It should be fairly obvious, but this is a work of fiction. This is a short story I wrote for a good friend of mine, Rosa.
Toy Santa photo by Aurelien S.
Once upon a time…
Long ago, the elves were the dominant race on Earth. While mankind was evolving from apes and migrating out of the African wilderness, the elves already had several great cities around the world. They were stewards of the land, and lived in close harmony with the animals and the natural world around them. They were highly magical, and they used their powerful magic to maintain the balance of nature. As life flourished under their wise tutelage, magic grew increasingly powerful. The planet teemed with life, and the elves lived lives of bliss and peace.
The elves watched as mankind emerged from the darkness, and became self-aware. At first, they welcomed these new brothers, believing them to be distant cousins to their own race, and they intermingled freely. For thousands of years, the races coexisted peacefully.
Eventually, one tribe of man discovered violence, and man spilled the blood of his fellow man. This sickened the elves, for although they had known the pleasures of hunting animals to maintain the balance of nature, they had never hunted each other, nor had they ever showed violence to each other. The spilling of blood tainted the sons of man, and it tainted the magic of life.
The magical taint spread throughout the elves like a plague, wiping out millions of them, until the last few remaining elves were forced to flee to their last home in the frozen North, far away from the reach of man. There, they watched, and wept as the sons of man spiraled further and further into violence, ugliness, and greed. The sons of man never learned how to harness magic, so they grew to depend on their poison taint to help them achieve all the things that the elves had gotten peacefully.
The sons of man forgot the elves completely, and they forgot the magic in the world, too. As they forgot the magic, the world began to die because life is the product of magic, and without magic, the world can not survive.
The last few remaining elves knew this, because they could feel their own connection to the magic fading away, and they themselves began to die off, with fewer babies being born each year. At long last, they could ignore the situation no longer, and so a great council was held to address the problem.
Many different plans were brought forth, and many ideas were discussed. Finally, the wizened old elf known only as “grandfather” slowly rose from his chair. All the elves fell silent as he hobbled into the center of the room and began to speak:
“It seems to me that the sons of man are not born with the taint of fear that causes them to destroy themselves. When they are still children, they believe in magic, and they believe in miracles. The youngest among them are full of life, and full of magic. Perhaps the way to save magic, and to save all life on the planet, is by finding a way to reach the children.
“We must send an envoy to the sons of man, to learn about their children. We must find out what they like, why they are so full of love and joy, and why they lose their connection to the magic as they grow older. By learning these things, perhaps we can find a way to save them. We cannot send more than one elf. The risk is too great, and there are too few of us already. Moreover, the one we send must be young, and full of our own love and light. For as our envoy travels through the human lands, the taint from the sons of man will age her, and will batter her spirit. This will be a tough journey, full of danger and hardships.”
King Duende stood from his throne and joined Grandfather in the center of the room. “Do you have someone in mind already, Grandfather? For when you spoke, you mentioned her. Which child do you mean to send out to the lands of man?”
Grandfather, with his custom twinkle in his eye, put his arm around the king. “Yes, dear friend. I have just the girl.”
And so it came to pass that Princesa Rosalina Duende, youngest daughter of King Duende, left her home in the Frozen Northlands. She wandered the human lands, learning about children. She watched them play and learn, she watched them grow and lose their connection with magic. After many years of observing, she noticed two things: 1.) The human children stayed young as long as they kept playing. Once they stopped playing, they quickly succumbed to the taint within their blood and grew angry and bitter. 2.) They all believed in magic until they were told that magic didn’t exist. Until they were told that they couldn’t do magic, they all believed in it, and could use it. But once they stopped believing in it, they could never harness it’s power ever again.
Armed with this knowledge, she began working on a plan to increase the amount of time that children spent playing, and to spread the belief of magic. She traveled to many more lands of the humans, always trying to spread the joy of magic and playfulness wherever she went.
In one village, she noticed a lot of smiling, happy children, many of whom were much older than the children from other villages, yet still retained their connection to playing and magic. It quickly became apparent to her that Nicholas, the wood carver of the village was an old man, and yet he was full of life and joy. Even as an adult, he could still use magic. He used his gifts to make toys for the children, which he gave them freely out of love.
By this time, Princesa Duende was an old woman, and so she also noticed that Nicholas lived alone. The friendship was easy, and love came fast upon them both. Nicholas believed her when she told him that she was the Elvish Princess, and that her race lived far to the North, beyond the reach of the sons of man. They lived happily together for a few years, with him making toys for the children in the village while she baked all kinds of treats and goodies for them to enjoy. But eventually, they began to succumb to the taint of mankind, for even the purest of souls must eventually pass away. But no so with the elves, and so Princesa Rosalina Duende prepared them both to travel to the Elvish Kingdom where they could live forever.
The children of the village were sad to see them go, but Princesa had a plan. She told them that Nicholas would come back once a year to bring them toys for as long as they believed he would. On one magical night, in the darkest Winter Night, Nicholas would come to them and leave them presents. To prepare for his coming, they should bring a tree indoors, to honor the old gods of the elves, and they should decorate it with festive lights and family trinkets to honor the fairies of the forest. They should hang their wet stockings above the firepace to dry overnight, and Nicholas would live small gifts for them there as well as under the tree. Lastly, they should thank him by leaving a snack for him to enjoy on his travels. When the children asked how Nicholas would manage such a feat, she simply smiled and said: “magic”. The children knew that the old couple were indeed magical, and so they never doubted.
And so the children followed all of their instructions, and were rewarded handsomely by Nicholas that first year.
Word spread from that village to the next, and to the next, and eventually the story of St. Nicholas spread around the world. During the year, Princesa (now known as Mother Claus to the elvish and human children alike) bakes treats for the human children, and fills the elvish kingdom with love and laughter, while Nicholas makes toys for the children. Many elves help out with this, using magic to fashion exact replicas of toys that are popular with human children from year to year. The magical reindeer help him deliver the gifts, and much joy is brought to the world. To this day, St. Nicholas continues to bring toys to the good boys and girls of the world by using elvish magic and the power of belief.
If there is one slight flaw in the magic, it is simply that St. Nicholas always leaves the same note for Mother Claus:
“Dear Princessa. I’m off to deliver the toys. Back in a bit. Love, Nick.”
“Hmph. After all these years together, he STILL can’t spell my name correctly! It’s PRINCESA…ONLY ONE S!” But then she smiles, and thinks that’s a small price to pay for keeping magic alive in the world.
The End
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I do believe, Jay, that I much prefer your version of the St. Nicholas story. It’s beautiful. There’s so much simple wisdom sprinkled throughout. I was absolutely captivated! I felt as if my heart was sprinkled with stardust. I wish your elves still ruled; I’ve always been partial to magic.
Your friend, Rosa, is lucky to have you in her life, and she’s very generous to allow us all to read the story you wrote for her. Thank you, and her, for sharing this very beautiful treasure.
Julie´s last blog ..Nothing
Of all the holiday elven stories, this one makes the most sense to me! I think you’re on to something. Can we write a letter to the elves, maybe asking them to set up a little elf camp on human grounds? Oh! and there can be elf ambassadors! You know, humans like us to help faciliate the magic back into the adult world.
Cassie´s last blog ..looking back: fall 2009
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful… THIS ought to be the Christmas story. In fact, this will be my new Christmas story. I love it! Especially since I know Princesa Duende and can fully believe every bit of what you say about her.
I bet this is the loveliest gift Rosa has received in a good long while. I wonder if she knows how lucky she is to have you in her life? Of course she knows!
PS: I’m really glad you went with THIS version of the story.
Lisis | Quest For Balance´s last blog ..Why Do You Fear Being Great, You Yellow-Bellied Coward?
Jay, this is amazing. I am going to share it with the Littles. They will love it. Find an illustrator and get it published, maybe?
Jill´s last blog ..Here is what I DO know
What a great story, Jay! I love it!!
You should definitely get this published.
positively present´s last blog ..words to live by: a grown-up christmas list
@Julie – Thank you! I wish those elves still ruled, too. I think the world needs more magic, and more loving kindness, which the elves are all about!
@Cassie -I LOVE the idea of elf ambassadors! Sign me up, too. I can;t think of any job I’d rather have in the whole world than being an ambassador of love, light, and magic to the world.
@Lisis – Thank you! I’m glad you think it’s beautiful, and I’m glad Rosa does, too. You know, the great thing about what you said is that *I* can really believe all this about her, too. She really is special, isn’t she? I’m also glad that you’ve decided to adopt this version of the Christmas story. I hope Hunter likes it, too!
@Jill – Sharing this with your littles is just about the best gift that anyone could ever give ME, so thank you for that. I hope they enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
@Dani – I’m glad you love it! As for publishing it, I never really thought about that. I suppose it *would* make a good childrens book, huh? Maybe a little fleshing out, and a little editing, who knows?
It is a magical time, isn’t it?
Jay,
What a wonderful Christmas tale. And especially the magic and play. I was really drawn in by your wonderfully shared words. Rosa is very lucky to have you in her life. What a gift you have created with your words, and from your heart.
Lance´s last blog ..Sunday Thought For The Day
Nice! That’s a keeper.
This is fabulous! I agree with others, I would love to see this published. I am already imagining the pictures.
Lisa (mommymystic)´s last blog ..The Desert Mothers: First Women Christian Hermits
Thank you Jay! I have no words to tell you how much I love it. Lisis’s right, this is the best gift I’ve gotten in a while, thank you so much for that. I am going to print it, and save it in a special place and show it off to everyone I know and brag about the amazing friend I have that is you Jay.
I can totally see it in a children’s book, it’s a great background story for Santa’s wife, I’ve never read anything about her past. I’m gonna start calling my dad “King Duende” and see what happens
P.S I believe in magic and will teach my children to always believe in it too. =)
Oh Jay – This is just the most beautiful Christmas story ever! I will be sharing it with my grandchildren for sure. Publish publish publish.
Trish Scott´s last blog ..One Truth
Hi Jay,
(BTW: Happy Yule today, the 21st!)
I love it that the elves were earthly stewards – I can see your Pagan/Wicca roots there.
I love how you infuse so much hope, joy, and play into all you do, Jay. And I agree with Lisis, I bet Rosa won’t forget this holiday season for quite a long time. I believe one of the most beautiful things anyone can to for someone else is to share the written word from one’s heart.
Aww…you’re such a blessing to all of us, Jay Bird. Thank you!
Lori´s last blog ..Front Porch: Brave, Bold Tess
Jay,
I’m going to continue to play, believe and read your stories! Like you your story is magical. Thanks for being you and how blessed Rosa is!
This story is…remarkable. Exquisite. Amazing.
Hayden Tompkins´s last blog ..The Pain of Our Pain
Jay, you turned me into a kid again simply by reading this brilliant piece of prose. You, my friend, are such an incredibly gifted writer. Your mind works (if I may) magically, and you’ve awakened the magic in my own heart today.
Thank you, my friend, for making me smile from my tummy to the top of my head. I think it might be time to play!
Megan “JoyGirl!” Bord´s last blog ..Funny Cookies
I have long believed that the children have much to teach us. This story builds upon that truth.
Brilliant.
Jason of Kim & Jason´s last blog ..Interview with Brian Jones (aka the Dude Who Bought The House from A Christmas Story)
Holy cow, I really let comments pile up today, didn’t I? Sorry about that. OK, Here goes…
@Dot – Yes, it really is a magical time of year. I love the holidays, because the magic is everywhere if we can only believe in it.
@Lance – Thank you, Lance! I’m glad you liked the story. Rosa and I are both lucky to have each other as friends. She helps keep me young at heart
@Dad – Thanks!
@Lisa – Hmm another vote for the publishing, eh? I think I might have to look into it, then. What kind of pictures can you see? I don’t know if I want the elves to be traditional Santa helpers or more like Lord of the Rings elves…
@Rosa – I’m so glad you like your present, Princesa. You’re truly a magical girl, and when you do have children, they will be some of the luckiest kids alive.
@Trish – Thank you so much. Sharing it with your grandchildren would be just about the best gift that anyone could give *me*, so thank you!
@Lori – Awww, thank you Lori-bug! If I can be half the blessing to the world that you are, then I’ll be doing well.
@Tess – I’m so glad that you’re going to continue to play and believe with us! It wouldn’t be the same without you.
@Hayden – Thank you for the kind words. I’m so glad you liked the story. Remarkable, exquisite, amazing, huh? To me, that sounds like you.
@Megan – To say that my mind works magically is just about the best compliment anyone has ever given me. I’m glad that some magic was awakened in your heart today. Have fun playing!
@Jason – You were at lest part of the inspiration for this story. What you do with Kim and Jason against adultitus inspired me to write about the magic of childhood, so all thanks to you, my friend!
“… life is the product of magic, and without magic, the world can not survive.”
Jay, this works on so many different levels. Kid’s story. Modern day/ancient fable. But most of all, what I read in it, is a gentle yet deep appreciation for the state of the world.
And I can only repeat all the other commenters who encourage you to publish this.
Ian | Quantum Learning´s last blog ..Surviving Christmas
Hey buddy! All the other comments have said this already, but weeee! A heart-warming story indeed, and made me feel childlike again for a few moments.
Albert | UrbanMonk.Net´s last blog ..Our Innate Innocence – Reflections on Forgiveness
@Ian – Thank you! Yes, I definitely intended to write a kid’s story, but also for it to work on a more adult level, too. So, I’m glad you picked up on that.
@Albert – LOL! Weeee, indeed. I’m glad that I was able to make you feel more child-like. Keep that up, and we’ll have to change your name from “Urban Monk” to “Laughing Buddha”
Jay,
Heartwarming story–beautifully written! Magic is all around, easily accessible, and free! I still believe–wholeheartedly:) I joyfully play every day–not always as long as I’d like–but every day on the boat with all in my backyard is a day of wonder—can’t help but soak it in:)
Much peace….
Love this Jay! I do hope you attempt to get it published. I like that the Mrs. is an elf and the Mr. was a human. Never seen that story before.
Suzanne´s last blog ..Accepting the 365 Days of Decluttering Challenge for 2010?
@Joy – Thank you! I’m glad that you liked the story. More importantly, I’m thankful that you still believe. We need more people like that in the world. Thanks for being a keeper of the magic!
@Suzanne – Thanks! I’m glad you liked it. Yeah, I like putting non-traditional spins on common stories, and seeing what comes of it. Sometimes it’s successful, sometimes not.
Jay,
This was an awesome awesome awesome story!! So full of Magic…i’m all tingly with the magic feel
Youre a genius writer….I’m blessed to know you and read your work, before it becomes a bestseller
Lots of love, blessings and Seasons Greetings to you my friend.
Z
Zeenat{Positive Provocations}´s last blog ..Hearts Design
Oh my, what a heart warming Christmas Story! So full of magic and love. Thanks for writing and sharing!
Blessings to you and yours on Christmas and every day.
Keep the Magic Alive!
CordieB.
Well done … I like how magic makes things happen!
You can never go wrong with elves, whether it’s Drow, the Lord of the Rings kind, or those little guys that work in Santa’s shop.
J.D. Meier´s last blog ..8 Ways to Be Heroic
Enjoyed reading your story, Jay. This is why I asked if your airport story was fiction. You obviously have a natural flair for fiction. And it’s so much fun when the magic happens, isn’t it! Keep playing!
Brenda (betaphi)´s last blog ..Merry Christmas!
@Zeenat – Thank you, my friend! Lots of love, blessings, and season’s greetings to you, too!
@Cordie – Thank you, I’m glad you liked the story. And yes, I plan on keeping the magic alive for at least as long as I keep myself alive
@J.D. – In the first draft of this story, I had the Elves be the same Elves that left Middle Earth at the end of LotR, but I changed it later to simplify the story and keep it much shorter than it originally was. So, thank you for bringing them back in through the comments
@Brenda – Thank you! One of my favorite authors was Michael Crichton, who always blended real science into his fiction so completely that it was hard to tell where one started and the other ended. So, I try to emulate that as much as possible. Maybe I do Ok with it?
I’m glad you liked the story, and rest assured, i will most definitely “keep playing”!
What a beautiful and magical story, perfect for this Christmas day! Thank you so much, Jay, and Merry Christmas!
Lana – DreamFollowers Blog´s last blog ..How To Spend Time With Yourself and Why.