It was a cold and sparkling Christmas Eve night. The snow lay like a soft blanket over the rooftops, and the sky sparkled as if it itself had been decorated with stars.
Santa sat in his sleigh, wrapped in his red coat, and heard the sound of bells echoing in the frosty air. His reindeers flew quickly between the clouds, and the big sack of Christmas presents was, as always, filled to the brim. It was another perfect Christmas, he thought, until he opened his list and got an unpleasant surprise.
“Little Carl’s present!” Santa exclaimed and started. “Where is it?”
Santa turned and twisted the sack. He lifted out package after package, but the small square box with Carl’s name on it had disappeared without a trace. Panic rose. Carl, who had been so expectant and had sent his letter so early, would be left without his present!
Santa immediately called the elves through his magic snow globe. “Elves! We have an emergency!”
The workshop was a frenzy of work. The elves searched every nook and cranny and every shelf. Someone even tried to recreate the present – an advanced robot car – but they realized that it would take several days to make a new one. Santa sighed and sat down on a small stool in the workshop.
“Has little Carl really been so good this year that he deserves that robot car?” one of the elves asked skeptically.
Santa opened his large, dusty book and flipped to Carl’s page. It read: “Carl – incredibly kind, especially to his little sister, who always gets to borrow his things.”
Santa sighed deeply. “Yes, he really is a kind boy. I can’t let him go without a present.”
But when everyone had searched and everything had been tried, there was only one last possibility. Santa picked up an old, broken toy that had been hidden in the corner of the workshop. It was a dog toy—a little cloth puppy with a hanging ear and some loose stitching. It had been made incorrectly many years ago and had never been sent to any child.
“This is all we have,” said Santa, shaking his head. “I’ll need to take a chance.”
When Carl woke up on Christmas morning and opened his package, he looked a little confused at first. A broken cloth puppy? Was this really his Christmas present? But when he picked it up, something strange happened. The toy sputtered in his hands, and two small buttons sewn on for eyes began to sparkle with life.
The puppy, whom Carl immediately named Spot, moved as if it were alive. Despite its slightly worn exterior, it was bursting with energy and joy. It could wag its little broken tail, roll around, and even bark in its own special, squeaky way. Spot immediately became Carl’s best friend. They played all day, and every time Carl laughed, he felt that the little puppy understood him. And even though it wasn’t a sophisticated robot car, Carl soon realized that Spot was exactly what he needed.
That Christmas, both Carl and Santa learned something important: it’s not always what we think we want that makes us happiest. Sometimes it’s the unexpected and slightly broken things that can fill our hearts in a way we could never have imagined.
Merry Christmas!
May your Christmas be filled with unexpected joys and wonderfully creative ideas, packaged as memorable stories.
