Early on the same morning of Christmas Eve another kind of smell is intensifying its presence in Santa's Hideaway. The Christmas ham has been overnight in the convection oven after the other Christmas foods had first been made yesterday, starting from a higher temperature with tarts and rolls, then at a bit lower temperature with casseroles, followed by cookies at a bit lower temperature still. The power-saving elves are more than happy to see all this and give them a thumbs-up sign for their excellent ecological and economical procedure in the kitchen.
However their minds soon drift to two more pressing matters; first, the fragrance from the ham makes their mouths water and they have to wipe the corners of their mouths, not with the corners of Mrs Claus' beautifully embroidered Christmas tablecloth but with their plain handkerchiefs Mrs Claus has provided them with, and, second, they also have to restrain their huge appetite for other Christmas delicacies.
So far, so good.
No more Christmas delicacies vanish in any elves' mouths; the cleaning team thought it best to stay off the radar until Mrs Claus calms down and asks them to come back and join for the Christmas dinner. So what is left for them in their own hideaway at a safe distance from Mrs Claus' rolling pin is a morsel of dry rye bread, butter and water. They eat them with a morseful mind, not complaining even though the bread obviously seems hard to chew. The butter and the water help them swallow the bread, with some noticeable difficulty though. Far gone is yesterday's indulgence with mouth-melting gingerbread cookies, delicious Christmas tarts and...
Well, they don't have a chance to sink their teeth into cardamom rolls yet but they still live in the hope of doing so at the Christmas dinner.
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Weigh Out Way-In
General FictionThere is an unexpected turn in the story that drastically changes the course of events and, in the long run, even the lives of those involved. Magpie, the first to be involved, suddenly finds himself in the world so unlike his own. Will he find his...
