Sam is a great 9 year old boy. He does his best to make good and wise choices, though sometimes he has a hard time and gets grumpy, but still he does his best like all good Cub Scouts. He loves to build Lego worlds and use his imagination.
On Christmas Eve his grandma always gives him new pajamas. He put them on that night at bedtime and was very surprised when he started floating around his bedroom. “Whoa, I wonder where grandma bought these,” he thought. He raised his arms up above his head and he flew right up to the ceiling. “Sweet! I’ll have to sneak out and try this out more after everyone is asleep!” Unfortunately he had to lie down and pretend to be asleep, especially since Santa was coming, and he accidentally fell asleep.
It took Sam a few nights before he could stay awake long enough that everything was quiet in the house. He crept out to the front room where there was a high ceiling and more space to try out the flying.
He had just taken a few trips back and forth along the ceiling when he heard someone giggle. “Oh no, I’ve been caught!” He thought maybe it was his little sister, but he didn’t see anyone so he whispered, “Who is that?”
Sam heard another giggle, then saw something moving in the corner. It was the fuzzy pink elf doll his little sister got for Christmas! He thought it looked pretty freaky, all fuzzy and pink, with the little puffballs on its hat and toes, but he never suspected it could move on its own. He floated closer to the ceiling. “Uh, hi,” Sam said. “You can… move? Who are you?” More giggling. “Of course! I’m a magical elf. My name is Star, and you’re going to be needing my help. That’s why Santa brought me here. I make people happy!”
“Oh, okay. Whatever.” Sam was very unsure about this whole thing. The flying pajamas were cool, but now some fuzzy elf telling him he was going to need her help. Right. “I… think I’m going back to bed,” said Sam. He really hoped he was dreaming.
All the next day he watched his sister while she was playing with the elf. She did seem a lot happier than usual while she played with it, but he never saw the elf talk or move on its own. Although once when his sister was looking another direction he thought he saw the elf wink at him, but he wasn’t sure. Very strange. “Maybe it really was a dream,” thought Sam.
The next day Sam’s big brother was outside playing with a new elk call he got for Christmas. He was so noisy it was giving Sam a headache, but he was thinking about sneaking out again to try the pajamas so he wasn’t paying to much attention to all the bleating.
Suddenly he noticed he could hear another call a bit away. He thought maybe one of his brother’s friends got a call too, heard him outside, and was telling him in their own weird wanna-be-hunters way that he was coming over. The noise got closer and closer, louder and louder. “Huh, he’s almost as good as Adam,” thought Sam. And then it turned the corner. Not HE, but IT. It was a big bull elk, calling, pawing, and grunting. It came right into the backyard. Adam’s jaw dropped. The elk kept pawing and snorting, coming closer, with his eyes right on Adam.
“What do you want?” it snarled. “Why can’t you leave us all alone?”
Adam fainted dead away, right to the ground.
“Oh no!” thought Sam. He watched the elk coming closer, not knowing what it was going to do to Adam. He quickly ran into the house, changed into his new pajamas, and ran back outside, noticing the fuzzy elf lying on the floor as he passed. “If that wasn’t a dream, now might be a good time to help,” he muttered as he ran by.
Back outside, he peered down from the deck. The elk was snuffling Adam’s hair, Adam still not moving. Sam wasn’t sure if Adam was still out cold or if he was just pretending now.
“Hey elk!” Sam yelled. He didn’t know what that elk was so upset about, but he knew he had to get the elk away from his brother. The elk looked up at him and grunted, digging a hoof into the ground. “Uh,” Sam said floating over the edge of the deck and down to the ground, thinking fast. “Do you… want some carrots?”
“No, I don’t want some carrots!” the elk spit out. He looked like he was going to charge any moment. Thank goodness Sam thought about changing to the pajamas so he could quickly get out of the way if he needed to.
“Can I help you with something else then?” Sam really wasn’t sure what to say, but at least for the moment the elk was distracted.
“I want QUIET!” the elk roared. “Our herd made it through hunting season pretty well. We’re sick of hearing all those silly elk calls, like they are supposed to trick us or something. We’ve learned their tricks and won’t stand for it any longer. But this kid won’t let us have any peace, hunting season or not!”
“I know,” Sam said, “me either.” His brother was known around the neighborhood for using all kinds of calls, and he agreed that it was quite loud.
“Well I’m going to do something about it!” growled the elk. He pawed a few more times as he turned, dropped his head down with his antlers pointed at Adam, and started to run.
“Oh no!” thought Sam. He jumped and started to fly towards his brother, but just as he headed he saw a quick flash of pink rush by him that stopped just between Adam and the elk. It was the pink elf. The elk was so shocked he almost fell over trying to stop. Sam was pretty surprised too.
The elf giggled. “Hello Bruno! I see you’re having a bad day. Do you need a hug?” Without waiting for a reply the elf flew over, wrapped her little fuzzy pink arms around his neck, laid her fuzzy pink head against his, and hugged. The elk was stunned. For a moment he looked like he was going to fly into an even bigger rage, but then a warmth seemed to spread over him. His snarl melted away into a delighted smile. The elk and the elf grinned at each other and both laughed.
“How about those carrots?” the elk asked, turning to Sam. “That sure sounds like a great treat!”
“Coming right up!” said Sam. He flew up into the house and right back out with a big handful. As the elk started crunching away Adam started to stir. He saw the elk and almost looked like he was about to faint again. Sam quickly flew over to him.
“It’s okay, the pink elk saved us! She hugged the elk and he’s not mad anymore!”
Adam looked at Sam like he was crazy. “Am I dreaming?”
Sam laughed, “Of course not! And look at my cool pajamas!” Sam flew a few loops around the yard and dropped next to Adam.
Adam looked at Sam with disbelief and shook his head like he was trying to wake up.
The elk finished the carrots and turned around still smiling. “Those were delicious!” Then he turned to Adam. “Hey kid, sorry I got so angry. Just promise that with all that calling you’re just trying to say hi, and you won’t think we’re fooled by those silly hunting tricks. We’re really very smart, but we know you guys need food so we let ourselves get caught once in a while when it’s our time. We want to be friends will the people, but we do need some respect. And hey, it’s nice to just take pictures sometimes.”
Adam listened with his jaw hanging open. “Oh… okay.” He just stared.
“He’s okay,” said Sam. “We’ll have a good talk after his brain wakes up.”
“Good enough for me,” said the elk to Sam. “You’re a cool kid, and very nice pajamas by the way.”
The elk said goodbye and Sam and the elf waved as he walked off (Adam could still only stare). When he was gone Sam thanked the elf. “I didn’t know how I was going to get out of that one,” said Sam. “You sure saved us!”
She giggled. “My pleasure! I told you you were going to need my help!” She giggled again and flew back up into the house.
Sam glanced over at Adam who had watched the whole exchange. “Really, am I dreaming?”
Sam smiled. “Yes, but still be nice to the elk. Just call to say hi!”
“I’m going to go lay down,” said Adam as he got up and headed inside.
Sam flew a few quick turns around the yard again, and followed him in.