The Perfect Present (5 page)

Kylie sat down and Tinker continued, “Since you ruined Christmas, you are…” she paused, “…well, just look for yourself.” She handed Kylie a sheet of paper. The top of it read ‘Naughty List', and there in bold letters, the first name on the list was Kylie Elf.

“I'm on the Naughty List?” Kylie was shocked.

“Well, you did give Santa a severe concussion on Christmas Eve.”

“It was an accident,” Kylie tried to explain, but Tinker did not seem to care. “How do I get off of the Naughty List?”

“Well, if you would have saved Christmas, you could have, but it's too late. It seems you did the opposite. We will have to wait for Santa to get better. This is something only he can handle.”

Kylie left the office and returned home. She was greeted by her brothers and sisters, who all tried to make her feel better. Her closest siblings were twins, Sparkle and Cookie, and they followed Kylie to her room and stayed there with her. Although Kylie wanted to cry again, she decided that it would do no good. All she could do was wait for Santa to get better, then she would do all the work she could to make it up to him.

****************

That day came two days later. Santa was back to himself. After he found out that no children got toys on Christmas morning, he gathered up the reindeer and delivered every single gift. He had done it. Santa had saved Christmas. Kylie was starting to feel a lot better. Although late, at least Christmas was not completely ruined. Normally, after delivering gifts all across the world, Santa would rest for a few days, but not this time. He had had all the rest he needed. Once he got back to the North Pole, he called Kylie to his house.

Kylie was once again going to a place she had never been. She followed the red path to a sign in front of a big house with Christmas lights. When she entered,
Mrs. Claus offered her some hot chocolate and led her to Santa's office. Once she stepped foot in the door, Santa exclaimed, “Your invention was great!”

“But it gave you a concussion,” Kylie replied.

“Well, it was a little out of control, but you worked so hard on it. Did you fix the problem?” Santa asked.

Kylie looked at the floor. “I threw it away.”

“What? Why did you do that? It was a great invention, Kylie. So great that I have decided to make you my Number Two Elf.”

Kylie was confused. Her invention had landed her on the Naughty List, now Santa was telling her that she is the Number Two Elf. She didn't know what to say. In fact, she was a little afraid. How could she, the smallest elf, handle such a large responsibility?

“As the Number Two Elf,” Santa continued, “you are in charge of my secret weapon.” He removed his hat from his head and continued, “Many think that when I touch my nose the magic happens, but, really, it's all in my hat. My hat has the most Christmas spirit in the entire world.”

“But. . . but why me?” mumbled Kylie.

“You are a very special little elf, Kylie. You may be small, but you will do great things.”

“Small elves like me don't get to do great things.”

“Well, as my Number Two Elf, your job is to take my hat to New York City. After every Christmas, it goes there, to a small cleaners, to be refilled with the magic. But it must be done before New Year's Day. We are running a little late this year, but I think you can make it happen. Find the reindeer; they know the way.”

For the first time since her invention blew up, Kylie was excited. “Anything for you, Santa,” she exclaimed.

“Not for me, Kylie, this job is for you.”

Kylie was in such a hurry to get started on her journey to New York City that she had grabbed Santa's hat and was out of the door before she could hear what Santa said to her. She did exactly as Santa said and rounded up the reindeer. Did Santa really think she could do this? She put Santa's hat safely inside of her backpack, loaded enough food onto the sleigh for three days and was off to New York City.

****************

Once in New York, she dropped the hat off at the one-hour cleaners and went to visit the Statue of Liberty. She climbed all the way to the top and looked out over the city. From there, she thought she saw a small child sitting alone in the
distance. She decided to head back down. Once at the bottom, sure enough, there was a little, brown boy sitting on the steps alone.

“Are you okay?” asked Kylie.

“I'm tired,” he replied, “I went to the library and checked out all of these books, but the bag I was carrying them in broke along the way.”

There was a pile of books next to the boy. Kylie took off her backpack. “Here, take this,” she said.

“But don't you need it?” he asked.

“You need it more,” Kylie said, while already loading his books into the backpack. When she was done, he slipped the backpack over his shoulders.

“This is much better.”

“I'll bet,” said Kylie. “Have a nice walk.” She waved to the boy as he continued on his journey and she went back to the cleaners.

Once she got there, she asked the man at the cleaners if the hat was done.

“What hat?” he replied.

“Santa's hat, the one I just dropped off.”

He disappeared into the back. “Here you go,” he said, handing her a red and white Santa suit.

Kylie looked underneath the plastic feeling hopeful, but there was nothing. “There is no hat,” she said.

“I don't have a hat,” he replied. “Some guy picked up one about five minutes ago. He went out the door and to the left.”

Oh no!
Kylie thought. First, she ruined Christmas. Now, she lost Santa's hat! She turned to run out the door. “Wait,” the guy yelled. “This is your suit.”

Kylie didn't feel like explaining, so she took the suit and ran out of the door and to the left. “Excuse me,” she said to everyone she bumped into. She was looking for anyone carrying a red hat. Because she wasn't focusing, she tripped and fell to the ground.

“Are you okay?” asked a man in dirty, ripped up clothes. He extended his hand to help her up.

She took it and it was freezing cold. Although she had a few bumps and bruises, she could not help but be worried about the stranger. “I'm fine,” she said once she was on her feet.

“You took a pretty hard fall. I'm surprised you didn't see me.”

“I was in a hurry.” She wanted to explain how she had lost Santa's hat, but she noticed that the man barely had any clothing at all. She picked up the suit from the sidewalk. “Take this,” she said.

“I can't take this from you,” he replied.

“It's fine. I want you to have it.”

He took the suit out of the plastic and put it on. “I have not been this warm all winter,” he said. “Thank you.”

“You are welcome,” Kylie replied, before continuing her search for Santa's hat.

Although things hadn't gone like Kylie had planned, she felt good inside. She did not know how she was going to tell Santa she'd lost his hat; she could only pray that he could get another. She decided to go back to the reindeer and go home. But before she even made it to the end of the block, she heard a familiar voice, “Kylie Elf, where are you going?” It was Tinker.

“Home,” she replied, wondering why Tinker was there.

“You can't go home without Santa's hat.”

“How do you know I lost Santa's hat?”

“I know everything,” she said. “I also called my friends at Lost Around The World Spy Agency. They located Santa's hat in Africa.”

“Africa?” Kylie said. “How did it get to Africa? I only dropped it off an hour ago.”

“Who knows? All I know is we have to get there to find it. Follow me.”

Tinker took Kylie's arm and they ran toward the reindeer. Once they got in the sleigh, they flew and flew. Soon they were flying over the Great Pyramids in Egypt, then traveling through the Safari in Rwanda, until finally they came to a
small village in South Africa. They were greeted by school children who were dancing, singing and beating African drums. It was like nothing Kylie had ever seen.

“Isn't this great?” Tinker said.

“Where are we?” Kylie asked.

Tinker did not reply, only joined in with the dancing. Kylie wanted to, but she couldn't help but notice there was another group of children who were not dancing at all. Without thinking, she remembered the food she had loaded into the sleigh; she grabbed it all and went over to them.

“Please join in the celebration,” she said.

One little girl went into her hut and came out with dishes. Another brought water and tea. Soon, all the children in the village were having a party. Kylie had that feeling again. The same one she had when she gave the boy at the Statue of Liberty her backpack and the man on the street the Santa suit. Although she still wanted to find Santa's hat, it just didn't seem that important anymore.

“Come with me,” Tinker said, breaking Kylie's thought. “Someone wants to see you.”

She led Kylie into a village home that had lots of Christmas decorations. There was a sign on the wall that said ‘South Pole'. The place looked a lot like Santa's study back in the North Pole.

“My Number Two Elf, you made it,” a voice said.

“Santa, is that you?” Kylie asked.

“Who else?” replied Santa.

Tinker giggled and pushed Kylie forward so she could see better. Sure enough, it was Santa. Although he was not wearing his red suit, he was wearing his hat, and Kylie was relieved. “Your hat,” she said with a smile.

He smiled back. “I am so proud of you, Kylie. You have everything it takes to be a true elf. You may be small, but you have a big heart. Tinker and I want you to know everything there is to know about Elf, Incorporated. This is our office in the South Pole, and the beginning of your training to one day be Number One Elf.”

Tinker cheered. “We finally did it, Santa. I thought no one would ever pass.”

“Yes, we did. I told you Kylie was the one.”

Finally, Kylie understood. She looked up at Santa, “Thank you for believing in me.”

Santa gave her a big hug and said, “I told you, you may be small, but you will do great things.”

Kylie was so happy! Santa had given her the greatest gift ever and she couldn't wait to share it with the world!

About the Authors

Morgan Billingsley
is a seventh grader, who loves writing, acting, swimming and volleyball. She enjoys helping out and making people laugh. Everyone who knows her, applauds her nurturing heart. Morgan can often be found assisting her mother, ReShonda Tate Billingsley at book signings. She is active in her school organizations and serves as secretary for her Teen group in Jack and Jill of America, Inc. Follow her on Instagram
@c_momo_b

Jackie Lee
is a lover of the letters and the arts. She has starred in three theatrical productions produced by Cherie Garland. She portrayed Crystal in “The Christmas Present,” Glenda The Good Witch in “The Wiz” and the Ballerina in “One Night With a King.” Jackie's love of arts also extends to church. She participates in the praise dance ministry at her church. She utilizes her musical talents as a clarinet player in her local elementary school band. Jackie can often be found at various literary events assisting her mother and guest authors. She also enjoys journaling and making sketches in her notebooks. She resides in Virginia with her parents and siblings. You can follow her at
@leewriterjackie
on twitter

Ten year old,
Gabrielle Simone
attends Pulaski Academy College Preparatory School, where her teachers describe her as hardworking and passionate about learning. She is the student council representative for fifth grade, plays both basketball and soccer and has a personality bigger than life. The confident young writer is also the daughter of young adult author Celia Anderson. Having grown up tagging alongside her mom at book signings and lectures, it's no
surprise that she has become interested in the art. Gabrielle says that one day she would like to attend Stanford University in California, but that may change as she grows older. Currently she resides with her mother in Little Rock, Arkansas, enjoys playing dress up, singing and playing with her American Girl Dolls. She lists both her mother and maternal grandmother, whom she affectionately calls FeFe, as the people who have influenced her the most.

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