arm held in a makeshift sling until it dried. “There, see? All better,” Luzcretia informed her relieved daughters. “Now let’s leave him to rest up, okay?”
“Yeah,” Lucy and Gabriela agreed, and the three females went off to do something to take the young girls’ minds off of the unfortunate incident. But rest was the last thing on the Nutcracker’s mind. One of the blue-cloaked figures, they were back. And they were right outside the house! There was no time to waste; the Nutcracker grabbed a sword and, careful not to be seen, snuck out the window. Once outside, he confronted the figure. But this one was ready, and drew a dagger.
The Nutcracker fought valiantly, slicing, blocking, parrying, giving no quarter. But neither did the cloaked one. And, unfortunately, they had the advantage of size on their side. The nutcracker was knocked back by a blow from the flat of his adversary’s dagger, his sword clattering from his hand. The cloaked figure then put away their dagger and pulled out a lighter. Flicking it open, they approached the little wooden nuisance.
Reacting quickly, the Nutcracker grabbed his sword and thrust it forward. The lighter was knocked from the figure’s hand–-and onto their cloak. Panicking, the figure tried in vain to put out the flames, but they simply spread further. The cloaked one ran off in a panic, like a shooting star on Earth. The Nutcracker sheathed his sword and climbed back through the window.
He was not a moment too soon, for, only moments later, Lucy and Gabriela re-entered the room. Once they saw their nutcracker on the floor, they rushed over to their beloved toy.
“Nutcracker! What are you doing on the floor?” Lucy questioned, picking up the wooden doll.
“Let’s take him up to our room,” Gabriela suggested. Lucy agreed, and the two girls carried their nutcracker upstairs into their room, where he was tucked into his own special bed.
“There you go, Nutcracker!” Lucy declared. “Now you won’t fall down!”
“Now, no getting up again,” Gabriela ordered. “We want you to get better.” Shortly after finishing her sentence, Gabriela let out a yawn. Lucy did the same immediately after. “Let’s go to bed,” Gabriela said.
“Yeah,” Lucy agreed. So, Lucy and Gabriela got ready for bed and crawled under their covers, falling asleep. The Nutcracker could rest easy. Those cloaked weirdos wouldn’t be trying anything further tonight. But he’d have to stay on alert for tomorrow. And the day after that. And however long it took to ensure that Lucy and Gabriela would be safe. He will never let any harm befall his princesses.