Chani's Christmas Wish (standard:fairy tales, 2509 words)
Author: J.A. Aarntzen	Added: Oct 18 2005	Views/Reads: 4171/2538	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Four elves visit a sick young girl on Christmas Day.

Chani's Christmas Wish 

Hum looked at his calendar.  It had pictures of little furry bunny
rabbits upon it.  The tiny elf could not read but he did know one 
thing.  All the dates on the calendar were printed in black ink.  
Except for one.  That one was in bright red ink.  Hum knew what the red 
meant. 

“It means Christmas Day!” 

He couldn't believe that it was finally coming up.  At last, they were
in the month of that magical day.  It seemed that every year it took 
longer and longer to get to December. 

And getting to December was only half the battle. 

Once you get to that month, you have to get almost all of the way
through it before it was at last Christmas Day.  To the little elf 
getting through December took as long, if not longer, than getting 
through the rest of the year. 

He heard a noise behind him.  He turned around and scanned about the
room that he was in.  All that he could see was the table cluttered 
with old pots and dishes and the chairs strewn with sweaters and 
scarves.  The big potbelly woodstove sat in the corner like a king on 
his throne.  Inside His Majesty, as Hum called the stove, a fire was 
burning.  Hum decided that what he heard was a crackle of wood afire. 

The sound had to be that because there was nobody else in the room.  Ho,
Kiddo and Diddo had all gone to the Black Forest of Bavaria to visit 
with Nicholas, the baby that the elves had found in a snow bank five 
years earlier.  Hum also was to have gone on that lengthy visit but 
something happened that made it impossible for him to go. 

The day before the elves were to depart, one of the Inuit children from
the nearby summer village had gotten sick.  The ailing child's father 
had come to the elves and asked if they could do something for this 
little girl. 

Like the good citizens that they were, all four of the elves attended to
the sick little girl whose name was Chani. 

You did not have to be a doctor to realize that the little girl had the
measles.  There were red spots all over Chani's face and arms.  At the 
time of this story, there were no drugs that you could take to help you 
get over the spots.  All that you could do was suffer through them and 
know that in the end that the measles would go away and never come back 
to bother you again. 

This was the advice that Ho gave to the worried Inuit father whose name
was Toenail Clippings.  Inuit fathers always named their sons after the 
first thing that they see outside of their igloo after the child was 
born.  Chani's father had nicely pedicured toes the day her father was 
born. 

“You mean that my child will not die of the spots!” Toenail Clippings
cried out with tremendous joy. 

“Don't fool yourself,” Ho said.  “Chani's a very sick girl and its not
going to be a catwalk for her but in the end she will be as fit as a 
fiddle!” 

“I will stay here and make sure that all goes well for Chani,” Hum had
volunteered. 

“There's no need for that Hum,” Ho replied.  “You come along to Bavaria
with us.  Little Nicholas is looking forward to seeing you the most.” 

“That's right Hum,” Toenail Clippings agreed.  “I trust what Ho says. 
If he says that Chani is going to be all right then I know that my 
little girl is going to be okay.  There's no need for you to cancel 
your trip on her account.  Go to Germany and see your little friend and 
say hello to him from the Inuit folk.  I'm sure that he has a special 
place in his heart for us.” 



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