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Description
One morning the students of Tardis Boarding School woke up to realize that the yard outside was covered with snow. And not only it: huge white flakes were not going to stop falling. Usually this sight makes children excited, and it did influence some of them. For example, Amy, Peri and Jo. Leela and Jack were already anticipating snow fights, but several kids didn’t seem cheered by it. And it was not about sleepiness. Winter makes everybody sleepy, but someone – including Adric, Jamie and Vislor – turned sadder and more silent than usually.
This infected the older group as well. Nyssa also wasn’t really excited at upcoming holidays. And Vicki, and Steven too. No questioning helped: no one answered what was going on.

“The reason is quite simple.” Headmaster Smith, his fingertips touching each other, was sitting at the table at his study and talking to a bunch of various dolls made out of different materials and describing different persons. “They have almost no one. Christmas is a family holiday, and they do not have its traditional versions. Adric has only his big brother Varsh, who is abroad for now. Jamie and Vislor used to have families, but today they are the only ones left. And Nyssa’s father was murdered. She suspects that older Magisters are related to it, but she cannot prove it.”
“Tegan has only her aunt, but she’s not upset.” The porcelain doll describing a blond cricket-clad person had its own opinion, as well as the rest.
“Trust me, Five, I see more than you,” Mr. Smith objected. “I’ve got a plan. And you will help me.”
“We?” The newest addition to the doll bunch, a ‘combination’ (re-painted and repaired) with number Eight-and-a-Half and named Warrior Vix, pointed at himself.
“Yes, you. Don’t worry, you’re not going to be alone in this quest. You’ll be helped with a little… bit of… magic. And I will not be the one helping you now. Some of you has to find the blue book in the library."
“The blue book which you told not to search for?” The action figure of a man with scruffy bangs in front and in pinstriped suit produced glasses from the pocket and put them on.
“Exactly. And that’s what you will do next…”

Vislor awoke with a start, covered in sweat all over. He often had nightmares, but they always got especially sharp in December, because everything around was reminding him about family matters. And he had visions of his family being gone in a horrid fire. To be frank, he knew that he had a brother somewhere away, just like Adric, but there was a difference. Adric a least kept a link with his sibling, while Vislor had no idea about his.
The kids were all sleeping in peace (heavenly!). Vislor would’ve been very annoyed if he had woken anybody else up… Having decided to go to sleep again, he wrapped himself in his blanket, and unexpectedly something like a cardboard box corner thrust into his side. Vislor found his flashlight (he often used it to draw at night – inspiration came to him at night hours mostly), hid under his blanket and turned it on.
It was the blue book with square patterns on the cover, quite old and worn. The one which had shown pictures to the kids who had made marks in it. Where did it come from?
“If the stars are lighted, this means someone needs it,” Vislor murmured and opened the book, which was either glued or magnetized this time: its beginning and ending pages wouldn’t turn. The ones which showed themselves – two or three – were blank, apart from two words on the top: VISLOR TURLOUGH.
When the light touched these words, they were gone from sight, as if absorbed by paper, and different words showed themselves one by one, as if an invisible hand was writing them. Dammit Potter, Vislor thought.
GET IT ON, TURLOUGH. WASN’T THERE ANYTHING JOYFUL?
What kind of joyful? – Vislor thought. The book reacted to his silent question in a moment, having put another statement:
EVEN YOU HAD MOMENTS OF DELIGHT, JOY, GLEE, LAUGHTER – CALL IT WHATEVER. TRY TO RECALL.
Bonkers, Vislor thought, closed the book, placed it onto his bed-table and rolled over, allowing his hurting eyelids stick together again. In some minutes there were no more sounds apart from deep even breathing. Only then a head full of hair made of black threads popped from under Vislor’s pillow.
“I just knew it,” Two complained, attempting to climb onto the windowsill with the blue book on his back. Nine, the leather doll, helped him with his makeweight. “He didn’t even react. Maybe I had better removed his nightmare.”
“You know it better than me that it is temporary.” The wire-and-cloth grey-haired doll Twelve crossed his arms. “I don’t think it wasn’t foreseen. Mr. Smith knows everybody well. I think he was expecting it.”
In the morning, the blue book was gone from sight (and only the dolls knew that in reality it was under Martha’s bed). During that night, they had also ‘offered’ it to Jamie, Sarah Jane, Peri and Rose, but their reaction was absolutely the same with Vislor’s – waving their hands and going to sleep again. And none of them seemed to remember it, because kids usually tell about their dreams – if they are good or neutral. Though there was no time to recall: it was the time of semester exams, and all students did their best in order to pass them. Most of them liked their teachers and didn’t want to disappoint them, because at Tardis Boarding School everybody was at their place. And loved it. Except, maybe, for the seven Magister boys
(or six, because one of them, Yanek, wasn’t such a trickster as the rest), but most of them for now were infected with unanimity dominating at the place. Even the oldest Magister, Roger, who thought he didn’t have to study at all, had to re-read all his notes and make the new ones.

“You didn’t suppose it was useless?” Six, the patchwork doll, asked Mr. Smith, standing akimbo. “None of them made a single mark.”
“But you made ALL of them take it and look through?” Mr. Smith pointed out. The dolls nodded. “That’s it. It’s subconscious. Do you suppose me to be so brainless that I would not know what they would do?”
“You’re anything but brainless,” Eleven, another action figure, stated.
Mr. Smith stood up and began measuring the room with his steps:
“Ahhh, you buttering-up little jerk… The mechanism is quite ordinary. The book tells the kids to recall something joyful, and they fall asleep with this though in the mind. And then… This book is able to record the thoughts of the one who was the last to touch it, so you’ll see.”
“Curioser and curioser,” Vix confessed.
“That’s not me. That’s Tardis.”
“Who’s Tardis?”
“Tell ya later.”

Adric woke up without any special feeling. It was going to be another long winter day. Thankfully, they had passed the final exam yesterday (it was Miss Wright’s History, not the easiest subject for the math-keen kids like him and Zoe), so no one had to hurry.
The room was half-empty, because most of the kids had left for home, and someone stayed. Who had left? Amy, Rory, Rose, Martha, Sarah Jane, Tegan, the Magister twins Johnny and Harold, and Susan, and Peri, and Grace. They were gone for several days at least.
Some of those who remained were still sleeping, some were missing (though their beds were still unmade), and the only awake one here, apart from Adric, was Victoria, whose face was no other than that of a true bliss. Till such term that she was about to weep.
“Victoria?”
“Morning, Adric…” Victoria placed the thing she was holding (from his point of view it wasn’t seen clearly) and turned to him.
“What are you reading there?”
Victoria nodded at Adric’s bed table, and he finally saw that there was an alien item on it – a yellowish brown ancient-styled book tied with a grass-green ribbon and with an “Adric Alzar” label under the bow which this ribbon formed. He removed it and opened the first page, which contained a picture: himself giving a hand-made card to Nyssa, one of the older group students. Though the picture was sepia-colored, all the shades – including blush – were clear. The following picture showed the moment from Six Minds game, where the team of Tardis Boarding School (The Whos) received the third place. The next one recorded a moment of Adric receiving his blue star badge for mathematical excellence. And himself sharing the fishes he caught with his mates (this had taken place during the suburban trip in summer). Or deeply involved in hacking one of the computers (together with Zoe). And writing a Valentine’s day card ‘for the cleverest’. Beating Tony Magister in racing computer game.
Adric closed the album, riddled. Who could take all those pictures and who could have given him a reminder of every single moment of joy and peace?.. Victoria’s album was with the same idea. Pictures there showed her dancing in a Victorian-styled (bad pun) dress, reading The Prince and the Pauper under the blanket with a flashlight, listening to music in headphones for the first time, escaping Darko Magister together with Jamie. This was just the beginning.
“Look, everybody’s got such,” Victoria pointed at the bed-tables which contained similar albums tied with multi-colored ribbons (hers was dark green) and with portraits and various symbols on the covers. Hardly had Adric paid attention to the album on the closest bed-table to them (it was Jo’s, tied together with a light blue ribbon) when an unusually sweet smell struck his nose.
Victoria grinned:
“Oooooh. Adric smelled sweets! Because sweets!”
Thank you very much, Adric thought – he couldn’t stand all-time non-funny jokes about the connection between his turned-up nose and his smell for tasty food.
Those were not the only surprises for today. When the kids walked into the canteen, they didn’t recognize it at first, because it turned into a space exhibition (the ceiling was lighted in such way that it resembled the richest night sky) and a pine wood (along with a giant Christmas tree in the corner – artificial, for Mr. Smith, and no one at school at all, tolerated using real pine-trees, but highly natural-looking – there were fir cones and small paper pine trees chains on the walls) at the same time. Having paid attention to the decorations on the Christmas tree, they revealed that, along with traditional glass balls and tinsel, there were mini copies of things that only ‘Tardisers’ would understand. Those were Nyssa’s tiara haircomb, Vislor’s triangular locket, Adric’s star badge, River’s paintball gun, Rory’s helmet (he had a Roman-styled helmet of which he was very proud), Amy’s police box model, Sarah Jane’s clockwork dog model and many more meaningful things. Along with them, there were adults’ item copies: for instance, Mr. Smith’s key (which looked truly odd for a key), Miss Roman Senior’s crystal pendant, Mr. Chesterton’s microscope.
“Well, what is everyone waiting for?”
Headmaster Smith, his usual outfit accompanied by a well-worn top hat of vinous violet shade, appeared in the doorway unnoticeably as only he could.
“There’s something waiting for you,” he continued. “Take your seats and let’s see.”
The children easily found their places. Each one’s plate, covered with clean tissues, was decorated with a chain of cookies with letters forming their names. And it was all fair: for instance, Jo’s cookies (there were nine of them, spelling her full name Josephine) were quite small, while Clara’s were larger, but in all the amount of dough and icing was equal. Mr. Smith didn’t have pets among them, and the kids loved it.
“Hey, and what about the ones who left? Unfair,” Leela complained.
“It would be unfair if you were left without any attention,” Mr. Smith objected.
Jack was the first to look under the tissue and reveal a stash of individual presents underneath. Among trifles like sweets and cookies, there was a water gun which looked just like a real one – as Jack liked it. Leela got a new pen-knife with lots of blades hidden inside, Clara received a book 101 Places to See, Vislor got a new set of brushes. Adric found a Rubik’s star under his tissue, while Jo received a blue crystal bracelet.
Basically speaking, everybody received a present according to his or her tastes and preferences. Even Zoe, who had already devoured all the codes and puzzles possible, was satisfied with the book of Mighty Mind Bogglers.
However, though it seemed that it couldn’t get any better (the children who remained didn’t even dream of being treated this way), it turned out that it could. And it started with River Song seemingly spoiling their breakfast: unexpectedly Jamie froze with a cookie in his mouth, his face covered with tiny icicles. The reason was River, who was standing in the doorway and, satisfied, twirling a gun quite similar to Jack’s.
“Three regimes: water, ice, steam!” she announced. “A genius knew what I like!”
“Ya bassa!” Ace exclaimed, searching for her matches. She received a set of fireworks, rockets and various (safe) explosives and couldn’t wait to try them out.
“Hey, those are my words!” Jamie yelped.
“Whaaaaaat, nine to one? Unfair.” John Benton and Mike Yates, the two from the older group, also appeared in the canteen. “River, we’re in your team. Three big ones versus nine little ones. Sayaa, who’s gonna win?”
Jack squinted and aimed at the two with his new gun…
Basically speaking, the breakfast was urgently over, and the kids of every age dashed outside to have a snowball battle. The worrying younglings, like Victoria, only hoped that two things wouldn’t happen: that Roger Magister (the oldest one in the family, and the only one who hadn’t left) didn’t lay explosives under the snow, and that no one would toss a snowball (accidentally or on purpose) at Mr. Smith. Or Miss Roman Senior.
And no one quite cared where another group of kids came from. Those very who had appeared at their concert at Halloween and had called themselves The Whos. Harty, Trofty, Perty, Bakey-one and Bakey-two, Davey, Maccy, Ganny, Eccly, Tenny, Smithy and Cappy. Today they had an addition as well – it was a sad boy named Hurty (a very fitting name), who soon got infected with the atmosphere and fought the ‘snowrivals’ the most skillfully.
Who was the most delighted? Mr. Smith, of course. He thought that no one was left without a present, watching the fight from his window.
“You cunning creature,” he said and caressed the cover of the blue book on the windowsill. “Read their wishes as well. And fulfilled them. Thank you.”
Woooosh.
“I know.”