The Nutcracker Prince and The Mouseking

Chapter 1: The Party

Snow fell heavily as the sun sets, casting an orange glow over the Victorian town, high spires and gothic architecture covered with a thick layer of snow. The bells in the church and clocktower chiming a warm five times. The town was gearing up for Christmas, a huge tree in the plaza, twinkling in the evening light; carol singers going from house to house and the smell of mince pies floats through the air. In the marketplace of this vibrant town was a famous toyshop, the best one and the only one there: Mr Drosselmeier's workshop, a place where you could say magic existed. The shop itself was small, with a teal door and windows frosted at the edges but inside, inside was filled to the brim with gorgeous, hand made toys of all shapes and sizes. There were jack-in-the-boxes, dolls, dollhouses, tin soldiers, building blocks, rocking horses, music boxes, trains, anything you could think of.

Outside the shop stood a girl -about sixteen- with mousy hair in a ponytail and hazelnut eyes, wearing a thick blue winter coat, sky blue scarf and gloves and red polka dot boots. She huffs loudly, her breath clouding the air in front of her. Where was her uncle? She glanced at the clock, if he didn't appear in less than five minutes time she would have to go home. She didn't want to be late to get ready for the Christmas party her parents were holding. It was going to be so much fun! Those parties always were. A fun filled night of delicious food, fun dancing and games, beautiful music, presents and the huge Christmas tree. She wanted nothing more than to be right in the middle of it.

Finally, the door clicked and there was her uncle, carrying multiple large boxes with giant red bows on them and struggling to lock the door to the now dark shop,

"Here, let me lock the door for you," she says and takes the key from her uncle's hand and promptly locks the door with it,

"Oh! Thank you, Clara," her uncle replies and straightens up, both arms holding the pile of boxes,

"No problem!" Clara replies enthusiastically. They head off through the town, watching out for the particularly icy parts of the streets, greeting familiar faces along the way. Clara and her uncle walked through the large archway and onto a cold, dirt path leading away from the town with empty, snow-covered fields on either side. Clara hums to herself in excitement, she wondered what her uncle had made for her and the rest of the family. He always made something spectacular and grand. Last year he had polished and remade an old family heirloom: a massive mechanical castle that looked like it was made from sweets and according to her father it was about 200 years old!

Clara stopped reminiscing in memory lane as the trees started to form a canopy over her head. Making the cloudy sky look like broken porcelain. They were so close to getting home now, Clara felt the excitement make butterflies in her stomach and she sped up. Her uncle chuckling and striding quicker to match her pace, a mischievous glint in his eye. Clara ran ahead and unlocked the door to her home, a massive mansion that the family had lived in for several generations that matched the towns architecture perfectly and had a decent cover of snow on the roof too,

"Thank you my dear," her uncle says as he steps through the open doorway, and she follows behind him into the warm hallway.

Her uncle sets the boxes down on the nearby stool and heaved off his heavy, dark grey coat, revealing the old tuxedo he had on for the party and re-adjusts his long grey hair, tied up with a teal ribbon. Clara has taken off her coat, scarf, gloves, and boots replacing them with a pair of slippers,

"I'll be back uncle, I need to change," she says and dashes upstairs. Her uncle nods and picks the boxes back up just as another man with a large build, stubble, and a maroon suit on walks around the corner,

"Ah! Drosselmeier, you're here!" he exclaims, throwing his arms wide jovially, "how have you been my brother–in-law!"

"Quite well Eric, how about you and Ingrid?"

"We've been quite busy preparing for tonight, so have the children and we're all very excited," Eric replies leading Drosselmeier into the large front room with a table heavily laden with party food at the back, a few armchairs near the roaring fireplace and the huge, glittering Christmas tree in the bay by the window. Drosselmeier sets the boxes down by the tree and the two men get something to drink.

Up in Clara's bedroom, she is busy putting on the dress she had picked out for tonight. It was a dark blue dress with teal lace and pink highlights, perfect for the party. She slipped it on giggling to herself excitedly and pulled on a pair of tan tights. She glides over to the mirror on her white wardrobe and twirls, the dress fanning out in a cupcake shape around her. She squealed; it was perfect indeed. Clara dashes over to her vanity and rummages through her jewellery and pulls out a pink necklace. She then pulls out a pink ribbon and ties it around the base of her ponytail. She dons the necklace and a pair of simple flats and skips downstairs to start greeting the guests.

By the time the hands on the clock reached half past six, all the guests had arrived in gorgeous dresses and smart suits, the party was well underway. People were talking, eating, and having a laugh. Clara was sat by the table watching everyone, watching the adults talk, watching her younger brother Freddie play with his friends, watching her older sister Louise dance with her charming boyfriend. Clara felt slightly alone, her friends were already on holiday and couldn't come. She swung her legs and rocked on the chair absentmindedly. How she wished she had a friend to dance with right now,

"Clara dear, you can go open your gifts now," her mother says, lifting her chin and giving her a slight embrace. Clara's eyes widened. Ingrid chuckles and lets Clara pass her to the tree. She dashes over to a blue box with her name on the tag and lifts it open. Inside are a pair of pink ballet slippers and a pastel rose, flowing, halter neck dress. Clara can't believe her eyes,

"Thank you so much mum, dad!" she cries in delight and runs to give them a massive hug. Then a loud, tinny trumpet blares. Everyone turns to see Freddie with a soldiers coat on, toys soldiers at his feet and a trumpet in his hand. Her parents chuckle as Freddie pretends to command his soldiers to battle. Clara sits back down and opens the box from Uncle Drosselmeier. Inside is a doll with reddish hair and a dark teal dress. Clara gasps,

"Julie," she breathes. She examines Julie a little more and races to put her beside the old maid doll Trudy inside the toy cabinet,

"Stay there, Trudy will look after you until I come to play," she whispers and starts to head over to Drosselmeier beside the fireplace. Clara stops to put the box back out of the way but pauses. She doesn't remember seeing a Nutcracker underneath Julie. She pulls the Nutcracker out and gazes at him in awe. This Nutcracker was in a scarlet jacket with white belts, orange pauldrons, blue trousers, black, shiny boots, dark hair, and eyes with a black cylindrical hat. She notices how odd the Nutcracker's joints look and gently dares to move one. It moves with a creak. The Nutcracker can be posed like a doll? The thought rang a bell, this had to be Drosselmeier's work, it had to be!

She walks over to Uncle Drosselmeier, who has another glint in his blue eye,

"Uncle, did you make him?" she asks, sitting next to him on the rug. Drosselmeier chuckles and sets his mug down on the mahogany coffee table,

"I did. Do you like him, Clara?" he replies. Clara looks back at the Nutcracker in her hands,

"I do, he looks so cute and fantastic! How did you make him?" she asks back, her eyes shining with wonder. Her uncle clears his throat and shifts into a more comfortable position in his seat,

"Well then, let me tell you about how this Nutcracker came to be..."