Aaron Elf's Dance Troop

Aaron was your typical average elf. A toymaker. A carefree, working soul who cares about nothing more than making toys for the little girls and boys that inhabit the earth. Every day in the months leading up to Christmas, he spends all his time dancing across Santa’s workshop with his clunky yellow clogs, making such a racket that the other elves would tell him, “Be quiet, Aaron!” His dancing was so raucous that every elf would be jealous of him. He jived and stepped past the playground, and when all the elf kids saw him, they would cheer and whistle and call: “Go, Aaron go!” But the other elves would look on in jealousy. “Your clunky clogs cause nothing but trouble!” they would say every single day. “Hang them up and do something quiet!”

So, on the 30th of November, he went to Jolly McFarlene’s Hot Cocoa Pub and sat before his mug of sweet hot cocoa with a little peppermint candy to decorate it, as the friendly bartender, Mr Schnitzel, looked on in his caring ways. “What’s up, mate?” he asked. “It’s all this dancing.” sighed Aaron, “I’m supposed to be building toys for Christmas this year, but my dancing has caused trouble for the other elves. What am I going to do?” Mr Schnitzel thought for a moment, scratching his big bearded chin. Then he shouted “HO!” causing Aaron to nearly drop his cocoa. “You should take some dancing lessons. It doesn’t matter if you’re late for building all those silly toys, you should go to Miss Persinicky’s dance class and learn all the steps you need to learn.”

That sounded like a great idea, and Aaron signed up for lessons at Miss Persinicky’s dance studio. There were eight other elves at the school - Mistletoe, Grinch, Nick, Ginger and her twin sister Bread, Barley, Happy and Coco Sauce. “Welcome to my dance class! You will be dancing up a storm before Christmas Eve comes, and I am here to teach you little elves how to two-step through the snowstorm!” Aaron and the other elves cheered. “First, we’re going to do the Elf Shake. Hands on hips and shake!” Most of the little elves danced like there was no tomorrow, but Aaron was the best dancer. “Now, jump on your toes and shimmy to the front. There, now, shimmy to the back and jump three times!” However, as the elves were dancing, Miss Persinicky had a huge, shouty voice, and one of the elves, Bread, clapped her hands over her ears and ran out of the room screaming. Everyone stopped, and Miss Persinicky turned off the music. An eerie silence filled the room. “What was that about?” asked Happy. “Allow me to handle this,” said Aaron, “I think she could do with a little comfort.”

Aaron ran into the changing rooms and saw Bread sitting on a bench crying. Aaron looked sorry for her and sat down next to her. “What’s the matter, Bread?” he asked. “I was afraid to say this before, because I was told never to talk about it.” sobbed Bread. “I couldn’t even talk about it to Ginger, because it was just me and my mum who went to Doctor Kringle to see the results. I…I….I…” Bread kept on whimpering. “Go on then, speak up.” encouraged Aaron. “I…I…I…I have autism.” “Autism? I didn’t know that.” said Aaron, “Since when were you diagnosed with it?” “When I was 4 elf years old.” replied Bread, “I walked on my toes, I said rude things to other elves outside my house and got into serious trouble, and I always played with the animals in Santa’s animal shelter.” Aaron knew what he had to do. If he wanted to help his friend out, he had to ditch dancing for good and always. He looked at his clogs. He thought he had caused enough trouble for today. FOREVER!

Aaron took off his clogs and threw them against the wall. Bread stared in delight as Aaron stood up and placed some sneakers on. “No longer will I trouble everyone with my dancing! From now on, I’m going to take care of any elf who is like you, Bread!” Bread clapped her little elf hands excitedly. “Oh goody! I know what that means!” All through the days leading up to Christmas, Aaron and Bread set up a support for disabilities group on the other side of Christmas Town, a brightly coloured gingerbread house with low lights, calm sounds and a perfect atmosphere for elves with disabilities. Aaron welcomed elves like Bread with great ease, and helped them play games, mould clay and even take rests on a water bed whenever they felt tired. One day, Ginger came and saw Bread playing with other elves. “So, Aaron, you’ve given up your ways. Your naughty clunky clogs are hung up for good, eh?” “Mmmm,” said Aaron, “Yeah. I believe I’ve had enough dancing for now. I’m helping elves with disabilities. I’m very good at it.” “You gracious elf!” cried Ginger, and she ran to hug Bread. “Bread, I’m glad you’ve made some new friends at Aaron’s club. I’m telling Santa about this.

So, Ginger went home and wrote a letter to Santa. It read:

“Dear Santa,

Your junior apprentice elf Aaron had once caused trouble for all the other elves in your workshop, but now he’s finally found a purpose he’s grown to love - helping elves with disabilities like my twin sister Bread. When you leave to deliver presents on Christmas Eve, please congratulate him at your next Christmas Eve ceremony.

Love,

Ginger.”

Ginger sent the letter to Santa’s workshop, and Santa was so moved by the letter, he knew something had to be done about the elf his other elves totally despised. So, when Christmas Eve came, all the elves gathered around Santa’s sleigh as Santa prepared his speech. Then, he cleared his throat and boomed: “Ladies and gentlemen, before I go out on this most bountiful of nights to deliver presents to all the children of the world, it is my honour on behalf of a local elf named Ginger to congratulate one elf who has made a big difference for all the disabled people in my community. And that elf is called…Aaron!” The crowd cheered and clapped as Aaron leapt up onto the stage, his eyes flooding with happy tears. He hugged Santa, his kind and gentle hands scruffling his brown hair. As the crowd calmed down, Santa continued: “Aaron, as a special treat for making such a big difference, I am honoured to give you this special present.” Santa reached into his sack and pulled out a small oval present. Aaron quickly unwrapped it and saw what he could not believe: a snowglobe, with two elves dancing inside. “Santa…this…this is…so nice of you!” he wept, tears filling his eyes. “Ah, now, when you get home, turn the little key in the side. Something magical may happen.”

When Aaron went home to bed, he turned the key in the snowglobe, and saw the two elves dancing around to ‘Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy’. Sparkles flew out of the snowglobe and began to decorate Aaron’s home with tinsel, wreaths, gingerbread paper chains and bowls full of sweets and candy. Aaron was so delighted that Santa gave him the best gift of all, he ran up to his window and called out to the whole of Christmastown:

“Merry Christmas, everyone! Merry Christmas!”

And sure enough, far away, I swore I could hear Santa repeating that same phrase in his loud, booming voice, as he made his rounds across the world, delivering all the presents to every boy and girl on one peaceful, silent night.

THE END.