Snow fell lightly under the quilted, blue sky and the landscape looked like cotton-candy. It was a picture of pure perfection.

In the distance, singing could be heard. From far away, it sounded okay.

But when you get closer...

Let's just say that it is very similar to that of a dying creature.

"AND A HAPPY NEW..." Buddy the Elf took a huge breath, "YEARRRRRRR!"

The elves clapped as Buddy took a bow, some elves even threw plushies at him, which he took as compliments.

"And now for jingle bells." He said with a grin.

"NO!" The elves said in unison.

Buddy frowned slightly and Papa Elf walked over to him, "I think they mean that they need to get on with their work, Buddy." He smiled up at the larger elf.

"Oh okay, back to work guys!" Buddy clicked his fingers as the elves carried on building toys.

Jovie walked over, holding her and Buddy's child. He smiled at her then looked at Papa Elf, "We better go now, it's time to put the decorations up."

"But Buddy...you've already decorated your house...and my house...and Santa's house...and I'm pretty sure you've even covered the streets with lights and tinsel." Papa Elf listed, picking up a bag of stuffing and dropping it off on the table.

"I know." Buddy grinned, "But there's the rest of the North Pole and I'm pretty sure if I ask nicely, Mr Narwharl will let me decorate his horn with tinsel."

He opened the door and let Jovie out, "Bye Papa!" He beamed as he shut the door behind them.

They walked down the path, passing candy canes and gumdrops.

"Buddy?" They heard from behind, as well as the sound of ice skates. They turned and came face to face with an elf dressed in blue, a postman's bag slung on his shoulder. He fished into the bag and handed Buddy a letter, "This is for you. Have a nice day."

And with that he skated off, gone within seconds.

"Who's it from?" Jovie asked, peering over to the envelope.

"I'm not sure." Buddy opened the letter and read it aloud:

To Buddy,

Things have been going wrong here in New York. More people are down and there is barely any christmas going on here at all.

It's been super depressing.

Worse than before you came.

Like even Mom can't stand the sound of Wham! Last Christmas and that was her favourite song, she even wished one year that she could marry George Michael...now that I think about it I'm pretty sure that's where my name came from...

Please help.

From your brother,

Michael

P.S. Dad is scaring me because he is more jolly than anyone!

"What? Your mom can't stand Last Christmas!" Jovie exclaimed, "Something is definately wrong here..."

"Maybe I should go back...I had great fun last time," Buddy put the letter back in the envelope, "It's not everyday somebody can try the world's best cup of coffee..."

"Buddy..." Jovie placed a hand on his arm, "That coffee tasted the equivalent of cow droppings..."

"Doesn't every cup of coffee?" Buddy raised an eyebrow, proving a well known point.

"Maybe you should go back to New York, see how you can help Michael..." Jovie smiled at him and looked down to the pram, "I can stay here."

"You sure?" Buddy half-smiled and looked down at Jovie.

"Of course." She smiled up at him and kissed him softly.

He smiled and jogged off, "Tell Papa Elf that I'm going to be back soon!" He called as he got further away.

"Buddy! We have a..." Jovie sighed, "Car."

So Buddy set off on his second adventure to New York, hitching a ride on an ice sheet.

After what seemed like days, he reached land and ventured into the woods. He feet ached and his back killed but he found New York.

The tall buildings seemed darker than usual, the streets were dull and the shops were bland.

He jogged off towards the Empire State building, filled with joy and hope.

He slid into the lift and swiped his hand over the buttons, "It looks like a christmas tree." He whispered to the elderly woman next to him, who looked confused. Once he arrived on the correct floor, he slipped away to his father's office.

He opened the door to his dad's office and saw him sitting at his desk, speaking on the phone.

He stood there, not saying a word, smiling, looking slightly creepy.

"Can I call you back?" Walter said, putting the phone down and sighing. He looked up at Buddy, "What are you doing here? And why aren't you back up there in Gumdrop Kingdom or whatever."

Buddy explained the letter and Walter gave a fake smile as he began to write stuff down. Buddy sat in front of the desk, grinning at his father as he wrote.

"What do you want?" Walter said looking up.

"Nothing..." Buddy smiled, "Just watching."

Walter sighed again and carried on, trying to ignore the fact that a man-elf in yellow latex tights was sitting less than thirty centimetres away from him.

"I like to write too." Buddy whispered.

"GET OUT!" Walter's voice boomed around the room and Buddy scrambled out of the office like a cat in a bath.

Buddy found himself wandering the streets, noticing how people didn't even smile or laugh or even talk.

He noticed that almost every single person he passed by and spotted had an electronic device. He had no idea what they were and he wandered why they were so addicted to them.

"Excuse me?" He tapped a man (who was sitting on a bench) on his shoulder.

The man just stared down at his phone, like it was hypnotising him and sending him into an unbreakable trance.

"Excuse me?" He said again and the man seemed to sputter as he broke out of his "sleep".

"What?" He asked impatiently, glaring up at Buddy.

"What is that?" Buddy pointed at the electronic device in the man's hand.

"It is called an Iphone. Don't you have one?" The man chuckled in amusement.

"An eye...phone..." Buddy grabbed the Iphone out of the man's hand and held it against his eye, he looked around as if he was trying on glasses and then the man ripped the phone from Buddy's grasp.

He walked away in disgust and Buddy called to him, "I think your eye phone is broken!"

"Buddy!?" The elf heard from behind him. He turned and was greeted by Michael, who jogged up to him and wrapped him in a hug.

"Michael!" Buddy picked the boy up before placing him back down.

"You gotta help! Nobody is in the christmas spirit and there are barely any decorations or anything. I don't know what is wrong with everybody!" Michael looked around.

Buddy inspected the sea of people, looking closely at what they all had in common.

"The eye phones..." Buddy whispered.

"Iphones? What about them?" Michael raised an eyebrow.

"Whatever is on them is distracting them from what is going on around them. Maybe they are the reason why everybody has lost their christmas spirit." Buddy explained. Surprisingly, his theory could be correct and Michael understood it.

"But even if it is the cause, how do we distract people from them?" Michael thought.

"What do you need for them to eye phone?" Buddy asked, having no clue on how to use the term 'eye phone' in a sentence.

"Battery, signal, wifi..." Michael listed.

"What do you need to get signal?"

"Satellites." Michael pointed up to the news building, where a huge satellites stood like a statue, "What's your plan?"

"No satellite means..." Buddy looked down at Michael.

"No signal!" Michael smiled but then it faded as he realised, "But...how are we going to get rid of that huge satellite?"

Buddy smiled and stood proud, the wind blowing the tufts of fur around his collar, sending his bell on the top of his head to sway and ring a slight beat, it was a real batman moment. He put his hands to his sides and said...

"I have no idea."

After a while of thinking, Buddy snapped his fingers and turned to Michael, "We need a sleigh."

"A...sleigh..." Michael repeated, "Buddy...we are in New York...the closest thing to a sleigh is the boxes down alleyways that hobos live in."

"Santa has a sleigh."

"Santa is in the North Pole."

"Have you got any paper?" Buddy asked, "I could write a letter to Santa." Michael chuckled and got out his Iphone.

"I can just call Jovie." He laughed as he proceeded to ring Jovie. Once she picked up, he handed Buddy the phone, who stared at it for a while before putting it to his ear.

Hesitantly, Buddy said "Hello?"

"Buddy?" He heard Jovie's voice.

"Jovie!" Buddy smiled, "How did you get in the eye phone?"

He heard Jovie laugh but he just ignored this, "Did you shrink?"

"No, I'm still in the North Pole, Buddy."

"Magical..." He whispered, "Can you tell Santa that we need his sleigh. Meet us at Central Park in an hour."

"Ooookay." Jovie said, "Bye, Buddy."

"Bye." Buddy stood there and smiled as he held the phone to his ear, unaware that he had to hang up.

He stood there for about a minute, Jovie was waiting for him to hang up.

"Um...Buddy..." He heard her say, "You have to hang up."

"Michael?" Buddy looked down at his brother, "How do I hang myself up?"

Michael just took the phone and pressed the red button. He placed it in his pocket and they made their way to Central Park.

They waited on a bench for ages, staring up at the sk, waiting to see a sleigh fly straight towards them.

"Ho! Ho! Ho!" They heard behind them, as they turned, a sleigh flew over their heads, landing several metres in front of them. They jogged over as Santa sorted out his reins.

"Michael! Buddy!" Santa chuckled as he got off the sleigh, "How are you?"

"We're fine." Buddy smiled and got in the sleigh. Santa looked at him confused.

"Um Buddy...what are you doing?"

"Flying the sleigh."

"Okay. No." Santa sat back in his spot and Michael sat between them, "I only just had this fixed, waxed and polished...no one else touches my ride.

They took off and Buddy explained what he had to do. Once he understood the plan, Santa flew over the buildings of New York while Buddy got a large piece of rope prepared.

"Right, I am going to wrap this around the satellite and you are going to pull as hard as you can to break it apart." Buddy stood up as they neared the satellite, already filling with nerves, regret and litres of maple syrup.

He tied the rope onto the leg of the sleigh and he skydived down to the satellite. He underestimated how close he was to the building as he landed on his belly with a large THUMP.

He quickly tied the rope around the satellite frame and watched as Santa flew away, the rope getting tighter.

Suddenly, the rope straightened and Buddy heard creaking as the bolts shot out from the ground, boucing everywhere.

Buddy grinned as his plan worked.

There was an almighty bang as the rocket on the sleigh was turned on, ripping the satellite off the building like plucking a leaf from a branch.

He watched as people down on the ground groaned in frustration as the signal was lost. They all looked around, as if they were frozen in time then just warmed up. Christmas lights seemed to glow from the windows all of a sudden and he raised his arms in the air in victory before hugging himself tightly, "I forgot how high it was up here..."

Once again, Buddy had saved Christmas. +

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!