Santa's Little Helper

Written for the RM Stockton's (unofficial) A Haunted Christmas Prompt Challenge. Win prizes! See all the details below.

Despite popular tales of folklore passed on throughout the ages, dear ole Santa wasn’t always equipped with the luxury of helpers. He voluntarily spent 364 days a year battling sleep in order to craft thousands of toys using only the hustle and grind of his bare hands. As the years marched on, his productivity level began to wane. He had to do something. Children everywhere counted on him...

He sought to create a living being who would be motivated and capable of carrying out his endearing cause...

Therefore, a desperate mission began to formulate...

* * *

On one very cold and stressful evening, he crafted a special toy that resembled a miniature person. It was the ears that set it apart from identifying as a normal looking human. They were large, pointy and disproportionate. Satisfied with its appearance, the time had come to assign a name. He spent several hours contemplating the appropriate moniker for what would become his protégé.

Inspired by the words Efficient Life Form, a moment of clarity illuminated within his crowded brain.

"I shall call you ELF!"

Santa relished in a pleasant state of accomplishment as he put Elf on the shelf where it would remain until he could execute the final part of the deed — conjure a life spark. This would prove to be more difficult than it was to train the reindeer to fly...

Very few people know that Santa was born into a long line of crafty wizards. He survived ‘The Great Purge’ — a horrific confrontation responsible for the annihilation of his brethren. Soon after, he vowed to keep smiles on the faces of the planet's children. One day a year, he keeps that promise.

Creating toys using magic was never an option. Simply put, magic requires energy. The essential power needed to materialize countless durable toys year after year was quite unattainable. Wizards are not made of magic, but they can perform magical acts.

Santa Claus failed several times to bring Elf to life. It wasn't until he remembered an olde galdorcræft chant that a wise mentor once used to animate his playthings as a young lad that he came upon a solution.

Dusting off the three-hundred-year-old tome, he quickly taught himself the precise rhythm needed for the spell to adhere. The ears were the first to move. They began to wiggle and show signs of awareness by angling toward the direction of Santa's voice. The eyes were next to animate. They twinkled, they blinked, they became expressive! Elf began to smile. He stood up on the shelf, jumped down from it and ran directly to the workshop to begin making toys. This exceeded every expectation Santa had. He left Elf to do its duty while he finalized plans to create a dozen more. Tired from the hectic duration of the day, he drifted off to sleep.

The following morning, he went to check on Elf. As he scanned the workshop, his eyes grew to maximum astonishment. Elf performed with the utmost diligence the entire night. The shop was filled with all sorts of toys as if he could read Santa's mind and knew exactly what to make. It was a proud moment indeed.

Mr. Claus began taking inventory. There were trains with wheels that revolved, firetrucks with ladders that extend, board games, frisbees, Legos, dolls with bleeding hair? Santa picked up one of the dolls with extreme caution. It reeked of blood and reindeer. It was clear to him that the doll's hair was made of reindeer fur. This was confirmed by the mangled corpse of Prancer in the back corner of the workshop. His mind could not calculate what could have caused this. He then saw Elf jump down from his stool, run over to the corpse and ruthlessly extract several teeth. He returned to his workstation and used them for steps on a doll house.

"My God, Elf! What have you done? You've killed Prancer!"

The compulsive helper barely reacted. Santa fiercely grabbed the tools out of his hands. Elf looked up at Santa with a demented glare. In a single motion, he leapt onto Santa's bright red sweater and snatched the tools out his maker's shaky hand. He didn’t waste a second getting back to work. Santa again grabbed the tools but this time, he hid them behind his back. Highly irritated, Elf slowly turned around. He huffed and puffed while outstretching the open palm of his dwarf-sized right hand, gesturing for the bloodstained tools back. When Santa refused, Elf again jumped in a flash onto his sweater. With one hand, he clung on to the fat man’s suspenders while the other hand took a savage swipe at Santa's face. The old man reacted by dropping the tools to clutch his deeply reddened face that began to trickle blood.

What went wrong? Santa thought to himself as he went to bandage the painful lacerations. Upon returning, he looked around the room again and saw that every bit of material had been used. Elf was simply improvising and didn’t understand that you shouldn’t kill living things for the sake of progress. At that moment, Santa knew his anxious attempt to manufacture help required more thought. Elf had one exclusive goal in mind — make toys at any cost. He lacked the human ability to discern emotions. Relaxation was nonexistent. His actions were one-tracked, and he absolutely hated interruptions.

Santa couldn’t bring himself to destroy Elf. In the short time of his existence, Santa felt for him. Of course, it wasn't the small one's fault that his natural tendencies were flawed.

Santa captured Elf by throwing tools into a cage. He knew the little twit would retrieve them. Once detained, Elf soon realized he couldn’t escape the predicament. He sat down in the cage and began looking for materials; his strong will to create toys remained at the forefront of his attention. Several tools were already locked up with him, so he started with his left leg. He ripped it off without a wince and made two pair of bunny rabbit slippers. He ripped his other leg off in a similar manner and made a jump rope. This continued until all that was left were his two hands feeling around on the floor of the cage for more materials. Elf had turned himself into toys.

And so, his hands lived in that cage like a faithful pet. Instead of needing food, Santa would throw in materials once in a while to give what was left of Elf something to do.

Santa Claus eventually succeeded in creating loyal elves capable of taking direction and who understood the meaning of Christmas. They became an integral part of Santa’s world. He treated them as family and still does till this day. They were even given regular names but will always be considered Elf kin. There will never again be a shortage of toys...

Thank you for stopping by!

Happy Holidays!