Back on solid ground after climbing down from the elves’ house, the Little Pine and Red Leaf headed for Holly Trail. As they walked along, they could see that the elf children had been hard at work. Every few skips and jumps they saw another decorated drum, each more beautiful than the last. They seemed to stretch in every direction all across the forest floor.
It was a good thing that Mother Elf had reminded them to listen for her children’s whistling. Otherwise, they never would have found them. Their handiwork was everywhere you looked and gave no clue about what direction they had headed.
But since the songbirds were gone now for the winter, there was no mistaking that the sound they heard up ahead was the whistling of the elves
They bounded down the trail and when they turned the bend, sure enough, there were the elves, putting the final touches on yet another gorgeous drum. They shouted to the elves in glee. “Look! Look! Some lunch from your mother!”
Soon the two friends and their elf pals were seated in a circle on the ground, sharing the wintergreen muffins that Mother Elf had sent along. Red Leaf spoke up and asked the elves why they decorated the drums, and who would play them? (This was Red Leaf’s first Festival of Light and he found all of these preparations quite amazing.)
“We decorate them so that when the sun turns to make his northward journey, he will be welcomed by their beauty,” one of the elves said. “And on that day, all the creatures of the forest will rejoice. These drums are for the fairies’ celebrations. They will dance in wondrous troops, dozens to a drum. And all the forest will echo with the sound of their dancing.”
Red Leaf tried to imagine what it would be like to hear ten thousand fairies dancing. But he could not. So much magic would happen on that day! He could hardly wait for it to arrive.
The elves had to get back to work. Countless drums were still waiting for their creative hands. They thanked their friends for the snack and said goodbye.
So the two friends began their walk home. It would be nearly dusk before they got there. The sun was already starting to sink in the northwestern sky. Down Holly Trail they tumbled, the happy sound of whistling in their ears.