Making the Wrongs Right

Estel Hollyfrost was snuggled up on her couch, sipping some warm hot cocoa. She took a slow sip, indulging in the lovely chocolatey taste. She was truly exhausted and just wanted to relax. She had been working day and night for the past three months, building toys for children. Being a toy-builder elf took a lot of effort, but she couldn't just give up. The pay was excellent, and the thought of letting Santa down made Estel shudder. Toy-builder elves have been in demand since many elves chose easier jobs, such as tending to the reindeer or baking cookies.

"Estel, darling!" Mrs. Hollyfrost yelled from across the hallway. "I made your favorite peppermint chocolate cake as an evening snack!" 

"Ugh, I don't want to come down," Estel groaned. "I'm exhausted!"

"Honey, did you forget? You have your holiday party at Santa's workshop today!" Estel gasped. The party was all she was looking forward to for the entire week! The party would be for celebrating a successful Christmas and for Santa to hand out awards and give promotions to hardworking elves. Estel was sure she would get a medal or at least an upgrade. She had been working hard on the presents and ensuring every child would get precisely what they wanted. Her colleagues even said that she made the impossible possible.

Estel checked her watch. The party would start in ten minutes. She quickly slipped on her green and red suit, mittens, earmuffs, and snow boots. She also clipped her holly barrette onto her ivory-blonde hair. She rushed down the stairs, panting. She stepped into the kitchen and stuffed some cake into her mouth. The cold peppermint icing melted in her mouth. "Oh my god Mom, thank you so much for visiting! I will never make peppermint chocolate cake as good as you!" Estel embraced her mother tightly. 

"Thanks, sweetie, but don't talk while you're eating," Mrs. Hollyfrost laughed. She then checked the clock on the wooden wall of their cabin. "Ah, you ought to get going. Bye 'Stel, have fun!"

"Thanks, Mom. See you later!" Estel rushed out of the house. As Estel stepped out of her cozy cabin, the chill of the North Pole immediately hit her. Her fingers and ears began to burn, and her teeth began to chatter. She stared at the falling specks of snow, shining like gorgeous crystals. The snow perfectly adorned the glimmering chunks of the sun spread out in the evening sky. The moment's beauty was gone when the snow hitting her face felt like embers falling out of a burning building. Talk about irony. 

The workshop was within walking distance from her log cabin, and Estel's reindeer, Blitz, was still too young to be ridden. Her heavy boots sunk into the deep snow as she trudged along the pathway.

"Welcome!" Her colleague, Ithil Silverbell, greeted Estel. They jingled the bells on each other's ties, equivalent to humans shaking hands. The decorator elves were still working on the workshop. Santa probably got late and didn't have time to arrange the party. This happened yearly, so most elves came late, but Estel had hope in Santa this year. Estel hoisted herself onto a stool beside a long table where she would build toys during her working days. The cooking elves filled the table with a four-course buffet, including various soups, appetizers, main courses, and desserts. Estel's mouth watered, but she had to push down the urge until everyone else came in. 

After an hour, tons of elves started trickling in. They pulled up with their reindeer, the women wearing sparkly sequined dresses and the men wearing fancy tuxedos. Estel blushed, feeling incredibly underdressed. However, she was pretty glad she had come early as she watched a fight between two elves on who would get a seat at the buffet table. 

On the other hand, the decoration was thoroughly finished and looked gorgeous. The Christmas tree lit up the center of the dark workshop, giving the place a soothing ambiance. It was gigantic and adorned with many sparkly ornaments, topped by a huge sparkling star. Each employee made each ornament, and Estel tried to spot her own. Wreaths were hung on every window, and glittering banners embellished the periphery of the ceiling. After admiring the view, Estel decided to eat some food. She got herself a veggie soup, pigs in a blanket, veggie lasagna, and a slice of caramel pie. She had never eaten anything so lavish in her life! The cooking elves had worked hard this year.

Everyone was chattering about until Santa's booming voice was heard throughout the workshop. He stood on a rising platform in front of the buffet table. "Everyone, may I have your attention, please?" This took 'the silence is so loud' to a new level. After a second, everyone started cheering. The more recent elves were the loudest, for they had never seen Santa in their lives. Santa wore his regular suit with shimmering bells and mini ornaments garnishing it. "Quiet down," Santa demanded sternly. Everyone's voices died down once more. "I want to make a toast to the Christmas of 2022. All of you have made this Christmas memorable for the world's children, their parents, and the citizens of the North Pole. Thank you for your hard work!" He raised his glass of apple cider, provoking the others to do so as well. Estel thought she spotted a glistening tear fall out of Santa's sapphire blue eye, causing her to smile. She lifted her glass and sipped the bubbly ambler-colored cider. 

"Now, I want to announce some employees I thought were extraordinary among their peers. They will get awards. Are you ready?" 'Yes'es, 'yeah's, and 'duh's, were screamed out amongst the crowd. Santa grinned as he lifted three medals with red lacing. "These medals are for the best gift wrappers. Give a round of applause to Kiara Evesworth for bronze, Shaela Jinglebell for silver, and Findir Blizzardsnow for gold! You guys get the medals and promotions. Come on up!" All three wrappers stepped up to the platform, and it seemed like Kiara was literally sobbing. Estel applauded. As the three came down, medals on their necks, everyone made room for them to walk to the VIP area. Many elves jingled their bells. "The runner-ups are Faelyn Glimmerwish and Alabyran Majestic! You guys get a promotion! Congratulations. Come and meet me after the party."

Estel sighed dreamily as she thought of what it would be like if she got to sit in the VIP area. An elf sitting next to her elbowed her in the arm. "I'm sure you'll get gold for toy building this year!" His yell was barely audible in all the noise. 

"Who even are you?!" Estel yell-asked.

"My name's Phaendar Twinklebell!" He yelled. "I used to work with you in 2019! You're practically a celebrity in the toy builder community! Everyone knows you, but you don't know anyone."

Estel shrugged. After an hour, all the other awards and promotions were handed out. The last one was for the best toy builder, and Estel had faith that she would get a medal. Even Phaendar said that she would get the prize. She grinned confidently, ready to strut over to the twinkling platform. "Alright, who's ready for my favorite award?" Santa asked, grinning widely. "The best toy builder medals! Give me a jingle!" Everyone jingled their bells eagerly. “For bronze, we have Ithil Silverbell! Silver is Phaendar Twinklebell! Two members of the 'bell' origin!"

Estel smiled warmly at Phaendar as tears streamed down his face. She jingled his bell. "Good job."

"Th-thanks," He sniffled, jingling Estel's bell. 

"Now, who's ready to see the results for gold? Give me a bell jingle, please?"

Estel was ready to get up and walk over to the platform. She beamed, her heart thumping. She was nervous, but the good-nervous. 

"Gold is Lindir Goldenfrost, a great friend of mine! Give it up for Lindir, Phaendar, and Ithil!”

Estel gasped. What? Her palms went clammy as she clenched her sweaty fists. No way. Estel had observed Lindir's work once, and he was absolutely terrible! He didn't even try, contrasting Estel's hard work daily and night. She even pulled multiple all-nighters to build toys. This couldn't be possible. Estel glared at Santa, her face burning up. She had always looked up to him but never knew how biased he was. Tears ran down her face, ruining her mascara. She bolted out of the workshop, weeping. She began to walk home, the cold hitting her hard. She stuffed her hands in the pockets of her knitted red and green sweater. She deserved the gold that Lindir was wearing. Suddenly, her eyes met with someone else's emerald green ones. "Phaendar?" Estel croaked, wiping her tears with her sweater. "Shouldn't you be partying with the VIPs?"

"I just wanted to let you know that you're a runner-up. Congrats!" He gave Estel a smile that would have cheered her up on an average day.

"Wow, that's great," Estel snapped sourly. "Can you leave me alone now and go have fun?"

"I won't have fun knowing that my friend is sad."

"I'm not your friend, and I'm not sad."

"Listen, you deserved the gold medal. Santa's biased for giving Lindir the medal; instead of crying, you need to prove to Santa you're worth it. You have the perfect opportunity after the party," Phaendar jingled Estel's bell and looked expectantly at her amber eyes.

Estel sighed reluctantly and jingled Phaendar's bell. "Let's do this."

A few minutes later, they arrived at Estel's cabin. Mrs. Hollyfrost was cooking pasta, and she raised her eyebrows as Estel and Phaendar entered the doorway. "What happened, honey? Were you crying? And who's this?"

"Hey, Mom," Estel muttered. "Yes, I was crying. I'll tell you about it later. This is Phaendar, my acquaintance." 

Phaendar scanned Mrs. Hollyfrost, searching for her bell. He found it on her necklace and jingled it. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Hollyfrost."

Mrs. Hollyfrost jingled Phaendar's bell. "Nice to meet you too."

"Could we use your printer, Mrs. Hollyfrost?" Phaendar asked. Estel tilted her head confusedly. Phaendar beamed, "You'll see."

After the party ended, Phaendar and Estel walked over to the workshop. They smirked at each other, photos in their hands. Their plan would definitely work; Estel was sure of it. Santa and Lindir were outside, sipping hot chocolate near a fire, chatting.

"Ho, ho, ho!" Santa chuckled when they arrived. "I've been waiting for you, Ms. Hollyfrost! Oh, have you been crying? May I ask why?"

"Shouldn't you know?" Estel snapped. Phaendar put his hand on Estel's shoulder as she let out an aggravated sigh.

"Anyway, are you ready to receive your promotion?"

"No, I am ready to receive the gold medal. Oh, hi, Lindir," Estel's face contorted into a snarl as she clenched her fists. "You give Christmas a bad name, both of you. Lindir has made many mistakes and doesn't even try fixing them! I had to pull literal all-nighters to fix them, so children don't have to wake up to a broken gift!" Estel trembled at the thought of that. "And you, Santa, are giving a gold award to an elf like this!"

"Is this true?" Santa turned to Lindir.

"Where's the evidence?" Lindir hissed, his hazel eyes boring into Estel's skin like lasers. "Just shut your jingler and get out of here."

Estel bared her sharp canines at Lindir. "Phaendar, get me the evidence," In the few hours the two had, Estel and Phaendar found footage of scenes with Lindir ruining presents and toys and Estel staying up to fix them. They printed the pictures and put them in a file. They also dug up old toys that Lindir made and toys that Estel made. They showed the printouts to Santa and displayed the toys so Santa could see the difference.

"Lindir, what is this?!" Santa's voice boomed. "The toys Ms. Hollyfrost has manufactured are the same as you used in the interview! Lindir, you fraud! You are fired."

Lindir went pale. He muttered a few words under his breath and bolted out, ripping his medal off. Estel rolled her eyes. "Anyways, there is one more thing for you to do, right?"

"I'm so sorry, Ms. Hollyfrost," Santa muttered. "I let my friendship for Lindir come in between what is right and wrong. I would put myself on the naughty list if I could. I didn't even check the evidence behind Lindir's toy making. Thank you so much, Ms. Hollyfrost, for telling me the truth behind all this, otherwise, I would have continued to blindly believe Lindir. You deserve this medal," Santa took the broken purple lacing of the medal and patched it up with a flick of his magical fingers. He placed it around Estel's neck. 

"Thank you, Santa," Estel bowed as she took a seat on the fluffy chair Lindir was sitting on. Phaendar sat down on another unused, soft chair. "However, I want to thank Phaendar. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have had the motivation to come here and make the wrongs right. Instead of partying with the VIPs, he decided to help me. Thank you, Phaendar, for being a good friend," A tear dropped down Estel's face as she wiped it off. She smiled at Phaendar and touched her boot with his, the elf equivalent of a high-five. 

"I knew our friendship would always last," Tears streaked Phaendar's dark skin. 

"Two hot chocolates!" Santa told a cooking elf wandering around. The elf nodded, took two mugs, and with a swirl of her finger, hot chocolate filled the mugs. Estel gently took the cup and blew on the hot chocolate as the fire crackled.

"Let's toast to a new friendship and making the wrongs right!"