The Brotherhood

By Santa Tom Irving

Far, far away and a long time ago, Santa Claus decided he needed to move his toy shop. His decision was worrisome but Mrs. Claus agreed. He was becoming too well known for his extreme generosity every year at Christmas time and it was very hard for him to concentrate on his toy making. What with so many people stopping by the toy shop every day, he couldn't complete the toys he needed for the next year. He loved all of the little children that stopped by and wanted to spend time with them but he was finding it very difficult to complete his work. He also knew that more and more children were being born each year requiring more time to get this work finished in a timely manner for Christmas.

So Santa asked two of his elves, Ollie and Elmo, to see if they could find just the right place to move the toy shop, a place where their work would not be interrupted. When they returned to Santa they had great news! They had found the perfect spot! It was a huge cavern deep in the ice beneath the North Pole. No one could ever find them there. They had plenty of room to work and store all of the toys they made. Ollie and Elmo had also met a very friendly herd of Reindeer who would love to help Santa deliver all of his gifts on Christmas. "Why, that sounds perfect!" cried Santa. "You boys have done a great thing for all of us." And so, Santa, Mrs. Claus and all of the elves moved the toy shop and set up their new home at the North Pole. Everything went very well for a few more years. Everyone was happy and Santa's work was going better than ever. The stock rooms were overflowing with toys, the elves were very happy because they didn't have to hide out and worry that the children were going to discover them and Santa and Mrs. Claus could take an evening sleigh ride nearly every night. There was great joy in the toy shop town they created.

One afternoon Mrs. Claus brought a plate of Santa's favorite chocolate chip cookies and a steaming hot cup of cocoa to him as he was relaxing. As she sat with Santa enjoying his cookies and cocoa, she noticed that Santa seemed troubled. He was unusually quiet and looked very worried. "Santa," she asked, "What is wrong? You look very worried." Santa told Mrs. Claus that he was getting older and realized that they had no children of their own. "Who will take over for me when I can no longer do this most important work? What will happen to all of the children at Christmas time?"