In the morning, a whole parade of curious woodland dwellers headed over to the elves’ house to see what this magical communicator was all about. They had never heard of such a thing.
As they arrived, the Squirrel Spirit invited them to sit in front of the strange machine that was perched on the landing platform. Mikey Mirth was fiddling around with knobs and buttons on the machine and his brother was making music on his golden horn. It was such a happy sound, that everybody started clapping and humming along with its tune.
When everyone had arrived and was seated, Mother Mirth stood up to speak. “Here,” she said, handing her bowl of candied berries to the rabbit who was sitting at the end of the row. “Pass these around.”
She giggled for a moment and then said, “While we wait for Mikey to tune in our broadcast, let me tell you about what you’ll be seeing.
“We Spirits of Fun have been to hundreds and hundreds of places on your amazing world to join in your Festivals of Light. It’s called different things in different places and honored with many different customs, but it is celebrated with joy everywhere.
“In your part of Earth, many of the humanimals call it Christmas, and in their tradition, a great fatherly spirit they call Santa Claus brings gifts to all the children to show them that they are loved. Santa has a workshop in a dimension they call The North Pole where he makes all the gifts with the help of some specialized elves.
“These elves are members of our troupe of The Spirits of Fun. And when they heard that we were coming to your woodland, they asked us to bring the communicator so they could greet you. They’re especially fond of the elves you have here, because they’re always so merry, you know.”
The crowd burst into applause in agreement, and all the woodland elves blushed a little.
“We’re ready!” Mikey said. And all at once, on the big screen of the red communicator, a North Pole elf appeared. The crowd hushed as he began to speak. It was almost as if he were right there in person. How amazing!
“Greetings, Earthlings! We’re so happy to be visiting your woodland this year to be a part of your Festival of Light! It’s a very busy time of year for us, but while Santa is planning his travels, we have time to give you the present of a song we wrote especially for you.”
The North Pole elf bowed and the scene flashed to a group of workshop elves with an elf penguin standing in snow and singing this song:
Merry, merry Festival, children of the Earth!
May your faces wear bright smiles and your hearts be filled with mirth.
Each one of you is special, a child of the Great Yes,
And now He comes to hold you in the Light of His caress.
The Light of Life is coming to begin a brand new year;
May its radiance enfold you in love and warmth and cheer.
Merry, merry Festival, children of the Earth!
May your faces wear bright smiles and your hearts be filled with mirth.
The Spirits of Fun were dancing to the North Pole elves’ song, and as it ended and the scene on the communicator faded, the whole audience stood and clapped and whooped with joy. What a wonderful gift! What a wonderful song!
Mother Mirth stepped onto the platform and asked for everyone’s attention. “We’re so glad you enjoyed the North Pole elves’ song! May it ring in your hearts all day long.
“I know that you have many final preparations to make for tomorrow’s Festival Day, so we will wrap up our gathering. But before you go, let me invite you to share breakfast with us in the morning. We have word now that the Elf King will be arriving at sunrise.”
Another cheer went up from the crowd and as they began to head to their homes, the Mirth Spirit with the horn played the tune of the elves’ song, and everyone sang it, over and over, all the rest of the day.