'Santa and the Snowballs!'
Santa and the Snowballs!
Santa and the elves were getting ready for the Christmas season. He was making his list and checking it twice. There was a lot of commotion in the neighborhood. Most of Santa’s neighbors loved the hustle and bustle of the work going on.
There was pounding and painting, laughing and singing. Everything you could think of to make toys and gifts for all the girls and boys. The workshop was lit all night so the elves could work round the clock, getting things finished for Christmas Eve.
There was one neighbor who didn’t like the hubbub. It was the Abominable Snowman. He was a ‘Grumpy Gus’. That meant he didn’t like much of anything. He was big and white and cold and mean. He deliberately tried to stop the elves from doing their job. He switched the sugar with the salt. Then he watched through the window as Mrs. Claus made her Christmas cookies with the wrong ingredients. He snickered when she tasted the results. She grimaced and squinted her eyes and puckered her lips.
He poured water on the sidewalks so it would turn to ice and be difficult for the elves to walk to work. He put starch in the reindeer’s blankets so they wouldn’t get enough sleep at night. Everyone knows that reindeer need plenty of rest for the big night ahead. He switched the straw with the sweet hay. The reindeer couldn’t eat the straw. That was their bedding but it looked the same.
One day, Gus had a thought. He was going to make hundreds and hundreds of snowballs. Then when he saw anyone at the workshop, he would lob a snowball at them. This was a big project and he was very proud of himself for thinking about it. He threw snowballs at each elf that walked by. Sometimes he would hit them in the back of their coats. Other times he would hit their legs. Sometimes the snowballs would break apart and spray them with the cold flakes that exploded on impact.
The elves were beginning to complain. They told Mrs. Claus about it first. They didn’t want to bother Santa since he had a lot on his mind. She told them that they should ignore it. Gus was just jealous and wasn’t happy when other people had more fun than he did. The elves tried to do as Mrs. Claus suggested but after a while it was not working.
Santa heard about the problem with Gus and he came up with a plan. He shared his idea with the elves and Mrs. Claus and they all got excited and decided to see if it would work.
After that, Gus saw a difference in his snowball attacks. Every time he would throw a snowball at an elf, the elf would turn around and pick it up and take it into the work shop with him. Gus had no idea what was going on. No one took snowballs inside with them. They would melt and get the floor wet. What Gus didn’t know was that the elves were taking the snowballs inside and then back out the rear door. They were piling all of the thrown snowballs in a great big heap behind the work shop. Gus didn’t know that because he never went around to the back. He didn’t know what was out there.
This went on for days. Gus was not pleased that his snowball attacks weren’t making the elves upset anymore. He kept at it though. He even threw snowballs at Santa when he came out to check on his reindeer. Once he hit Santa and knocked his hat off. Instead of becoming angry, Santa just laughed, “Ho, Ho, Ho,” He bellowed into the cold
night air. It almost made Gus smile, but he didn’t. It would not be like him to smile so he kept it from sneaking out.
There was plenty of snow at the North Pole so Gus never ran out of ammunition. He could make snowballs for years and years. All he really needed was enough to last the month of December. He could stop throwing snowballs when Christmas was over. After that, Santa closed the workshop and the elves got some time off.
Gus was becoming bored with his snowball game. He couldn’t quit yet though. On Christmas Eve, Gus watched Santa and the elves hitch up the reindeer to the sleigh. It was piled high and loaded down with dolls and trains and balls and games. It streaked off into the starry sky and was gone most of the night. The next day was Christmas day. That was the day when most of the children of the world found their toys and gifts under their trees. All the hard work the elves had done showed up in children’s homes everywhere.
Gus felt let down. He thought he would feel better if he pelted Santa and the elves with snowballs the entire month of December. But strangely enough, Gus didn’t feel good about it. He felt sad. He had nothing but discomfort to show for all of his work. His lips were chapped. He had a runny nose. His toes were blue. His hands were tingly. His fingers were numb. His throwing arm and shoulder ached a little from all the exercise. He felt cold all over. Even his heart felt a shiver when he thought of all the effort he had put into his snowballs. He felt kind of empty inside.
He looked at the dark workshop and there was no singing and laughing going on. Everyone was resting and probably drinking hot chocolate with marshmallows floating on top. He could picture the steaming cocoa drinks and the milk mustaches on the elves upper lips. He had never had a hot chocolate mustache. He was too busy grumbling and complaining and throwing snowballs at his neighbors.
Gus stood behind a fir tree and saw Santa coming back to the workshop. He looked tired but happy. His sled was empty and the reindeer skidded to a stop in front of their barn. The elves ran out and helped Santa unhitch the animals. The reindeer walked into their warm stalls out of the wind and snow and settled down for a nice Christmas nap. They curled up in the clean dry straw and smelled the hay waiting for them when they woke up.
Santa and the elves stood in a circle as if they were deciding what to do. Finally Gus heard someone calling his name.
“Gus, where are you?” Santa called in his deep booming voice.
This had never happened before. Was Santa going to yell at him for throwing so many snowballs all month long?
Gus decided to come out of hiding and stand tall even if he didn’t feel very tall at the moment.
When Santa and the elves saw Gus straighten up and walk toward them, they smiled a little bit.
Gus had never seen anyone smile at him before. It sent a small shiver of something he had never felt before. Was this what ‘happy’ felt like?
“Gus, we have a surprise for you behind the workshop,” Santa said.
“A surprise, for me?” Gus asked, making sure he had heard Santa’s words correctly.
“Yes, Gus, for you,” Santa said. “Come with us and see what it is.”
Gus was afraid that it might be a trick and he put a frown on his face and scrunched his eyes into narrow slits. This was the face that he was used to making but he was ready for something different. He thought he might like smiling for a change. He lumbered along with Santa and the elves to the back of the workshop and saw the most beautiful white cave he had ever seen in his entire life!
Everyone knows that Abominable Snowmen live in caves. But this cave was made out of snow. When he walked up to the cave to look at it more closely, it had a lumpy appearance. Gus touched the snow cave gently, admiring the workmanship. It was lumpy because it was made out of hundreds of snowballs!
“Merry Christmas, Gus!” Santa said, patting Gus on his furry white back. “We never would have been able to do it without all of your snowballs.”
“Oh,” Gus said feeling slightly embarrassed. The snowballs he had thrown out of anger had been turned into something beautiful and useful just for him.
“It’s wonderful!” Gus said trying to keep his tears from spilling out of his eyes. He didn’t want his fur to freeze. He wouldn’t be able to smile if his face was frozen.
Gus moved into his snowball cave behind the workshop. From that time on, Gus helped the elves and Santa and even Mrs. Claus get ready for Christmas. He got to eat gingerbread cookies and drink all the warm cocoa he could ever want. It was so much more fun smiling than frowning, especially with a chocolate mustache on his face.
The End Happy Holidays
Written 12-24-09 Copyright 2009
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