Oskar, the Christmas Tree Elf: A Christmas to Remember

Chapter 9: Dreams Come True

"Wow. It's been a long time since I last told that story to anyone," said Oskar, "and telling it's made me a little hungry. Do you mind if I help myself to some cookies and milk?"

"Those are for Santa Claus," replied Emma. "But I'd be happy to get you some from the kitchen."

"Emma, Santa's offered so much milk and cookies at Christmas that if he tried to eat it all he'd gain 1,000 pounds in a single night. At most houses he has one of his elves put the cookies back in the kitchen and pour the milk into the dog or cat bowl."

Emma was fascinated by this new intelligence. "How do you know Santa Claus? Have you seen him?"

"Many times. Right here in this room, in fact," Oskar boasted. "Unless his schedule has changed, he should be arriving very soon." He climbed up onto the table and pulled a long, thin straw out of his pocket. Bending it in several places so he could hook it over the rim of the milk glass, Oskar sipped at the milk, then took a walnut from one of the cookies and began to chew on it.

"Most Christmas tree elves have seen Santa Claus many times," he continued, "since we're usually with our Christmas trees when he comes to put presents under them."

"Luke told me that there is no Santa Claus," Emma complained. "I told him there is too and I said if there was no Santa then where did all the presents come from. But he said that Mom and Dad bought them."

"Emma, I'm going to tell you a secret. Luke is right. Your parents did buy those presents." Her spirits sank. "But there is a Santa!" She looked up with a confused expression on her face. Oskar continued. "There are so many more people in the world today than there were 100 years ago. Eventually, it just became necessary for parents to buy the presents and pretend that Santa brought them. Parents started encouraging their children to write letters to Santa and taking them to visit his stand-ins at department stores so they could find out what their children really wanted for Christmas.

"Everyone benefits from this new arrangement. The department stores are able to sell a lot, allowing them to employ more people. Parents perform the valuable service of monitoring whether their children are naughty or nice. The children still get a lot of gifts, but now Santa has more time to oversee the operation and make sure everything goes smoothly. On Christmas, Santa and the elves only need to visit each house briefly, moving gifts from out of the closet to under the tree, doing a little magic, and eating some treats if they look especially delicious. Then away they fly."

"I never knew Santa brought elves with him when he delivered presents."

"Even with all the help that parents provide, there's still a lot of work for Santa to do on Christmas night, so he brings a few elves with him rather than a sleigh full of presents. Santa's elves help him make sure that no child is forgotten and no task goes undone. For instance, it's an elf who finds the wrapped presents that parents prepared and puts them under the tree. Of course, Santa always has something special for the children who still believe in him. After all, the finest toys in the world are still made by Santa's elves, who work on their unique creations throughout the year. But there are so few of them that the child who receives one is lucky indeed."

"How did you find out all this about Santa?"

"Don't forget, Santa is an elf too – 'a right jolly old elf,' in the words of the poet. He's just the biggest elf of all. Maybe it's all those cookies he eats," Oskar added with a wink.

"We tree elves exist because we have our trees that need us, but Santa Claus and his elves need children to believe in them or they would have no purpose in life," he continued. "Santa Claus is a myth who lives in the minds and imaginations of the millions of children like you who believe in him. As long as children believe in this kindly old man who rewards good children with presents and is stern but just with bad children, he continues to exist for them, and when a child stops believing in Santa, it's a sign that her childhood is ending and she is ready to transition into the next phase of life.

"You shouldn't be angry at your brother for not believing in Santa," Oskar explained. "Believing in Santa isn't good or bad, it's just a beautiful time in a child's life when goodness and magic and possibility are still alive. As long as children believe in him, Santa exists, but only while a child believes in Santa is she able to see him.

"The same goes for tree elves. Most humans don't believe in us, so to them we are invisible. As your Grandma grew older, even she stopped believing in elves and it's been many years since she could see me. I suppose when she thinks back on her childhood, she remembers only that she had an active imagination and that, as the youngest child, she was often left to her own devices. And even though I've tried to talk to her, your Mama Sue has never seen me. She's a good woman but doesn't believe in elves or Santa Claus. Papa Andrew, however, was always able to see me once I introduced myself. That man was a child at heart until the day he died.

"Gus knows we exist, though he doesn't much care anymore. So if you're very good and quiet, you and Gus and I can sit here until Santa and his elves arrive, and if you believe, you will see."

"I do believe in Santa," said Emma. "I do believe."

With that, the Christmas tree stopped turning and its dim lights flickered off. At the same time, the embers in the fireplace died out and Emma heard the sounds of something sliding down the chimney. A moment later, Santa Claus popped out of the fireplace, followed closely by one, two, three, and then a fourth of his elves.

The room was lit only by the moonlight reflecting off of the newly fallen snow. One elf went over to the Christmas tree and clicked his fingers. Immediately, the tree started to revolve and its lights began to glow at their full brilliance. The elf looked over at Emma and winked. He reminded her of a small version of Luke, and she laughed to see him dressed in red striped tights and a green tunic. Santa opened Emma's letter and took a bite of Grandma's fruit cake. "Um, um, um!" he mumbled. By the time he was done reading the letter, he had eaten the whole thing.

In the meantime, two elves had gone out into the hall, walked over to the closet under the stairs, and removed a few large cardboard boxes. Emma recalled seeing the same boxes in the front hall at home this morning. One elf opened the boxes and began to pull out one gift after another while the other placed the gifts around the tree. While they worked, a third elf went upstairs and removed from the closet a few presents that Grandma must have wrapped, the fourth elf began filling all of the stockings that hung by the chimney.

Emma turned away from the activity around the tree and saw that the elf who looked like Luke had found Gus's bowl and was pouring milk into it from the glass that had been left for Santa. The elf then patted Gus on the head and handed Emma one of the cookies. As she bit into it quietly, he made the rest of the cookies disappear with a snap of his fingers, leaving just a few crumbs on the plate. Finally, he pulled a handful of candy canes from his pocket and tossed them at the tree. Amazingly, each piece hooked itself properly onto a branch without disturbing the ornaments or the tinsel. With this latest addition, the tree looked more wonderful than ever.

Once everything else had been arranged, Santa turned and walked over to Emma and Oskar, reached into his pocket, and pulled something out. He held his hand out to Emma to show her: it was a small present wrapped in gold paper and tied with red ribbon. "For you Emma. Because you believe." Shyly, Emma took the gift from his hand.

Finally Santa addressed Oskar, "Another exquisite tree, my friend, good work!" He then turned and disappeared up the chimney, followed by three of his elves. Before joining the others, the elf that looked like Luke turned back to Emma and blew her a kiss. As he departed, Emma could hear his fingers snap, reigniting the embers in the fireplace in his wake. To her, the entire visit seemed to have lasted no more than a minute.

"Oskar, everything you said about Santa was true!"

Oskar smiled. "It is. And, I see he gave you a special gift. I know he must have found something incredible especially for you if he took it from his pocket rather than his bag."

The house shook slightly. It felt as ifsomething had lifted off the roof. Through the chimney, Emma could hear thefaint jingle of sleigh bells fading into the night.