Category Archives: Writing

Miss the first story? Click here!

Joe was bummed. It hadn’t snowed yet and it was almost Christmas.

Even more than that, his birthday was the next day.

“I want it to snow for my birthday,” he grumbled sadly.

“There’s still time,” Cheyenne said. “It could snow tomorrow!”

Joe looked doubtfully at the sunny, crisp blue sky. He wasn’t convinced.

Nim and Lil sat that night discussing what to do about Joe’s wish. They sipped on tiny tumblers full of hot cocoa–with extra sugar and whipped cream on top, of course–and tried to think of some way to make it snow.

“Couldn’t Santa make it snow?” Nim asked Lil.

“Sure, he could,” Lil told him. “But he’s a bit busy now with keeping the Builder Elves hard at work making toys for good little boys and girls.”

True, thought Nim, but they couldn’t make snow without him, even with all of their pixie dust combined.

“I just want to do something special for Joe’s birthday,” Nim sighed.

They had already spread out a tissue paper table cloth. On a paper plate in the middle sat a mountain of birthday sprinkled chocolate donut holes with 4 candles jammed in the top.

“Something is missing,” mused Lil, tapping her fingers.

“Snow is missing,” said Nim for the fourth time.

“We could use flour,” offered Lil.

“I suppose,” said Nim.

“Or powdered sugar,” she tried.

“Sure,” he murmured.

“Or we could use the snowflake sprinkles in the cabinet,” she suggested.

“Maybe,” Nim replied.

“Or we could–“

“We could cut paper snowflakes and plaster them all over the walls, hang them from the light fixtures and throw the paper cutouts all over the place!” Nim proclaimed, jumping and twirling around.

Lil smiled widely, happy that Nim’s spirits had finally lifted.

The two got busy cutting. Nim scribbled a quick note to wish Joe a very happy birthday. He had heard his mom and dad talking about the fun-filled day they had planned for him, so he included a little schedule of events.

And now, for the fun.

They flew wildly around the kitchen table throwing handfuls of tiny paper triangles, half circles and diamonds in the air. The scraps landed haphazardly all over the table and floor.

Poor Charlie ran in fright as a drift of paper snow fluttered down on his coat.

After they were satisfied with the blizzard they’d created, they found a bag of snowman marshmallows tucked away on the top of the microwave.

“I bet they were trying to hide these from us!” said a shocked Lil.

Nim roared with laughter. “And who could blame them? We’ve gone through almost 3 pounds of sugar since we’ve been here…and that’s holding back!”

So they ate a few of the marshmallows, leaving a handful for the kids on the table.

The snowflakes they had made hung from the lights and Nim and Lil took their places.

“I’m going to hang upside down so I can see his face when he finds his breakfast birthday cake,” Nim said with delight. “He’s going to love it!”

Miss the first story? Click here!

“We haven’t done anything with the tree in a while,” Nim said thoughtfully, thinking back to when they replaced the angel on top with a roll of toilet paper.

Lil looked at the white lights and twinkling angel. Nim was right, they hadn’t messed with the tree in a long time.

“We could hang these headbands all over the tree,” suggested Lil, holding up the four headbands they a had brought as gifts: two springy rudolphs for the boys and two boingy snowmen for the girls.

“I suppose,” said Nim without excitement.

They continued to gaze at the tree, mesmerized by the shimmering lights and sparkling ornaments.

Sparkling ornaments. That gave Nim an idea.          

“Look!” he said to Lil. “A sequined Santa coat!”

Lil knew exactly what Nim was thinking. She buzzed around the tree looking for a matching Mrs. Claus ornament.

“I guess I’ll just have to peek out of the branches,” she said, a little disappointed that there wasn’t one for her.

“Nah,” Nim smiled. “I have a great idea for you!

They made a medium-sized mess with the Christmas bows as they created a “bow climbing” wall on the side of the cabinets for Lil.

Lil climbed up the cabinets, setting the snowmen headbands on top of the window ledge and using a fabric tape measure she’d found in the desk drawer as a harness.

Nim jotted a quick note for the kids and flew to the tree to get the Santa suit on.

We had some fun
And some laughs too
Climbing up the tree
We’ve left some bows
And gifts for you
We know how pleased you’ll be
The Rudolphs are for little boys
The snowmen for the gals
Get them down, put them on
And spring around the house!

He hung the reindeer from the tree first. Then tried to get in the suit. He had some difficulty getting it to fit just right and ended up having to stick his head through the hanger to stay in place.

But, the trouble was worth it.

The kids would have a little more trouble spotting him in the morning. He was sure of it.

Miss the first story? Click here!

“Oh!” cried Lil worriedly on their way back from Santa’s Workshop. “Did you see how upset Joe was when he saw you in the vacuum? And Jake!!!”

Nim nodded, rubbing the dent in his head from being stuck in the vacuum all night. He had never seen the boys so sad. He thought Nim was stuck in the filter forever…that he would never get out.

‘ “He got in there,” his mom had said. “I’m sure he will be able to get out and fly back to the North Pole.” ‘

But she hadn’t looked convinced. In fact, she looked a bit cross.

“We’ll just have to make it up to them tonight,” he said, trying to comfort Lil. “We’ll have to give them something fun to do.”

“But what?” asked Lil, tears in her eyes. “What can we possibly do to make up for distressing the kids so much?”

She had a sudden, horrible thought. “What if the moms ban us from coming back in the house??”

Nim didn’t want to admit it, but he’d been thinking the same thing. He’d never heard of it happening before…but still. They had to do something tonight that would make the kids happy and excited.

Nim would just have to hide the dent in his head under his hat.

“I know!” he said. “We can set up the living room for a movie night!!!”

They got to work.

First, they wrote a short note for the kids and leaned it up against a stuffed snowman.

A very merry Christmas show
Is hidden in this room
Just look above and look below
And you will find it soon

You’ll have to wait until it’s night
You’ll have to all be good
Obey, be nice, have fun, sit tight
And listen, as you should

They hid the Berenstein Bears Christmas Tree movie in the fireplace, wrapping it in ribbon.

Then Nim zipped into the kitchen and pulled some tape out of the drawer. He secured Lil to the underside of the TV, adding ribbon and bells.

After that, he stuck a few pieces of tape to his legs, grabbed a piece of ribbon for his hat and dangled next to Lil.

“This is really uncomfortable,” complained Lil. “My head is going to be sore from hanging here all day.”

Nim burst out laughing. “At least you won’t get a dent in yours!”

Miss the first story? Click here!

“Parents have written to me complaining about the messes all you elves are making,” Santa said to the crowd in his workshop. “I know you all have fun, but making a mess every night may get you fired.”

A collective gasp came from the sea if elves gathered for Santa’s nightly pep talk.

Only one silly sprite had ever been fired from his duty as a Mischief Maker.

Poor Snowflake had emptied an entire bottle of Sudsy Bubble Bath in a tub, planning to float on a toy tube until morning. But…while waiting for the water to fill, he flitted to the kitchen to eat some of the red and green sprinkles that had been left on the counter. They were so good, he ended up eating the whole bottle.

Turns out, a whole bottle of sprinkles is too much for one elf.

He whizzed around the living room, hyped up on sprinkles, and then passed out in a sugar coma on the floor.

Meanwhile, the bath water continued to run.

The water overflowed. Fluffy, wet, white clouds of suds spilled out of the bathroom and down the hall. It was an awful mess. Parents complained enough that poor Snowflake was fired. Since then, he’s been cleaning reindeer droppings in the barn.

“Mischief can be made without a mess,” Santa finished.

Nim and Lil flew back in silence. Both were worried about all of the chaos they had caused over the past few days. Some were worse than others, but still.

“Let’s do something funny this time,” said Nim. “Without jumbling up the house.”

Lil agreed and they landed on the kitchen table with a quiet flop, knocking over a toy T-Rex. Nim’s hat came off as he rolled across the table, and Lil crashed into the salt and pepper.

“Oof,” cried Lil as the T-Rex knocked over the other dinos.

The elves looked at the toys, the salt, the pepper and the glass of water someone had left on the table. In their clumsiness, they had already managed to knock over everything and make a huge mess!

“Oh no,” Lil moaned, tears springing to her eyes.

“Oh it’s ok, Lil,” said Nim. “We can clean it up.”

A slow smile spread on Nim’s face. He knew exactly what they would do tonight…and it wouldn’t make a mess at all.

***

“There!” said Lil. “It’s perfect! Such a great idea, Nim.”

Nim smiled proudly as he strapped himself on to the top of the safari truck.

A T-Rex was pulling the safari truck, Nim’s hat in his mouth.

A long neck had Lil’s skirt on, while she was wearing a coffee filter and protecting her hat with a sock.

“So, we were minding our own business when four hungry dinosaurs attacked,” began Nim.

“We tried to stuff them in the safari truck but they were too sneaky for us,” continued Lil.

“They stole my hat-“

“And my skirt…wait, how did they get you on top of the truck?”

“Pixie dust!” exclaimed Nim.

And then they laughed and giggled and watched for the kids.