The Elf Who Thought Santa Was Disappointed

Pip had put the wings on a wooden duck backward.

The duck looked surprised about it.

Pip was more than surprised. Pip’s stomach felt like a sock full of jumping beans.

Santa had said, “Let’s look at that duck after lunch.”

That was all.

But Pip heard something different in their own head.

Santa is disappointed in me.

Pip tucked the duck behind a box. At lunch, they barely tasted the soup. When a friend asked what was wrong, Pip said, “Nothing.”

Nothing felt very heavy.

By afternoon, Pip had moved the duck three times. Fixing two wings would have taken less work than hiding one duck.

At last, Santa found Pip sitting beside the paint cupboard.

“I’ve been looking for you,” he said.

Pip stared at their boots.

“I made the duck wrong. And then I hid it. I thought you’d be disappointed in me.”

Santa sat on a low stool. It gave an alarming squeak.

“First,” he said, “this stool is disappointed in my lunch.”

Pip almost smiled.

“Second, I wanted to look at the duck so we could work out how to fix it. I wasn’t deciding whether you belonged here.”

“But I hid it.”

“Yes,” Santa said gently. “Thank you for telling me. Let’s bring it back, tell the workshop team what happened and see what we can repair.”

Pip fetched the duck.

The wings came off. Pip asked a friend to hold the body steady while they fitted the wings correctly.

“Could I check the next one with you?” Pip asked.

“Of course,” Santa said.

By supper, the duck looked less surprised.

Pip still felt a little embarrassed. That feeling did not disappear just because the duck was fixed.

But they no longer had to carry it alone.

And the duck was no longer living behind the paint cupboard, which everyone agreed was a terrible place for a duck.