A Lot To Do
The
letters from the children started coming in about the middle of
November, so the elves began their duties in earnest. There were a
few who were assigned to the “Gadgets, Gifts and Gizmo” group who
monitored the adverts on the television to see what the latest “must
have” this year would be and if it coincided with the requests
already in. Unlike people who watch the programmes and often make a
drink while the adverts are on, the elves only concentrate on the
adverts. Another group were assigned to making beautiful items from
wood, like toys, games and decorations, quite often for the younger
family members. The last group helped Santa to get everything ready
by checking all the sleighs were in working order for the big night
and the whistle-stop journey. Mrs Claus was making preparations for
the food for everyone. She was planning how many sausage rolls,
mince pies, cinnamon biscuits, Christmas puddings and savoury
nibbles, etc, to make, as once the deliveries are over it is the time
for Santa, Mrs Claus and the elves to all sit down together for their
Christmas celebrations before Santa goes on a very strict diet, due
to all the mince pies he eats on his journey. There is always a lot
to do, but everyone gets busy to the accompaniment of the elves
singing all the Christmas songs.
Things
were going well and most of the toys requested by the children had
been made sourced and were ready for wrapping and sorting into
different journeys, when Mrs Claus started feeling unwell. She
developed a dreadful cold and was forced to take to her bed, all the
time fretting about not having got all her food preparations done.
Everyone tried to tell her that the quicker she rested the quicker
she would recover, but to now avail. Gretchen, one of the television
monitors, had been studying some of the other adverts and was very
taken with one particular one. She spoke to her friend Wilfred and
showed it to him, asking what he thought. He was impressed and
together they spoke to Santa. When he saw it he agreed and they all
put the plan to Mrs Claus. The advert was from Tesco and the
tempting selection of many different puddings, savouries and frozen
vegetables. All they needed to do was cook the turkey and vegetables
and take the rest out of the packaging. The elves were particularly
impressed that there were sprouts, as these fairy cabbages are one of
their favourites. With the food problem sorted, Mrs Claus took to
her bed to make a full recovery.
However
the problems were not over as a couple of the reindeer started
feeling unwell and passed the cold on to Rudolf. Now unlike people
when they get a cold and develop a red nose, a reindeer nose looses
its rosy glow. This meant he would not be able to guide the sleigh
and that would cause trouble, as there was no other reindeer
qualified to do the job. Poor Santa was at his wits end. He could
not let all the children down, and knew there was no way he could
complete all the journeys in time. Then Wilfred came to the rescue
with an idea. When Gretchen was showing him the advert she had
found, he noticed another and liked that. This one could solve the
problem. Why not ask Amazon to help? They deliver the next day and
do so with a smile. Problem solved. Everyone happy. Christmas is
coming – can you feel it, can you feel it, can you feel it?
