An Inconsequential Chrismtas Catastrophe

Bell polished the wooden block and smiled. Outside, the sky was dark and falling snow hid the stars. She set the block down and began sanding another. It was the busiest time of the year at the North Pole. Everyone was bustling to get all the presents ready by Christmas Eve. Christmas was still a month away, and all toys must be completed this week. Then the loading would begin.

She was the last one in the carpentry shop. The empty work tables glowed in the light of the fire. It was a great fireplace, made of huge marble slabs. It nearly took up the whole wall. Great as it was, it paled in comparison to the stacks of finished toys. The room had shrunk the nearer it got to Christmas as the toys piled up. It was nearly half its original size. There were heaps of blocks, of course, and clever tops, and trains, and all sorts of craved animals. The firelight danced across them, as if to bring them to life.

Bell finished her last block and took them to the stacks. She stumbled into a misplaced bench and pitched forward, landing right in the middle of the stacks of toys. Like dominoes, they all came tumbling down. With a shriek Bell found herself pelted and buried by toys. As she clawed her way out, she could only be grateful that the toys were still far from the fire. (There had been one year that the toy stacks got too close, and several toys had been lost. None of the elves liked to think about that year.)

Once she was free, she tore through the workshops, passing by dolls, and toy trucks, the catteries filled with sleepy kittens, and the kennels with equally sleepy puppies. Finally she found more elves in the kitchens. Ignoring the smells of cinnamon and inviting mugs of hot chocolate and plates of cookies she blurted out the catastrophe. The elves instantly leaped into action. Bell smiled as they raced back. There was never a shortage of helpers in the North Pole.

Back in the carpentry shop, the blocks and trains and tops were dispersed to the various worktables, until the stacks were stabilized. Then the tedious task of restocking began. They caroled as they worked, and even though it was a later night then they anticipated, eventually the toys were back in their proper places, the wood shavings were swept up, and the benches were pushed under the tables. Last of all the fire was put out and everyone retired back to the kitchen and the waiting cookies.



This was an exercise that focused on describing the setting.