Silence

Hush, Elf-In-Chief of the North Pole's Workshop, had watched children change through the toys his teams created for them. Wooden blocks, teddy bears, board games and toy cars. With electricity came a demand for computer games and remote control cars, toys that beeped and flashed, smart phones and motor scooters.

Hush's workshops evolved as the world did. Work benches and paint departments became chemical labs and engineering rooms. More children were being born, more demands were being made, letters to the Big Boss were arriving earlier each year, the world was changing. More power was needed to meet the demands of a modern Christmas. The clunk of tools and chatter of happy carpenter elves became the roar of gears and the shriek of engines. The snowy rooftops became spindly chimneys that belched out fumes, darkening the once-blue sky of snowflakes and stars.

One afternoon, Hush walked from the factory. When once he heard the crunch of snow underfoot and the pleasant hum of the Arctic breeze, he heard nothing. Christmas had taken from him his favourite gift. Sound. Deafened by the machines and now by the silence that crushed his happy heart, Hush walked on, a sinister change coursing through him, chilling his veins, darkening his soul, bending his spine until he walked hunched and bony, thinner than before. He'd given his life to Christmas, to the North Pole, and look where it got him.

Nobody noticed as Hush walked through the town of St Nicholas. He raised a hand and like magic, snatched the laughter of the children, the jingle of sleigh bells and the tender lyrics of festive carols out of the air. Christmas stole his joyous hearing, so Hush would steal its joyous sound.

And he wouldn't stop there...