Santa's Elves at Work: A Christmas Memory

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Catching the Mosquito

I was…maybe…four?  Five?  I’m pretty sure this was before Barbie entered my life, as my prime toy was a baby doll with a slightly misshapen head from lying too long on the furnace vent.  Baby doll didn’t have a name, but she was my baby doll.  I believe my younger sister had one as well; if memory serves me correctly, mine had fuzzy black hair and hers had fuzzy brown hair.  Before the bunk beds; we were sleeping in a double bed in the single bedroom in the ancient three room, one bath farmhouse.

But it was Christmas Eve and magic happens on Christmas Eve.  We looked out of the living room window and saw a blinking red light in the sky.  It was three or four years later that I realized I could see that same blinking red light on the radio towers on the hills south of the house any night of the year, but that night, clearly, Rudolph was leading Santa around in the area and we needed to go to bed and go to sleep immediately, before he got to our house.

We each put one of our knee socks on the coffee table for Santa to fill.  Then, jammies on, teeth brushed, goodnight kisses and a tuck in and we were on our way to dreamland, knowing that when we woke up, we’d see what wonders had been left for us.

Except I was too excited to sleep.  I laid in bed for the longest time, light from the living room illuminating the hall to the bedroom.  Mommy and Daddy were still up.  They needed to go to bed, too, right?  I closed my eyes and held them closed, but when I opened them again the light was still there.  And…the sewing machine was running.  I could hear it all the way in my bed.

I clamped my eyes shut again, hoping Santa didn’t come while Mommy and Daddy were still up.  But I could hear the sewing machine running and running, even while I held my eyes closed and willed myself…and my parents! … to GO TO SLEEP. 

But inevitably my eyes opened and…the light was still on and the sewing machine was still running.  Was that sleigh bells in the distance?  Was Santa getting close?  If he saw the lights still on, wouldn’t he just skip our house altogether?

Nobody could see Santa!  He wouldn’t risk that!

I rolled over and closed my eyes and wrapped my pillow around my head so as to block the sound of the sewing machine.    Holding my eyes tight and my pillow tighter I waited…and waited…until my arms got achy. 

I let go of the pillow and opened my eyes.  The light was still on, and the sewing machine was still running.

Santa had surely passed the house by now.  Tears began to slip from my eyes.  He was so close when we went to bed!  He had so far to go!  He couldn’t wait around for the house to go dark and quiet.  We were going to wake up tomorrow and have nothing, because he couldn’t stop if anyone was still up and about. 

Heartbroken, I cried until I fell asleep at last.

The next morning, to my surprise, there were presents under the tree and nuts and candy in the knee socks.  And, among the presents…were new outfits for the baby dolls:  little gingham dresses with lace trim.

I didn't put it together until years later... I'd heard Santa's elves working.