Category Archives: Garden Stories

Miss the first story? Click here!

Peals of tinkling laughter filled the living room. Nim and Lil were celebrating the return of Lil’s magic by streaming around the room throwing paper, ribbon, confetti and glitter…everywhere.

A little out of breath, the two elves stopped and hovered over the jumbled mess they had just made. Their eyes grew wide and their mouths fell open.

“I guess we got a little carried away,” said Nim, merriment in his eyes.

Lil twirled in mid air, somersaulted across the room, bounced on the couches and tumbled right into Nim, knocking his hat off.

“Hey,” said Nim. “Watch where you’re going.”

“Sorry!” Lil exclaimed. “I’m just so happy to have my powers back.”

“We’d better get this place cleaned up,” Nim declared. “The kids will be up soon, and we still need to hide.”

They started to pick up the ribbon, paper, and bows. Lil, using pixie dust, pulled the vacuum cleaner into the living room and ran it across the floor, sucking up glitter and confetti.

“Oops!” shouted Nim. “Don’t suck my hat up in that thing!”

He buzzed down to his hat and tried to pull it out. Lil shut the cleaner off and floated down to help him.

Then it hit her.

“What are you doing?” asked Nim as he watched Lil speed back up to the vacuum with his hat.

“You’re going in!”

Nim wasn’t sure how much he liked this idea.

“Ga thn t dnt ls sshn.”

“What’s that?” asked Lil.

Nim shook his head, getting it wedged further into the filter. He had said, “Good thing this doesn’t lose suction,” but Lil couldn’t understand him through the plastic.

Lil grinned mischievously and picked up Nim’s hat. She flew up to the light fixture above the vacuum with a piece of ribbon.

“This is going to be so funny!” she called down to Nim.

But he could barely hear her.

“It’s going to be a long day,” he mumbled.

Miss the first story? Click here!

Nim flew Lil to the North Pole as fast as he could go.

“How many times have they been told not to touch us!” he cried out in frustration.

Lil whispered faintly, “But it was Jacob. He is too young to truly understand that if he touches us…we lose our powers.”

Nim knew this was true, but he couldn’t shake the worry that clouded his brow.

In what seemed like years, he finally arrived at the North Pole Hospital. Whizzing past the reception desk, he found Dr. Twinkle and explained what had happened.

“We have one or two cases every year,” sighed Dr. Twinkle. “She’ll be alright after a night or two in the hospital.”

“Then she can go back?” asked Nim hopefully.

“Well…,” began Dr. Twinkle. “Not quite. The kids must show that they can behave themselves. Must show that they still believe. Until they do that…she won’t regain her powers.”

After the doctor had left the room, Nim gave Lil a determined look. “Don’t worry Lil. I have a plan to get them to behave and to make sure they still believe.”

On his solitary flight back to the house, Nim made a mental checklist of what he would need:

• Googly eyes
• Magnifying glass
• Bananas
• Orange
• Paper
• Red pen

Once he landed on the kitchen table, he got right to work.

First, he wrote a short note to the kids.

Since Lil is not here
You’ll have to deal with me
Please don’t shed a tear
She’ll be back soon with glee
Now you must all be good
And obey your mom and dad
Act as you know you should
And you’ll make us very glad
I’ve brought in extra eyes
To keep watch over you
It should be no surprise
They’ll see everything you do
-Nim

Just in case they couldn’t read his tiny writing, he placed a Santa hat magnifying glass on top of the note.

“And now for the fun part.”

It was a lonely job gluing googly eyes on all the bananas, pumpkins and squash with no laughing Lil by his side; but Nim was sure that if it was done right, the kids would get back on track.

Once eyes were on all the produce, Nim swooped to the top of the kitchen cabinets and placed them here, there and everywhere.

By the watering can…

Above the microwave…

And for good measure…he put them on the Santa nesting dolls.

After making sure that everything was perfect, Nim swooped to the top of the cabinets and nestled himself among 3 oranges, 2 bananas and a squash.

“I sure hope this does the trick,” he whispered.

Miss the first story? Click here!

“I don’t know Lil,” Nim began nervously. “After last night’s stunt we may not want to make such a big mess.”

Lil was pulling the wrapping paper off of the cabinets from the other day’s fiasco. Smiling, she ripped and crumpled the red paper.

“Oh, come on Nim. They weren’t too mad about the spray snow. The kids thought it was funny and the moms didn’t really seem to mind.”

“I don’t know…” said Nim.

Lil whirled around the living room, throwing wrapping paper bombs everywhere. Nim, caught up in Lil’s fun, forgot his worries and joined in pulling ribbon off of a spool and zig zagging it over the couches.

The elves made a pile in the middle of the floor of all the Christmas-themed books, coloring sheets and movies they could find.

They pulled out stuffed santas and snowmen and decorated a chair with an extra set of Christmas lights.

Once they had their fill of flying and fun, the they hovered over the mess on the floor.

“That should get them in the Christmas spirit!” said Lil.

“Now what do we do?” asked Nim.

Nim and Lil spun around the pile, trying to think of something good. Lil spied a box of candy canes on the table and Nim picked up a piece of ribbon from the tangle strewn all over the floor.

At the same time, Nim cried “Zip lines!” and Lil shouted, “Candy canes!”

Giggling, they both got to work.

Lil flew to the tree with four candy canes, one for each kid. She hid them in the branches.

They wrote a little note to the kiddos and placed it on top of the pile in the arms of a stuffed Santa.

Come take a look. Come choose a book.
Gaze at the tree. What do you see?
Sweet little treats for all to eat.
They’re all the same, but you must find your name.

Nim and Lil

Nim used the ribbon to create zip lines. Lil’s from the window to the fireplace. His from the kitchen light to a ceiling fan.

Both elves grabbed a candy cane and flew to their places.

“I can hear them laughing now!” squealed Lil.

Nim just smiled.

Click here to start from the beginning!

Smarti stood in the middle of the kitchen, his arms crossed, surveying the ingredients before him. Gingerbread walls, a bowl of royal icing, and a variety of colorful candies lay meticulously organized. His plan for redemption after the unfortunate Lego cottage was simple: build a gingerbread house for Eric. Don’t overdo it.

“Well, simpler,” Harold remarked, chomping on a candy cane. “At least compared to your last project.”

Smarti ignored Harold’s jibe. “This time, I’m taking a no-nonsense approach. It’ll be elegant, straightforward, and perfectly delightful for Eric.”

“Great plan!” Harold said with a grin. “You start, and I’ll…supervise.”

Smarti arched an eyebrow but decided to let it slide. He carefully piped icing onto the edges of two gingerbread walls and pressed them together. The precision was immaculate.

“Needs more flair,” Harold said, tossing a gumdrop onto the roof.

Smarti snatched the gumdrop off. “This isn’t about flair, Harold. It’s about symmetry and structure.”

Harold tilted his head. “So no gummy bears out front?”

“No gummy bears!”

“But what if—”

“Absolutely no gummy bears!”

Harold pouted and sat down, gnawing on a licorice rope. Smarti, satisfied with his progress, continued to construct the house. Slowly but surely, the walls stood upright, the roof was secured, and the house took shape.

“Done!” Smarti declared, wiping a smudge of icing from his brow.

“Wow,” Harold said. “It’s… neat.”

“Exactly.” Smarti beamed. “A classic design. Elegant simplicity.”

“But…” Harold began, his nose twitching.

“But what?” Smarti’s eyes narrowed.

“Where’s the fun? Eric’s six, remember? This house needs pizzazz!”

Smarti groaned. “Harold, fun isn’t always about pizzazz. Sometimes it’s about…” He paused, gesturing at the house. “This.”

Harold stared at him, unblinking. Then, with a single flick of his hoof, he launched a handful of marshmallows at the house.

“Harold!”

“Just a little snow, Smarti!” Harold grinned. Before Smarti could stop him, Harold picked up a tube of icing and began doodling a lopsided snowman on the side of the house.

“That’s not—”

“And some gummy bears for neighbors,” Harold added, plopping the candies along the gingerbread walkway.

Smarti’s jaw clenched as Harold stuck a licorice swing onto the roof. “You’re—ruining—it!”

“I’m making it fun!” Harold sang, now adding a pretzel fence.

The gingerbread house no longer resembled Smarti’s original plan. Instead, it was a chaotic masterpiece of candy, icing, and whimsy. Smarti looked ready to combust.

“Harold,” he said through gritted teeth. “Step. Away. From. The. House.”

Harold took a step back, surveying their creation. “Perfect, don’t you think?”

“Perfectly ridiculous,” Smarti muttered.

But as he wrote yet another rule for The Book later that night—Do involve the giraffalope in creative projects. Don’t let said giraffalope have free rein unless you’re prepared for candy chaos—he couldn’t help but smile just a little.

After all, Eric’s laughter the next morning had made it all worthwhile.