Olaf, Phillip, and Mandevu's Frozen Adventure

Chapter 6

Olaf rushed out of the castle and made his way to the stables.  Sven was relaxing inside, slowly munching on some fresh hay.  

"Sven!" hissed Olaf.  "Anna and Elsa don't have a family tradition."  

The reindeer groaned and hung his head.  

"I know it's sad," Olaf said.  "But I have a solution!"  

Sven perked up.  He lifted his head and waited to hear Olaf's idea.  

"We'll go and find the best traditions Anna and Elsa have ever seen.  We'll bring items back to the castle so they can decide what they'd like to do themselves!  Are you with me?"  Olaf held out a twig arm, and Sven grunted as he gave him a high five—knocking the arm clear off Olaf's body and sending it into the courtyard.  

"Ow!"  Olaf winced in pain but continued to smile.  

The friends acted swiftly.  First, they prepared Kristoff's sleigh.  Then they got Sven ready and hitched him up to it.  In no time at all, Olaf was sitting in the driver's seat, holding the reins, as Sven pulled the sleigh out of the stables and into the courtyard.  

"Let's go find their tradition!" Olaf cheered.  With the wind rushing past, Olaf felt exhilarated and full of hope as they raced across the courtyard and through the castle gates.  

They went into town and stopped in front of the first home they saw.  Olaf went up to the door.  He knocked and knocked until he heard a woman call in a singsong voice, "Coming!"  

Finally, Frigga, a short woman with a kind face, came with her son, Ben. Olaf stood there grinning.  

"Good afternoon!" he said.  "I am Olaf—"  

"Hey, Olaf!" said Ben, enthusiastically shaking Olaf's twig arm.  

"Please let me finish," said Olaf firmly.  Then he returned to his friendly voice. "—and I like warm hugs."  Olaf turned to gesture to Sven, still hitched to Kristoff's sleigh.  "This is my associate, Sven."  The reindeer lifted his head and grunted as if to say hello.  Frigga and Ben smiled at them.    

"We're going door-to-door looking for family traditions," continued Olaf.  "Tell us yours and we'll decide if it's special enough to take back to the castle."  

"Oh, we make candy canes together!"  Frigga said brightly.  She handed Olaf a thick, shiny, red-and-white-striped piece of candy.  

"Ohhhhh!" said Olaf, grabbing the sweet treat.  He removed his carrot nose and pushed the candy cane in its place.  His head instantly popped up off his body and his eyes rolled around in his head.  "Sugar rush!"  He giggled.  

Ben plucked the candy cane from Olaf's face and stuck it into the snowman's mouth.  "You're supposed to eat it," he explained.  

"Eat my new nose?" exclaimed Olaf. "Why would I do that?"  

"Because it's that time of year!" said Ben, spinning around joyfully. 

"Huh," said Olaf, popping his carrot nose back on.  "It's that time of year!" he repeated.  Olaf's smile widened as he realized just how special the holidays were.  It felt great to be part of something that came once a year and meant so much to so many people.  Feeling he could practically float with joy, Olaf thanked Ben and his mom for the candy cane and continued on his quest, heading to the next house and the next.  

Olaf had a great time meeting everyone and hearing about all the different things they did for the holidays.  He used a piece of parchment and a feather pen to catalog the great variety of family traditions that were taking place across the kingdom.  All the families were more than happy to talk with him.  They were proud of their customs, and honored to give a sample to the queen and princess.  Olaf piled the items in the sleigh to take back to Anna and Elsa.  

One family liked to hang boughs of holly over all the doorways in their home.  Olaf smiled as he watched their little dog trot up holding some of the long garland, helping them decorate.  Another tradition was baking a giant cookie in the shape of Arendelle.  The family worked together to pull the enormous cookie out of the wood-burning oven and show it to Olaf.  It smelled and looked delicious.  The kids wore colorful paper hats and eyed the cookie hungrily. Olaf loved how warm, cozy, and happy it was in their little home.  

On one street, Olaf found a group of neighbors singing holiday songs at every house.  The singers wore matching purple costumes, and they sang dramatically for anyone who would listen.  The group had even coordinated some dance moves. Olaf danced with them!  

One family demonstrated how they hung stockings over an open fire.  Olaf watched the fabric sway above the crackling flames.  

"That seems safe," said Olaf, smiling awkwardly.  

He thanked each family for sharing their special traditions.  He was taking notes diligently.  He couldn't wait to show everything to Elsa and Anna!  

"We better get a move on if we're going hit every house in the kingdom!" said Olaf.  Sven nodded and took off toward the next street.  

They continued on from house to house, finding new different traditions and putting more and more items into their sleigh.  It was filling up quickly!  

One family celebrated Hanukkah with a spinning top called a dreidel.  The children huddled around, taking turns playing with it.  They also had a special candle lamp called a menorah that they would light for eight nights in a row.  

Another group danced in the snow wearing evergreen garland necklaces and chandeliers of lit candles on their heads.  Olaf thought it was all so cheerful and festive.  He couldn't possibly choose a favorite!  

Another family's tradition was making fruitcake for their friends.  They gave one of the cakes to Olaf and he gobbled down the entire thing in one gulp.  It fell out of him with a thud.  

"That went right through me," he said, laughing.  He picked the fruitcake up and tossed it into the sleigh.  

At yet another house, the family explained that they'd bought presents for each other and hidden them.  A little girl showed Olaf the mountain of gifts she'd put under her bed.  There were so many that they lifted her bed off the floor!  Her "secret" hiding place was not very secret at all. 

One family explained how every year they would wait for a chubby man to slide down their chimney and bring them presents.  

Olaf jotted this down.  "Breaking and entering: okay on Christmas," Olaf noted cheerfully.  

Everyone Olaf encountered was so happy and jolly, he couldn't help feeling the spirit of the holiday.  Some townspeople played instruments and danced in the snow.  Unable to pass them by, Olaf stopped to dance with them.  A woman swung him around and around until he flew right off his twig arms!  He landed in a windmill and spun around until he was flung back to the snowy ground.  The woman hurried over, stuck his arms back on his body, and gave him a clarinet.  He attempted to play it as everyone enjoyed the big dance party.  

As Olaf knocked on more doors, he couldn't believe the number of new and interesting traditions there were.  One family's tradition was knitting scarves, sweaters, and mittens.  Just next door, their neighbor knitted pajamas for her kittens every year.  Kittens purred and peered around every inch of her house, wearing matching pajamas!  

Soon a heaping mound of items representing all the traditions was piled high in Kristof's sleigh.  There was everything from mistletoe, garland, and sprigs of holly to candles, musical instruments, and figurines.  The sleigh was packed!  Olaf had collected something from each and every house—except one.  

"One more house, Sven!" exclaimed Olaf, clambering onto the seat.  "Something tells me this will be the best tradition yet."  

He held the reins tight, and Sven led the way out of town, up toward the mountains.