A Story by John for Luke

"The Littlest Elf"

There is a magical place far, far away in a special part of the North Pole that not many people know about. It is a place filled with strange gizmos and gadgets with bright lights and funny noises that go “beep beep”, “ding ding” and “bing bong”. But those are not what make this place so full of wonder. It’s the very tiny people that live there – the baby elves.

These are not ordinary baby elves either; they are very special baby elves. You see, sometimes baby elves get so excited about Christmas coming that they just can’t wait any longer and are born extra early so they don’t have to wait until the next year! However, because they come so early, they are teeny-tiny little baby elves and aren’t finished growing yet and need special care from the very smart and caring doctor elves and nurse elves. They make sure the tiny baby elves don’t get sick and help to make them grow big and strong so they can go home with the mama and papa elves and go on to become healthy, slightly bigger elves and make toys for Santa!

Here, these tiny, baby elves are born every day and each is special in his or her own way. But, one day the most special tiny baby elf of all was born. His name was Luke. Luke, you see, was born extra early and not only because Christmas was coming.

One day, while Luke was still in his mama elf’s tummy, he was dreaming of snowflakes and candy canes and most importantly toys! All of the sudden his little baby elf body knew that something wasn’t right. His mama elf was getting sick. When he listened carefully, he could hear her crying. “Uh oh” he thought, “my mommy doesn’t feel well. I better get ready to go!” Sure enough a few days later, with the help of the super smart doctor elves, Luke was born and soon after his mama elf was much better. Luke was happy because he knew that he had helped make his mommy better, but he also knew there was a long time before Christmas and he had a lot of growing to do before then.

Growing up was going to be a lot tougher than Luke thought. He couldn’t help but get excited at the thought of Christmas and Santa and all of the fun he was going to have. Because he was so little, all this excitement would wear him out and the doctor and nurse elves would have to help him when he got tired. As the days and weeks went by, Luke did his best to lie in his bed and let his little body grow. Sometimes he would get sad because he knew Christmas was coming and he wanted to help make toys…and play with them too!

One day, when Luke was feeling extra sad, he suddenly heard a voice…then a laugh. “HO HO HOOOO!” he heard the voice say. “Could it be?” thought Luke. He heard the footsteps come closer, peeked out through his little baby elf eyes and there he was. Santa Claus himself, with his bright red hat and suit and fluffy white beard peered down at Luke. “What have we here?” said Santa. “Now this is a special little elf!” Santa had heard the story about Luke helping his mommy get better and wanted to come see him before he set off in his sleigh to deliver toys on Christmas Eve. As Santa looked down on Luke, he could tell Luke was a little sad that he wasn’t quite ready to help with Christmas. “Don’t you worry little Luke”, he said with a smile. “I’ve got something for you.” He reached into his big red bag and pulled something out. He opened his hand and inside was a little green elf hat he had Mrs. Claus make especially for him. “This is for you”, Santa said as he gently put the hat on Luke’s little head. “You just rest and get big and strong so you can help your mama and papa elf next Christmas.” With that, he gave Luke a soft pat on the head and a little wink. Luke smiled back and knew he had made Santa proud.

From that day on, Luke was happy and continued to grow bigger and stronger each day. He knew that just one short year later, he’d be a healthy and strong baby elf and would get to celebrate Christmas with his mama and papa who eagerly awaited the time when they could bring their littlest elf home.

THE END