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"Oh what a busy, busy time of year. Christmas is coming, and I have so many things to do," said Clarice to Larissa, Melissa and Dylan, who had come to play. "I have gifts to make and cookies to bake, but that's not all. We'll get a tall tree, and hang three, four, or maybe more stockings." Later, Clarice was talking to Larissa, Melissa and Dylan about Santa Claus. They could picture Santa's jolly, round face and his big smile that was nearly hidden by his long, white, bushy beard. "I have a great idea," said Clarice. "Let's get our crayons and pencils, each make a list, and call it "My Christmas Wish." This list will be special. We'll pretend that we can go to the North Pole and see how Santa and Mrs. Claus get ready for Christmas." All of the elves work so hard in Santa's toy shop that
Mrs. Claus bakes them lots of cookies for snacks. Some have red icing;
some have chocolate icing; and some have green icing. Santa's elves are very busy running here and running
there. Clarice thought of another wish. "I wish that Santa could bring Rudolph to Round Lake Beach. It would make the whole town happy." "I just thought of an even bigger wish," said Clarice. "I wish that Santa Claus would come with ALL of his reindeer and take me for a ride. Up, up, and away we would fly. I would wear a green suit to match the color of Santa's green sleigh. As I fly by, I might even shake a bell or two myself." "Well, I have the BIGGEST wish," cried Larissa. "I can't write it down, because it is so BIG. I wish that all of the children in Round Lake Beach could take turns flying around with Santa Claus. I can just see their BIG smiles." Clarice, along with Larissa, Melissa and Dylan, was enjoying this pretend game very much. They were wishing that they could go and see where Santa and Mrs. Claus lived. They had been told that the walkway to the front door was lined with candy canes! All of the sudden, they found themselves sitting at Santa's table. Santa was reading through his very long list of names of children who had been very good. Clarice, as well as Larissa, Melissa and Dylan, hoped that their names were on the list. "Welcome to our home, Clarice. Would you like some cookies," asked Mrs. Claus. "Santa and I will sing you some Christmas songs. How about 'Silent Night' or 'Jingle Bells'? Yes, 'Jingle Bells,'" and they began to sing. The music could be heard in the workshop where the elves were working very hard. One elf was painting some finishing touches on the roof of that doll house. "I wonder if one of the elves made that little doll," said Clarice. "I would like to have that as a gift for myself." Clarice saw an elf pick up a colorful book about the real meaning of Christmas. She thought that it seemed like a good idea to add the book to her wish list. "This has been a very exciting adventure to visit Santa and Mrs. Claus and see how hard all of the elves work to get ready for Christmas," said Clarice. As the children watched Santa load his sleigh, they realized that it was time to say good-bye. "Before we go," said Clarice, "we have just one last wish." "Peace on Earth and good will THE END |
