The Christmas Elf
Has your home ever been visited by a Christmas elf? If so, this intriguing adventure experienced by a little boy named Eddy should come as no shock to you!
A nice, polite boy named Eddy lived a quiet life in a pretty blue house with his mom and his little sister. Since his sixth birthday, Eddy was very proud of himself because he could get dressed for school without the help of his mother.
Eddy loved to choose his outfits carefully. Every night before going to bed, he selected the clothes he wanted to wear the next day. Underwear, socks, a sweater and pants were placed neatly on a bench near his dresser. By doing this, Eddy could get dressed quickly in the morning, and then take his time to eat breakfast while reading a book. This was the perfect system for a boy who liked to be tidy and organized!
On a chilly December morning, Eddy’s well-thought out system collapsed. The boy had put on his clothes in the same order as usual: underwear, sweater and pants. But when the time came to put on his socks, Eddy was surprised to find only one sock on the bench!
The boy’s first thought was that he had dropped the missing sock on the floor. He looked under the bench, under the bed, and inside the drawers of his dresser. But he could not find the missing sock.
Eddy went to see his mother. She suggested that he check the laundry basket, which he did. Still no trace of the missing sock. Displeased, Eddy had to rush to pick another pair of socks to go to school.
That evening, as he was selecting his clothes before going to bed, Eddy made sure that he put two socks with his outfit on his bench. But when he got dressed the following morning, he saw that there was again a sock missing! Seeing that her son was upset, Eddy’s mom helped him look for the missing sock. No luck. Since time was running out and he had to leave for school, Eddy had to hurry to choose another pair of socks. This was very annoying to him because the colour of his socks did not match his pants the way he liked it to!
The same incident repeated itself the next day and then the day after. Eddy always made sure that he put two socks on the bench before going to bed, but there would be only one left in the morning. Eddy’s mom got impatient and she scolded him, telling him to pay more attention. With the way things were going, he would soon have to go to school with mismatched socks! This idea made the boy very nervous. He was so proud of his elegant style! Who was so insistent on stealing his socks?
At first he suspected his sister, but he quickly realized that she couldn’t be the culprit: she was still too little to climb out of her bed on her own. There was no way she was getting up in the middle of the night to hide his clothing. Eddy also didn’t think that his mother would play this kind of trick on him. She was always in a hurry in the morning. He knew she didn’t want to waste her precious time hunting for socks throughout the house!
Eddy therefore concluded there could only be one culprit: a Christmas elf! The boy had heard several children talk about elves they had caught with the help of their parents. Rumour had it, these mysterious little beings remained motionless during the day in order to observe the behaviour of children. Some elves took advantage of the night time to play all kinds of tricks in the houses they visited. Even if Eddy had not seen any elf in his house, maybe one of them managed to get in and had decided to prank him by stealing his socks!
“I’m going to build an elf trap!” decided Eddy, in order to solve his problem. He chose a medium-sized box and drew Christmas symbols on it: a beautiful tree filled with lights and tinsel, Christmas ornaments of all colours, gifts of all shapes and sizes, and pretty snowflakes. At the bottom of the trap, Eddy put down some candy canes. He also added a chocolate cookie in case Santa decided to visit before Christmas Eve. He placed the box at the foot of his bed and despite his excitement, he managed to fall asleep very quickly.
Will Eddy capture the sock stealing elf? Find out in the second part of the story!