Written by Johannie Dufour and Sarah Beauregard
Translated by Cyan Caruso-Comas
Rudolpha the reindeer, teacher at the North Pole Animal Daycare, is shopping. As she enters the general store, the owner, Chatty the elf greets her.
“Rudolpha, my dear, what brings you in today?”
“Hi Chatty! I’m looking for craft supplies to make Santa Clauses with the children this week.”
“Wonderful, wonderful. I’ll let you take a look around. Let me know if you need anything.” The shopkeeper is never able to keep quiet for long though. As Rudolpha heads to the crafting section, he says, “I think I’m going to sell the store.”
“Really?” asks Rudolpha who can’t imagine the kind old elf without his shop.
“Yes. I’m getting older, and running a business is hard work. The only thing that I’ll miss is chatting with my wonderful customers. I suppose I’ll get to hang out at the Holly Café more often. Although Moka may get tired of me spending all my time in her coffee shop,” Chatty laughs.
Rudolpha smiles, imagining Moka the elf, owner of the café, watching Chatty talking to her customers.
“I’m going to have to start emptying the back of the store,” continues Chatty. “That’s going to be a lot of work.”
“What do you keep back there?” asks the teacher.
“Just a bunch of old junk that can’t be sold.”
“Could I take a look?”
“Of course,” says Chatty, opening the door with a theatrical flourish, “take anything you like.”
The reindeer feels like she’s entered Ali Baba’s cave of wonders. Everywhere she turns are mountains of forgotten items. Here a pile of ripped blankets, there some necklaces with broken clasps. On the shelves are toys with missing pieces. Against the wall are mismatched pairs of skis. In the back are big buckets with holes in the bottom.
Rudolpha is thrilled. She picks up some chipped square bowls, a reindeer toy that’s missing half its stuffing, wrinkled blue tissue paper, frayed white ribbon and two elf dolls, one that’s missing a hat and the other with only one shoe.
“What are you going to do with all that?” asks Chatty as Rudolpha re-enters the store.
“Make a model of the North Pole! It’ll be an even better project for the kids than making Santas. We’ll make some repairs and the children can collect pinecones. Once that’s done, we’ll have everything we need to make Christmas trees, houses, streams and snowy roads. The reindeer and the elves can be our characters.”
“What a wonderful idea. I should have let you into the backroom long ago. Feel free to return any time you need materials.”
“Thanks! I’m sure I’ll be back soon.”
Thinking about all the things she might do with the items in Chatty’s back room, Rudolpha happily makes her way home.
