A CHRISTMAS TALE…

It was lunch time at the North Pole. Moe and Joe Jingle, two elves from the Nintendo division, slipped outside the toy factory and quietly raced behind the reindeer barn.

“You got it?” Joe asked. Moe pulled out a sheaf of papers and smiled slyly. “Yep,” he said. “Got it.” They huddled together as Moe unfolded the papers.

“So who are we reading about today?” Joe asked anxiously, trying to peer over Moe’s shoulder. Santa had never installed satellite TV at the North Pole, which meant entertainment was mainly limited to watching reindeer games and playing hockey. Joe and Moe were tired of both. So the two had hacked into Santa’s recently computerized “Naughty and Nice” list to read about the lives of the faraway people who awaited the red-suited gentleman’s visit every year.

“Let’s see. Today we’ve got… some folks from Geraldton, in Western Australia,” Moe said.

“Wow! They’ve got sun, surf, seafood and plenty of it there!” Joe said. Joe’s dream was to live in a warmer climate and wear "board-shorts" full time. “I bet this one’s gonna be good.

”Moe’s eyes skimmed the paper. “Sorry. Don’t think so. Doesn't look too exciting."Joe’s face fell. “Well, might as well read it anyway. We don’t have anything better to do.” He leaned against the reindeer barn and stuck his tongue out to catch the snowflakes that had started falling.

“Let’s see,” Moe said. “Dave, Rae, Megsy, Austin, Elisabeth and Oscar are their names. Sounds like they lead a pretty normal life, the cats look like they are generally pretty well behaved and even though the dog Oscar did run away a few time and has a few marks in the Naughty column, he still scraped in an overall Nice rating.”

“What about Dave and Rae?” Joe said. He had moved away from the building and was now leaning this way and that with his tongue out as he manoeuvred to catch the falling snow.

“They’re also on the Nice list.”

“Darn. Nice people are always so boring,” he said

“Well, it’s not all bad. Says here that they went on a pretty nice holiday to Bali, where Dave went surfing while Rae did her little bit for the Balinese economy, they both enjoyed regular massages and generally had a fabulous time together. Sounds like they came home super relaxed. It also says that they are probably going back next year too. Dave's sister Helen is going to get married there next year.”

“Hey, that’s interesting. What else?”

Moe’s eyes continued down the page. “They also plan to go to the Gold Coast before Christmas - Rae's never been before. They are spending Christmas with a huge load of people at the Berrington’s in Mullumbimby - That must be Dave's Sisters family, They are even thinking of checking out a theme park or two while they’re over there .”

“What?!?” Joe yelled, forgetting all about catching snow on his tongue. “I've always wanted to do that!”

“Calm down, calm down,” Moe said, motioning with his hand.

Joe went back to his snowflake catching. ”I guess these people aren’t as boring as I feared.” He leaned his head way back to catch a snowflake and his green elf hat fell into the snow with a soft jingle from the bell on top. “What else?”

“ Well it wasn't all good, Dave's beautiful Grandma, Mabel, passed away and that was a bit of a sad time for them.

“Gee, that’s too bad,” Joe said. He stopped catching snowflakes long enough to look appropriately mournful.

“But it says here that it made them appreciate more the happy times and it seems there's been loads of that – with some of their great friends having babies and some Weddings and engagements announced - it just seems to be all go with these two! Dave's been working from home and is plenty busy, yet still finds time for surfing or golf. Meanwhile Rae has had a good year in her job, she even got asked to work on a couple of special projects which she found challenging and rewarding and she's also volunteering for the Red Cross doing soup patrol.... mmmm soup, I like soup…."

Joe took a break from trying to catch snowflakes and looked at his watch. “Hey, we better get something to eat before we get back to the toy factory. Anything else before we grab some grub?”

Moe skimmed the list. “Well, it also says "Dave is spending a lot of time on the water, he bought a new windsurfer and is having a surfboard "custom-made" just for him, whereas Rae just seems to make do with new shoes. They had a big party for Dave’s birthday this year and that it was a whole load of fun, even a smidge of naughtiness went on, didn’t seem to make it to the list though.

But on the whole it looks like they are doing really well and have a very happy life in that sunny town of Geraldton”

Joe swiped at one more snowflake with his tongue. “Think you can get another file tomorrow?”

“Sure! No problem, I might even see if I can Ben Cousins, his file is bound to be interesting and Santa will never know.” He and Joe turned and headed off to the cafeteria to get lunch.

They never even saw the man in the red suit who was quietly adding two new names to his Naughty list.