The Christmas Eve Backup Plan

Juniper had a new Christmas Eve job.

She was the helper at the Backup Plan Cupboard.

It stood beside Mission Control, painted red, with a brass handle and six very tidy shelves.

Inside were spare maps, spare gloves, lanterns, harness straps, blankets, and a canister labeled EXTRA COCOA.

Juniper read the list twice.

“Why do we need all this?” she asked Nell.

“Things get wet. Things wear out. Sometimes somebody sits on a sandwich.”

Juniper looked at the cupboard.

“I don't see a spare sandwich.”

Nell opened her coat pocket.

“Personal equipment.”

Juniper's first visitor was Pep.

“My headphones have stopped working.”

They found a spare pair.

Pep put them on.

“Excellent. I can hear myself again.”

“Could you not hear yourself before?”

“Only in the ordinary way.”

Next came a Ranch keeper whose glove had torn on a fence latch.

Juniper found the correct size. The keeper wiggled every finger.

“Perfect.”

So far, the cupboard was rather enjoyable.

Then Bram arrived carrying a damp map.

An elf had accidentally set a wet basket on it, and the ink on the loading route had blurred.

“I know there's a spare,” he said.

Juniper checked the map shelf.

There were star maps.

Weather maps.

A map showing where the best sledding hills were.

But the spare loading map was missing.

Her fingers went cold.

“That was on my list.”

Nell joined her.

“Let's check the shelf together.”

They checked beneath the blankets. Behind the lanterns. Inside the map tube.

No loading map.

Bram needed to brief the helpers arriving for the next shift.

Juniper looked at the blurred lines.

“If we can't find it, can we make another?”

“We can,” Bram said. “The route is still there outside.”

Nell stayed with the cupboard while Juniper and Bram walked the route.

They checked the workshop exit, the clear path, and the sleigh loading area.

Juniper drew each turn. Bram added the waiting spots and the places that needed to remain clear.

Back in Mission Control, they compared the drawing with the written loading instructions.

Then they made two copies.

One for Bram.

One for the cupboard.

Juniper slid hers into a dry cover.

Just as she finished, Santa came through the doorway.

“Has anyone seen a map? I borrowed one to check the route with the Ranch team.”

From his pocket, he pulled the missing spare.

There was a silence.

Then Juniper laughed.

“We made another.”

Santa examined her drawing.

“This is very clear. May we use it?”

Bram took the new map to the next shift.

Juniper placed Santa's copy back on the shelf and added a small borrowing card beside the maps.

A little later, Mrs. Claus arrived.

“Santa's cocoa travel mug is ready. Do we have an extra?”

Juniper proudly opened the cupboard.

They both looked at the empty space.

From the hallway came Pep's voice.

“Wonderful cocoa this evening!”

Juniper shut her eyes.

Nell took one look at her face and fetched the clean spare mug from the bakery.

Mrs. Claus filled it.

Pep returned the first one, looking sheepish.

“I thought EXTRA meant extra for me.”

Before Santa left, Juniper checked the shelves one last time.

Maps.

Gloves.

Lanterns.

Straps.

Blankets.

Cocoa.

Everything ready.

Nell offered her half a sandwich.

Juniper took it and looked down at the list.

“Maybe add one more item,” she said.

“What?”

“A spare label.”

Together, they wrote a large one for the cocoa shelf:

FOR THE SLEIGH.

Pep read it as he passed.

“Very helpful,” he said.

Juniper put down her pencil.

At last, she agreed.