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Chaos at the Hospital: “Top Shelf Elves” Destroy Children’s Christmas Tree!
North Pole Gazette
Reported by Sparkly Sprinkles
It was a rough night for Nim, Lila, Trixie and Biggy. The four so-called “Top Shelf Elves” started the evening with an argument over who was in charge of the fort planning. Poor Biggy was shamed into coming up with lame jokes at the expense of the Central Park Snowmen, who are considered the most distinguished of the Men of Snow Social Club. Tsk tsk. Things only got worse from there as Bossy Nim pelted Trixie with pillows for not decorating quickly enough. Lila joined the fray in defense of her friend and by the end of the evening, pillow stuffing covered the cafeteria floor. The Christmas tree the children decorated was in shambles, and all four elves were shouting angrily and calling each other names like “Nincompoop” and “Ninnymuggin”. Will tonight’s plans bring this foursome back together? Stay tuned, this reporter is on the job!
“At least she got your name right, Nim,” grumbled Lil.
“How can she say the Christmas tree was in shambles? It’s not even true!” Pixie huffed.
“And the “pillow stuffing” on the floor was supposed to be snow!” added Nim.
Figgy sighed. “And she thought my jokes were lame.”
Lil shook her head, an angry glint in her eyes. “That no good, sneaky, self—”.
Nim put his hand up and whispered. “Don’t say anything you might regret.”
He jerked his head toward the kitchen counter where that no-good sneaky reporter was sitting, pen poised over her notebook. Smiling sweetly.
“Let’s just get busy with the window display,” said Pixie.
“And try very hard not to give her any ammunition for her ‘news’ story,” added Nim.
Lil and Figgy nodded in agreement.
Making a big show of friendship, the four elves all chuckled heartily and slapped each other on the back.
“Don’t overdo it,” hissed Nim.
“Don’t overdo what?” Glitter landed beside them with a soft thunk, looked around the cafeteria, and spotted Sparkly. “Oh. I see.”
“Nevermind, let’s just get going,” said Pixie. “Did you bring the snow globe, Glitter?”
“Indeed I did.” Glitter nosed the globe from her satchel. It was a beautiful scene. Sparkling with snow, it showed children playing in a magical winter wonderland.
“Time to recreate the scene!” said Lil.
A flurry of activity ensued as the elves and Glitter whirled around the big picture window in the cafeteria making fake snow and soft snowballs. Nim directed traffic while Lil and Pixie created a magical playground scene where children played in the snow. Figgy followed behind, adding a comical twist to some of their creations.
“Figgy!” laughed Pixie. “What on earth are you doing?”
Figgy had changed a boy walking a dog into a dog walking a boy.
“Oh, just adding a bit of whimsy.” He smiled at the others, lobbing one of the snowballs in their direction.
That, as it turned out, was a mistake.
The snowball, not being real snow, bounced off Pixie and hit Lil. Bounced again, hitting Nim and careered off Nim’s head smacking Glitter right in the face. After a few minutes of stunned silence, chaos and laughter reigned.
All the while, Sparkly Sprinkles sat on the kitchen counter, her sharp red pen flying and a devious smile on her pointed face.
a pinch of homestead 