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Five elves of varying size shuffled their feet nervously as they waited in Santa’s cozy office for the man himself. Mrs. Claus, who had summoned them to this urgent meeting, smiled down at them with a twinkle in her kind eyes.
“No need to be anxious, my dears. Santa and I have a wonderful opportunity for you all.”
Santa announced his presence with a loud bang as he stomped his boots on the rug outside his office, looking a bit ruffled. “Darn that Vixen! Why he has to do his business right in the path to my office I’ll never under—oh, hello.”
Pulling himself together and leaving his soiled boots at the door, Santa padded to his desk and, with a happy sigh, sank into his overstuffed chair.
“Have you told them yet, Mrs. C.?”
“No my dear, I was waiting for you to share the good news.”
Santa smiled down happily at the 5 elves, each wearing a unique expression on their face.
Nim, taking the reindeer by the antlers, was the first to speak. “I think we are all a bit bewildered by your summons Santa, Sir. Why the secrecy?”
Lil, twisting her fingers rapidly, breathlessly blurted. “Yes Santa. We are all wondering what this could be about. I thought maybe I was in trouble for spilling the flour all over the floor, but then thought, no, Mrs. Claus would have reprimanded me rather than jumping in and making flour angels with me, so then I thought maybe we were both in trouble and so—.”
Smarti, rolling his eyes and giving Lil a stern look, interrupted. “I think what Lil is trying to say is…why the summons? Why the secrecy?”
“The winds whisper their secrets to me,” said Flaky. Smarti glared at him and rolled his eyes dramatically.
Pepper, who had been bouncing ceaselessly on her toes, jumped in. “So Santa, what is going on? Do we have a new assignment? When can we start?”
Santa and Mrs. Claus exchanged an amused look.
“Go ahead dear, as you can see they are all eager to learn about their new project.”
Santa smiled. “Well friends, Mrs. C and I are launching a new program. We’re calling it “The Elves of Christmas”. The program is meant to be a reminder to the children of the joys of the season and a break for parents during this busy time of year.”
“That’s right,” added Mrs. Claus. “After careful consideration, we have chosen you five to run our beta test.”
“You’ll experiment and get the kinks out before we roll it out to the rest of the world,” said Santa.
“How fun!” Nim smiled.
“How exciting!” Lil grinned.
Smarti remained stoic and asked, “Will there be rules?”
Flaky stared vacantly at the floor.
Pepper bounced on her toes, gleefully gabbling..
“To answer your question, Smarti,” said Mrs. Claus. “We will have a Code of Conduct to follow and will be sure to add any other rules, tips, or tricks that are likely to come up during this beta test.”
“What sort of activities?” Pepper asked Santa.
“Each night, you will go to your assigned home and set up a craft, baking activity, game, or whatever reasonable surprise your imagination comes up with.”
“Section 1, Rule 1.1 for The Book,” said Smarti. “All activities should be organized and mess-free.”
“Er, yes, Smarti,” said Mrs. Claus. “We’ll be sure to put that down, but there is a more important rule that you all must follow.”
Smarti scoffed. “More important than cleanliness?”
“Absolutely,” said Mrs. Claus. “Your charges cannot see you move and they absolutely can never, ever touch you.”
“Why?” asked Flaky.
“Because,” said Santa. “You’ll lose your magic.”
Five elves stared quietly at each other, trying to imagine a life without magic.
“Fine,” Smarti finally said. “Rule 1.1: Don’t let the kids touch you or see you move. Rule 1.2: No messes of any kind.”
“Sure.” Mrs. Claus smiled. “I’ll make sure to get that down.
“Ok crew,” boomed Santa. “If there are no more questions, it’s time for your assigned houses.”
Mrs. Claus handed each elf a folder with their charge’s name, address, and basic information.
“Wait a moment,” said Smarti. “My kid is on the naughty list? Should we really be rewarding bad behavior?”
“Part of this program is to straighten out children who have made it to The Naughty List. Since you have some experience working with rebellion, due to your time in the Toy Shop Daycare Center, we thought it was the best fit.”
“Yes, good idea.” Smarti nodded with an expression, approaching excitement, that worried Santa.
Looking at each elf in turn, Santa felt a sudden bout of nerves well up. Or, perhaps that was the 4th cup of cocoa he had at lunch.
“Ok team, time to launch the Elves of Christmas beta test!”
a pinch of homestead 