Santa's Boots, Jack Ivey [top non fiction books of all time .txt] 📗

Santa's Boots

Jack Ivey

It was a hard year for Santa. With the population of the world constantly growing, he found it hard to produce enough toys for all of the children. Working alone (which Santa did in the early days) he found that each year was more tiring than the last; he also found himself looking for any excuse to quit his job.

A few days before Christmas, Santa got out of bed, put on his clothes and reached for his boots. He placed his foot inside one and the entire sole came off and the other had huge holes in the bottom of it.

“Mother!” he shouted.

“Yes, dear?” she answered as she entered the room.

“Look at this - my boots are a wreck. The whole sole has just come off and the other has holes. That’s it! Christmas is off this year. I’m going back to bed,” he complained.

“Oh, Santa, just fix them,” she told him, knowing he could.

“I don’t want to fix them, I don’t want to make toys – I don’t want to do anything!” he said as he flopped back on his bed.

Well it didn’t take long before the headlines in the North Pole Gazette read, SANTA BOOTS CHRISTMAS!!! Word spread fast and it wasn't long before the entire world received the news and was saddened by it.

Later that day a knock came at the door. Santa opened it to find a very small man standing on his front step.

“My card,” he said in a high pitched voice as he handed a business card to Santa.
It read, 'Elegant Little Fellows, Consolidated Cobblers and Toy Makers.'

“Elegant Little Fellows?” questioned Santa.

“Yes, sir. We can repair your boots in only a minute’s time, if you would allow,” he offered.

"And why would you want to fix my boots?" Santa asked.

"We read the newspaper and we are trying to save Christmas for the world," the small man replied.

Santa, knowing it would take longer than a minute to fix his boots, handed them to the man. In less than a minute's time the boots were repaired, brand new.

“Unbelievable,” he exclaimed as the small person with pointed ears handed them back to him.

“You think that was good? You should see us make toys," he said.

“Us?” replied Santa, looking around but seeing no one other than the strange little fellow standing in front of him.

“Why yes, we are many and we would like to help,” he answered.

“I cannot pay you,” said Santa still quite confused.

“No payment will be needed; just a warm place to stay and work is all we require,” he answered.

“Deal,” said Santa as he shook hands with the Elegant Little Fellow. No sooner had he released his hand when suddenly there were little people everywhere. They got busy making toys, tending the reindeer and everything else that had to do with the holiday. Christmas was back on and all was merry again.

Not long afterward the headlines of the North Pole Gazette read, E.L.F.s SAVE CHRISTMAS!!! From that day on, the Elegant Little Fellows or Santa’s Elfs (Elves) as they were now known made Santa’s life easier. So easy in fact, that he put on quite a bit of weight. Now when he laughs, his belly shakes like a bowl full of jelly.

Text: Jack Ivey
Editing: The Beautiful and Talented Valerie Byron
Publication Date: 12-21-2012

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