The Nothing Special Christmas Special

Somewhere in the North Pole, there is a little tavern called Under the Mistletoe. It's owned and run by Violet, one of the many sugar plum fairies.

The week leading up to Christmas, sugar plum fairies are frenzied with appearances in both dreams and realities all over the world. But in the early days of December, they often find themselves of little use to the elves who are tirelessly working away at last minute preparations for the big day. But Violet had found a place where she could be of some help, in her tavern called Under the Mistletoe.

Beginning the day after Thanksgiving, many an elf had taken much needed solace in the warmth of the tavern. Moments in the hectic schedule to laugh with each other, reflect alone, let off steam, or simply just to be. Even the big guy himself was known to make an appearance at least once every season. And they were always grateful to Violet for fulfilling this need even before they realized said need existed.

Violet always had a meager smile on her face, even if she wasn't particularly outgoing. She wasn't much for conversation, but she was always quick to refill your mug. And on the nights that the reverie pushed the noise beyond the threshold of tolerance, Violet merely moved to the quietest corner of the tavern and absorbed the festivity from a comfortable distance.

It had been a night like that. Her guests were finally leaving, after having stayed an hour past the norm, and Violet sighed as she scanned the premises with its spilled cider and gumdrops mashed into the floor. It would be nearly sunrise before she could rest her head with visions of her compatriots. But alas, she knew the North Pole was a slightly happier place because of her efforts.

Under the Mistletoe was nearly empty now, only a lone reindeer lay curled up by the fireplace with his eyes closed. Violet knelt down to him, stroking his fuzzy neck.

"Do you need to kick me out?" he asked her with a subtle sadness in his voice.

Violet thought for a moment, but changed her mind. "No. You can stay as long as you like, if you don't mind me sweeping."

The reindeer moved his head in acknowledgement and Violet moved over to the door. She stepped out into the snow to change the sign indicating whether the tavern was closed open, when she saw a familiar figure waving to her across the field.

Violet blinked. "Suzy?"

The unmistakable laughter responded, and Violet's face lit up.

"Am I too late?"

"No, please," Violet held the door open. "I was wondering if you were going to make it back this year."

Suzy Snowflake scurried into the tavern, giving Violet a warm (though cold) hug. "I am so sorry, I tried to get here sooner."

"No problem at all."

Suzy did a quick appraisal of the tavern. "It looks like I missed something good," she giggled.

"The boys got a little caught up in the moment."

"Well I've certainly missed this place. They don't have anything quite like it in New York." Suzy's eyes paused on the reindeer. "Is he sleeping?" she whispered.

"No, it's Rudolph," Violet answered, not realizing she was also whispering.

Suzy blinked. "Rudolph?"

Violet nodded. Suzy seemed confused, so she explained, "You know Dasher, and Dancer, and Prancer, and Vixen?"

"Oh yes sweetie. I know who Rudolph is. He's the most famous reindeer of all. But is he all right?"

"He's just..." Violet stepped behind the counter. "December is looking like pretty clear skies this year."

Suzy sat down on one of the stools. "That's good," she said, half phrasing it as a question.

"It means they don't ask him to pull the sleigh."

"Oh. The poor thing."

Suzy requested something 'fun'. Violet set a tall glass in front of her and opened a bottle of a purple concoction, pouring it slowly into the cup. "Here, I really want to see what you think."

Suzy brought the glass to her lips and took a sip. A second later, her eyes opened as wide as they could. "Yum!"

"You like it?" Violet smiled.

"That is like pure syrup! What is it?"

"It's kind of a honeydew extract."

Suzy swallowed another mouthful. "You make it yourself?"

"How can you tell?"

"It's no wonder this place gets so crazy at night."

Violet shook her head. "Oh, no. I don't have this on the menu."

"Well I'm flattered." She had to resist downing the contents of the glass. "Why don't you have some?"

"Me?"

"Sure. Why not?"

Violet melted a little inside. "No one has ever suggested that before."

"Well, we have to make it a tradition then. That reminds me," Suzy dug in her purse and pulled out a plastic bracelet made up of individual circles designed to look like gummy sugar candies. "I got this for you in New York."

"Really?" said Violet. "For me?"

"Yeah," Suzy grinned. "I know it's a silly little trinket. But when I saw it, it just reminded me of you."

"I love it!" Violet put the bracelet around her wrist.

Suzy laughed again. "You don't have to love it that much."

"No I really do. I mean, New York? You must have a lot going on when you're there."

Suzy stretched her shoulders back like she was shaking off a heavy weight. "Oh you would not believe. This year was insane..."


Suzy Snowflake was one of the last recognizable figures associated with Christmas to not have a whole television special centered around her. Every year since the 1950's she'd spend the months before Christmas in pitch meetings and negotiations that never went anywhere. Usually these meetings were paced out at a pretty manageable rate, but ever since Disney's Frozen the season had turned into a complete tidal wave of discouraging conversations that transformed maybes into nos.


"So let me get this straight." Violet had finished her second cup, Suzy her third. "They want you to be Elsa, but then they shut it down because they're afraid you're too Elsa?"

"That's how these things always end. I'm too something. I'm too Lifetime, or too Nickelodeon, or too Wikia-y."

"What does that mean?"

"I have NO idea. It seems like the rejections fall into two categories. It's either some excuse that the studio is making up because they just can't admit to changing their minds, or it's that I'm female."

"Why is that a problem?"

Suzy shrugged. "Beats me. But studios don't seem keen on female protagonists. I was at one pitch that had gotten as far as a script with my name as the title but where I was only going to appear in the opening and closing scenes. The story was going to follow some male attorney or something. I walked away from that one myself."

"If that's the story they want, then why even tie it in with a Christmas carol?" asked Violet.

"Marketing." Suzy withheld a sneer like a pro. "I've been told that the only way this is ever going to happen is if the special can tie in to something that can be sold to kids."

"You wouldn't think a Suzy Snowflake doll would be that hard of a sell."

Suzy huffed. "You'd really think so. We'd talked about doing a straight up musical pageant and I was actually starting to get my hopes up. But then the studios wanted the 'sex factor' in there, but also not looking like the 'sex factor' was in there."

"How are you supposed to pull that off?"

Suzy gave Violet a smirk. "I have spent many cold nights pondering that very question."

"Well, if you were to do your own Christmas special. Like, pretending a studio just said 'give us you're own idea'. What would it be?"

Suzy leaned back. "You know, I appreciate you asking me that. I've thought about it off and on, and the truth is I don't know. I'd want it to actually mean something. Like at least capture the 'spirit' of Christmas in some way."

For a few moments Under the Mistletoe was silent, except for the dying embers in the fireplace and the occasional deep breathing of a sad reindeer.

"There's the old standby," said Violet. "Someone finding the true meaning of Christmas."

"I guess I've always felt it's been done to death already. Even if it's unavoidable."

"What is the true meaning of Christmas? At least as it pertains to Christmas specials."

Suzy tilted her head curiously. "I never actually thought about it before. I mean, there's the religious side, but you can't really put that in a special without making too many loud people mad."

"Yeah, but specials have managed to work around that for decades. What do you think the general idea is behind Christmas's meaning?"

"I don't know. I guess maybe it's different for everyone. For me, it's that time where you slow down a bit. Be a little more introspective. Maybe ask more questions about what you truly value than you ordinarily do. What is it to you?"

Violet examined the remaining liquid in the bottle before setting it back down. Only enough for one glass. "Endings. As beautiful as the snow is, a lot of things die in the winter. And sure, the earth wakes up again in the spring. But something will always have changed. Something will no longer be there. I think Christmas is that sense that you might be saying goodbye to something. And making sure you really do something to make that goodbye count for something."

"Hence the importance of traditions." Suzy winked at her.

"Indeed."

"Well, why don't we make a toast? The first of a new tradition."

"There's not much left."

"We'll make do." Suzy held up her glass and Violet poured her enough for one mouthful before doing the same for herself. They clinked the rims together in a dim ring. "To Christmas?"

"To figuring out where you belong," said Violet.


It was cold outside. Really cold. The night air was proving to be unrelenting as Suzy and Rudolph stepped into the snow. Suzy had offered to walk Rudolph home in the hopes of making his night a little bit better than it was before. But they'd only gotten six steps before the bite of winter set in.

"Good grief," Suzy muttered. "I don't usually say this, but it is really cold out here! You okay?"

"I have fur," said Rudolph.

"I wish I did. I'm freezing my booty off."

Rudolph's nose blinked into the glow mode. "You're an idiot," he grumbled.

Suzy did a double take. "Why do you say that?"

"Because you're all idiots. It's in your nature to be idiots."

Suzy moved closer to him and pet his massive face. "Sweetie, I know this is kind of a downer of a year for you-"

"Do you know what the meaning of Christmas is?"

Suzy paused. "I'm sure whatever I say, you're going to tell me I'm wrong."

"You all go through your lives blind," he said. "You're smart. You have ideas. But you take so much comfort in what you're thinking that you don't see what's right in front of you. The meaning of Christmas is that moment where you finally open your eyes."

"How does that make me an idiot?"

"Because," Rudolph stared at Suzy intently. "You had your eyes open and you couldn't see what I could, with mine shut."

"What did you see?"

"How happy she was to see you. And how happy you were to see her."

Suzy stared back at the reindeer, with his shiny nose in the snow. His message slowly settled in her head. Suzy's mouth opened to speak, but words never made it out. She completely forgot about the cold.

And satisfied that she understood him, Rudolph gave her a caring smile. "I can find my own way home."

And moments later, Suzy was out of the cold completely. She was where she was meant to be. In a tavern called Under the Mistletoe, which was finally earning its name.