Carolling Adventures

     Carole the Shoyru belted as loud as she could. Her voice echoed off of the walls of the Ice Caves, travelling through the slopes and, in Carole’s mind, spreading holiday cheer to all of Terror Mountain’s residents. Carole and her two closest Neopet friends were preparing themselves for their favourite festive activity, their carol books clutched tightly in their gloved hands.

     The acoustics in the Ice Caves were always ideal for carolling rehearsals. Carole knew this is what she was born for (her name just emphasised the point), and now the season was finally here for her and her friends to spread holiday cheer to every Neopet on Terror Mountain. Carole, of course, was the leader of the pack and had affectionately named their group Carole and the Bells years ago. Jessica and Alicia didn’t seem to mind, they knew this was Carole’s moment to shine.

     “That was a great rehearsal guys!” Carole gushed as her friends began to bundle up their coats in preparation for the snow storm on the mountain. Carolling on Terror Mountain was very serious business and not for the faint of heart.

     “Let’s go over our supplies. Song books?” Carole called. Jessica and Alicia held them up to the sky.

     “Check!”

     “Coats, ear muffs, and gloves?”

     “Check!”

     “Top of the Mountain Map?”

     “Check!”

     “Great!” Carole beamed. “Then it’s about time to get started. Let’s go sing some songs!”

     Her friends cheered enthusiastically as the trio made their way through the Ice Caves and emerged onto the very top of Terror Mountain. It was already a beautiful Neopian night, with stars glittering above and light snowflakes drifting lazily to the ground. Snow crunched beneath their feet as they took in the view of holiday lights decorating the houses and shops surrounding them.

     “Carole, are you sure about this?” Jessica groaned as she zipped her coat up to her nose. “It’s freezing out here and my mum says the Peak of the Mountain isn’t always safe. Can’t we go carolling around Happy Valley like we usually do?”

     Carole shook her head fiercely, causing a light dusting of snow to sprinkle onto her friends.

     “No way!” She declared. “It’s important we spread holiday cheer to everyone, so we’re starting up here first and then we’ll make our way down.” Jessica and Alicia shared a knowing look before following their friend down the snowy path.

     The evening passed by in a festive blur of singing, clapping, and holiday cheer. The residents at the Peak of the Mountain seemed so thrilled to have carollers on their doorsteps, with several of them offering the girls hot cocoa and sweets as thank yous. Carole was feeling better than she ever had before as the girls skipped arm in arm down the streets.

     “Okay, okay, now is it time to head to Happy Valley?” Alicia giggled, pointing to the wooden sign pointing down the slope.

     “Wait, I think we missed one.” Jessica spoke up, gesturing towards the mouth of a small cave at the end of the street. There was a makeshift wooden door loosely hanging from the entrance and a beaten up mailbox to the side. The streetlights stopped a short distance away so the entire area was cast in shadows.

     “Yeah, I think we missed that one on purpose, right Carole?” Alicia laughed nervously. The girls glanced towards their friend, who was staring silently at the dwelling.

     “We know what kind of creatures live in the caves up here. We could get eaten!” Jessica whined when Carole continued to stay quiet.

     “Yeah, Jessica’s right, you can’t actually think we should go sing there, right?” Alicia argued.

     Carole was hardly listening to her friends. Instead, she was thinking of what her mum told her when she gave Carole her very first book of carols, back when she was just a kid.

     “Everyone deserves to be a part of the holiday cheer.” She echoed. “No matter what.”

     Alicia and Jessica groaned in unison.

     “We’re not skipping anyone who might want to hear a carol. Come on.” She said and strode confidently towards the cave. She listened as her friends shuffled nervously in the snow behind her. As Carole gazed up at the rickety door in front of her, she felt some of her bravery dissolve. What was she doing?

     Carole took a deep breath and softly knocked on the door.

     The girls waited with bated breath to see if anyone would answer. After several seconds, they all sighed.

     “Okay, guess that settles that, time to go…” Jessica began, when all of a sudden a large thud echoed on the mountain as the door in front of them was thrown open and slammed against the cave wall.

     The girls gasped in fear as they came face to face with the Abominable Bori!

     The massive beast stared down at the girls with piercing ice-blue eyes that made Carole freeze in fear. He growled and stamped his paws into the snow.

     “What do you want?” He growled.

     Alicia and Jessica squealed in surprise and started to back away. Carole turned to them and held up her hand. They froze.

     “We… we’re carollers, sir. We came to sing you some holiday songs… if-if you want to hear them, of course.” She stammered nervously. She could hear her friends’ teeth chattering behind her as they stared up at the imposing creature.

     The Bori looked at each girl skeptically, holding his gaze on Carole as he considered.

     “Why did you come here?” He asked slowly. Carole gulped.

     “Because everyone deserves to be a part of the holiday cheer.” She whispered.

     Then to Carole’s surprise, the Bori smiled.

     “It’s been so long since I’ve heard a festive carol. Please, go ahead.” He said calmly.

     The girls all looked at each other in surprise. Carole quickly opened up her book to one of her favourites as her and her friends broke out into song. The Bori swayed to the rhythm and clapped emphatically for the girls when they finished. His large paws created such a booming sound that patches of snow fell from the rocks above and fell in clumps onto their heads.

     “Sorry about that!” The Bori laughed as the girls brushed themselves off. “How about some hot cocoa to warm you all back up? It’ll only take a moment.”

     Carole brushed the snow off of her book pages and smiled.

     “That would be great!”

     “I rarely get company so having you all show up and sing to me has been such a joyous experience.” The Bori said fondly. He turned back into the cave and quickly emerged with three delicious-looking drinks. The girls gratefully accepted them and began to warm their hands with the cups.

     “Why did you act so scary when you answered the door?” Carole asked carefully as she sipped on her hot cocoa. The Bori laughed again.

     “Why, this is the Peak of the Mountain! There’s a lot of different creatures up here, and some are not so nice. I have a terrifying reputation to uphold!”

     The girls nodded in response.

     “Thank you again though, for coming to my door. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday!” The Bori proclaimed. The girls thanked him kindly then continued down the trail towards Happy Valley.

     There was so much more carolling to do, but Carole’s heart was already so full. She hugged her carol book to her chest as they walked up to the next house.

     The End.