At the North Pole, the day before Christmas Eve is the busiest day of the year. It is noisy, bustling, and full of energy.
But Finn the elf was not noisy or bustling.
Finn was fast asleep.
Finn had a very important job. He was the Chief Sleigh Bell Polisher.
It was his job to make sure every single silver bell on Santaâs sleigh harness was shiny enough to reflect the moon. If the bells werenât shiny, they wouldnât jingle quite as joyfully.
The night before, Finn had stayed up very, very late.
He had been helping the Toy Testing Department test a new batch of pogo sticks.
Boing. Boing. Boing.
For hours.
When Finn finally crawled into his little wooden bed, he was so tired that his pointy ears drooped. He set his alarm clockâwhich was a tiny mechanical drumming bearâfor 6:00 AM sharp.
"Must not sleep in," Finn whispered into his pillow. "Must polish bells."
The next morning, at exactly 6:00 AM, the little mechanical bear began to drum.
Rat-a-tat-tat! Rat-a-tat-tat!
Finn was deep in a dream about giant, fluffy marshmallows.
In his sleep, he reached out one hand and gently tapped the bear on its head.
The drumming stopped.
"Just five more minutes," Finn mumbled, pulling his thick red-and-white striped quilt over his head.
It was warm and cozy under the quilt. Outside, the North Pole wind whistled.
Five minutes turned into ten minutes.
Ten minutes turned into an hour.
Outside, the sun rose over the snow. The workshop whistles blew. The reindeer finished their breakfast.
Suddenlyâ
CRACK!
An icicle fell from Finnâs roof.
Finn blinked one eye open.
The room was bright.
Too bright.
He looked at his drumming bear clock.
The little bearâs hands pointed to 9:30 AM.
"NINE THIRTY!" Finn shrieked.
He jumped so high he nearly hit the ceiling lantern.
"Oh, jingle bells! Iâm late! Iâm terribly, horribly late!"
Finn flew into action. It was a blur of green and red felt.
He tried to put on his tunic, but his head got stuck in the armhole.
Wiggle. Wiggle.
Pop!
He couldnât find his matching socks, so he wore one with candy canes and one with snowflakes.
He jammed his feet into his curly-toed shoes without tying the laces.
He grabbed his polishing rag and his jar of Super-Sparkle Paste and raced outside.
He immediately tripped over his untied shoelace.
Oof!
He tumbled into a snowbank and popped out like a little elf snowball.
Finn shook the snow from his hat and kept running.
He dodged carts of teddy bears and leaped over rolls of wrapping paper.
"Out of the way!" he shouted. "Sleepy elf coming through!"
His heart thumped like the drumming bear.
What if the sleigh left without shiny bells?
The reindeer wouldnât sound happy. The magic wouldnât feel right.
Finn burst into the Sleigh Hangar, panting.
"STOP!" Finn yelled. "Iâm here! Donât leave! I have to polish the bells!"
The hangar was quiet.
The sleigh was ready. Santa stood beside it, checking his list.
Finn stared at the harness.
The bells were sparkling.
They shone like mirrors.
They were the shiniest bells Finn had ever seen.
"ButâŚ" Finn whispered. "I slept in."
Santa turned and chuckled.
"Ho ho ho! Good morning, Finn."
"Iâm so sorry, Santa," Finn squeaked.
"The pogo sticks⌠the cozy quilt⌠I didnât mean to!"
Two elves popped out from behind the sleigh.
Holly and Jolly grinned, holding dirty polishing rags.
"We saw your curtains were still closed," said Holly.
"And we knew you were tired," added Jolly.
"So we polished the bells for you."
"Teamwork makes the dream work!" they said together.
Finn felt his eyes grow misty.
His friends had helped him.
Santa patted Finnâs snowy hat.
"A tired elf is a clumsy elf," Santa said kindly.
"But next year, maybe test fewer pogo sticks before the big day."
Finn nodded eagerly.
"Yes, sir. Definitely."
Finn didnât polish bells that morning.
But he did spend the next hour untangling his shoelaces.
Teamwork makes the dream work.