Alfie The Elf

Chapter 13

Soon the day arrived when Santa's Elves collected at Crescent Hill from all around the world. The entire place was teeming with tiny people who scurried around in their beautiful green and white uniforms, greeting each other happily, feeling excited to find so many of their own kind in one place.

The consignment from Tooth Fairy had arrived a day earlier. It was Pedro, Bullet, and Alfie's job to ensure that a set of uniforms along with other items of daily necessities be placed on each bunker bed in all the shelters. They wanted the Elves to feel at home from the very first day!

After all the Elves had arrived, Santa called for a gathering in his workshop. He stood on a high podium along with Alfie, Bullet, and Pedro and addressed the crowd.

'Welcome to Crescent Hill, my dear Elves. Today I am very happy as I have found a family at last and for that, I should thank my dear friends, Alf, Pedro, and Bullet,' said Santa pointing to the trio who bowed to the cheering crowd and waved to them.

'I am appointing Alf as the head of operations and management of the Elves team. In addition, he will be in charge of all your needs and requirements,' declared Santa to a surprised-looking Alfie as the entire Elf crowd cheered back shouting 'Alfie! Alfie!'

'Congratulations mate,' Pedro beamed and gave Alfie a hug as Bullet licked his face.

'I would request him to come forward and talk to you about our mission. Over to you Alf,' Santa stepped back urging Alfie to take the center stage to address the crowd as they continued to cheer his name.

'Err... This is so not me,' said Alfie hesitatingly looking at Santa and his friends. But they encouraged him by clapping and soon the crowd joined in. Finally, Alfie drew a long breath in and stepped forward.

'My dear friends, all through our childhood, we have eagerly looked forward to receiving gifts from Santa each year on Christmas Eve. So our goal is to fulfill every child's dream and see to it that no child goes without a gift from their dear Santa Claus on Christmas,' Alfie spoke from his heart before he added, 'However there are limitations to our duties. Like Mr. Claus says, we are not God and therefore we cannot interfere with nature or God's will. So if a child asks for something that is beyond our duties, we will have to send a convincing letter telling him or her why we cannot fulfill the dream. Along with the letter we need to send a beautiful gift with a photo of Santa personally signed by him.'

'Yay!' the Elves cheered and nodded their heads to show their support.

'We have come up with a Do's and Don'ts Book that will be a reference point for each of us when we are in confusion. It has been placed at the center of our workshop,' Alfie pointed to a huge book with the title 'Do's and Don'ts: A Reference Guide for Fulfilling Wishes' kept on a pedestal at the center of the building and added, 'This will be our Bible from today.'

'So before we all start getting bored with long speeches, let us all celebrate. Let the party begin,' announced Alfie. A group of Elves started playing music and the entire crowd started cheering and dancing. Alfie and Bullet dragged Santa along with them to the dance floor while Pedro flew around merrily.

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In the next few weeks, the Elves were divided into groups depending on their expertise and skills. Soon various departments were created with dedicated teams such as the mailing department, production department, packaging department, etc. All Elves were trained accordingly and soon the production started as letters and wishes started pouring in for the next Christmas season.

Days went by and the Faith-O-Meter started showing an upward trend as Alfie personally wrote back to every mail sent to Santa, assuring the writer of a personalized gift on Christmas Eve.