A Newfangled Christmas (4 page)

“We’ve been watching you make these cuddly
bears that give hugs all by themselves, and we think they’re cool,”
added Elvis, one of the younger Elves.

“We decided making electronic toys didn’t
look as hard as we had thought,” said Rufus.

“Or as scary,” said Climo.

“So last night each one of us borrowed a bear
and took it home,” chimed in Charlie Chin, the only Elf who had no
hair.

By now all the Elves were trying to talk
above each other. I held up my hand for silence.

“Edgar, will you please tell me what’s going
on?” I asked when they had gotten quiet. “Why did you...er...borrow
the bears?”

“To take them apart and see if we could put
them back together so that they worked again. And we could!” Edgar
said excitedly.

Then every single one of those Elves put the
Hug-A-Bear he was holding up to his neck. And right before my eyes
every single one of those bears gave a big old hug.

“And now we know we can make any kind of
toys,” said Clayton. His face was beaming. “Even newfangled ones
like these.”

“Please ask the techie to come back and teach
us how to make more toys,” said Elmo. “Ask him to come today. We’ve
got to get started right away to get all of them made in time for
Christmas.”

“I want to make robot crocodiles,” shouted
someone in the back of the crowd.

“Heather Hoolas!” yelled another Elf.

The Missus had heard all the commotion and
had come out to see what was going on. We stood there hand in hand,
listening to the Elves call out the names of the electronic toys
they each wanted to learn to make.

The Missus stood on her tippy-toes and
planted a kiss on my cheek. Then she snuggled close. “You did it,
Santa. You saved Christmas,” she said softly.

My heart was swelling with joy. So what if
I’d had to learn to use a computer? I thought. It hadn’t been so
hard. And who cares that I’d had to become a techie to make
electronic toys? It had all been worth it. Every dadblasted bit of
it.

Because girls and boys everywhere would have
a merry Christmas this year, after all!