’Twas the Night Before ......... MURDER!!
’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
All the mods were a-stirring, including Grand Mouse.
The stockings were hung up by dreams with great care,
In hopes that Saint Nicholas soon would be there.
*tap* *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap*
"Just about done,
dreams?" asked
Dr. Drib.
"Yup! All the stockings are now hung on the mantelpiece, and just waiting to be filled with goodies tonight!".
dreams set her hammer down on the mantelpiece and stepped back to survey her work. Ten stockings were hanging along the mantel, one noticeably thinner than the others.
"It's not fair! I can't help it if I have skinny legs! All you guys have stockings big enough to fill with gadgets! But you can barely fit a stylus in mine!" whined
poohbear_nc.
Dr. Drib hid his smile as he returned to his laptop, where he was monitoring MobileRead for spam, while the rest of the team finished up the holiday decorations in the Moderator Lounge. Clouds of fragrant pipe smoke hung over his head as he zapped yet another bold attempt to post spammy holiday messages.
"Now
pooh, you know Christmas is all about giving -- not receiving! It's the size of your heart that matters, not the size of your presents" admonished
dreams.
"Or the size of your drumsticks" snickered
pilotbob.
"Sssh! Don't tease
pooh! It's Christmas!" said
dreams.
"Sorry
pooh," said
pilotbob, "here are some more albums for you to look at."
"Aren't you supposed to be hanging the lights on the roof tonight,
pilotbob?"
"Yeah, but first I want to fuel up on this wicked punch
pdurrant is creating."
"Hey
pooh, why are you looking through all of those photo albums tonight?" asked
pdurrant, as he stirred the bubbling contents of the huge punch bowl.
"It's this darn international community! I'm trying to find a new avatar that won't be considered edible, but apparently all cultures consume poultry!"
While
poohbear_nc continued to flip page after page,
dreams leaned over and whispered to
pdurrant, "Here's a bottle of special holiday spirits to add to the punch! I found it in the back of the MobileRead wine cellar. Let's liven up this evening a bit!"
pdurrant uncorked the bottle and poured the green contents into the punch bowl, which almost erupted before calming back down. He continued to stir vigorously, as he added more "secret spices" to his brew.
"Hey,
pdurrant -- let me taste the punch now" asked
pilotbob, waving his empty cup. "It looks like it's packing quite a punch now! Get it? Punch ... packing a punch?"
A muted groan ran around the room at
pilotbob's latest, and worst, attempt at holiday humor.
"Sorry, no one can have any more punch now - it has to simmer a while -- I'm using my own family recipe for mulled wine." explained
pdurrant.
"And it even contains its own heat source" observed
Dr. Drib, using his pipe to point out the tiny green flames dancing on the bubbling surface of
pdurrant's witches brew.
"Don't forget
pooh -- you're in charge of popping the corn to string on the tree." said
dreams.
"Putting a chicken in charge of the corn" sniggered
pilotbob, emptying his cup and heading towards the window. "I'll just open this window a bit to clear out
Dr. Drib's smoke - it's so thick that someone could get murdered in this room and no one would notice."
"No! Don't open the window! I don't want to be in a draft!" shrieked
poohbear_nc. "I catch colds easily."
"Oh for heaven's sake! Why don't you warm yourself up in the microwave while you're popping the corn?"
pilotbob hastily left the room after this parting jab and headed out to find the ladder.
Once the door had slammed behind
pilotbob, peace again descended upon the festive room and
dreams returned to her decorating.
[End of Episode 1]