The Elf Who Did Things Differently

Tansy’s job was to pack winter craft kits.

Each kit needed blue paper, a silver star, a spool of ribbon, and three wooden snowflakes.

The instructions were written on a long sheet pinned above the table.

First, collect the paper. Then count the stars. Next, measure the ribbon. After that—

Tansy looked up again.

Was she measuring ribbon or counting snowflakes?

Beside her, the other elves worked steadily. Paper rustled. Scissors snipped. Boxes clicked shut.

Tansy’s table held two stars, no paper, and a ribbon that had somehow wrapped around her elbow.

She unwound it.

Then she started again.

By lunchtime, she had packed four kits. One was missing its snowflakes.

“I keep losing my place,” she told Bram, the workshop leader.

Bram glanced at the instructions.

“Would it help if I read them out loud?”

They tried that. But while Tansy counted snowflakes, the words about ribbon drifted away.

“Maybe I need to practice more,” she said quietly.

“Maybe,” Bram replied. “Or maybe we need another way to set up your table. Let’s take a break and think.”

Tansy went to the bakery.

Mrs. Claus was making biscuits. Beside her stood little bowls of flour, spices, and sugar.

“How do you remember which ingredient comes next?” Tansy asked.

“Today I put them in order,” Mrs. Claus said. “Yesterday I used my recipe book. When I make something new, I sometimes ask someone to read with me.”

“You change how you do it?”

“Of course. Would you like to help with the cinnamon?”

Tansy tipped the small bowl into the mixing bowl. Then Mrs. Claus moved the empty bowl aside.

Empty meant finished.

Tansy stared at the row.

“I have an idea.”

Back in the workshop, she asked Bram for four shallow trays.

She drew a picture for each one: paper, star, ribbon, snowflakes.

Then she placed the trays in a row.

The ribbon kept rolling, so she put its tray against the wall. She added a little cup labeled THREE, with three dots beneath the word, to help her check the snowflakes.

Finally, she found a smooth wooden button.

“This is my place marker,” she explained. “I move it when I finish a step.”

Bram helped her measure a ribbon sample. Tansy used it to cut matching lengths ahead of time.

Then she began.

Paper.

Move the button.

Star.

Move the button.

Ribbon.

Move the button.

Three snowflakes.

Close the box.

She opened the first kit and checked every piece.

Everything was there.

Tansy tried another.

And another.

Then an elf nearby dropped a whole tin of bells.

Clatter-clatter-CLANG!

Tansy jumped. When she turned back, she couldn’t remember what she had been doing.

Her stomach tightened.

Then she saw the wooden button sitting beside the ribbon tray.

“Oh,” she said. “There I am.”

By the afternoon, she had a neat stack of checked kits.

An elf named Oren stopped beside her table.

“Could I try that? I sometimes forget whether I’ve counted two snowflakes or three.”

Tansy showed him her little cup.

Oren borrowed the idea. Another elf kept the written instructions but added a place marker. Bram arranged for finished kits to get a final check, whichever packing method an elf used.

Soon the tables looked slightly different from one another.

The kits inside the boxes were complete.

At closing time, Bram asked Tansy to explain her setup to the next shift.

Tansy touched the edge of her picture card.

“I thought I was bad at this,” she said.

“You had trouble with the first setup,” Bram replied. “You helped us find another.”

That evening, Tansy made one more picture card.

It showed a biscuit.

She carried it to the bakery with a finished craft kit for Mrs. Claus.

Mrs. Claus examined the trays Tansy had drawn on the back.

“Very clever,” she said.

“I borrowed your bowl idea.”

“And made it your own.”

Mrs. Claus handed her a warm biscuit.

Tansy took a bite. A crumb landed on her mitten.

She brushed it off and grinned.

Tomorrow, she knew exactly where she would begin.