THE LITTLE ELF

‘Twas the week before Christmas and Pinky the elf,
Was putting the toys on a very high shelf.
All kinds of toys that a little boy likes,
Tops and boats and two-wheeled bikes.
Dolls for girls with dresses galore,
Kits for nurses and scales for a store.
His small valvet hat was battered and worn,
And his little brown suit was tattered and torn.
"Oh, dear! wailed Pinky as he looked at his suit,
"It's dirty and black, like Santa's big boot!
The holes in the sleeves are too big to patch,
And the brown cloth | have just wouldn't match."
He sat on a doll's stool, he cried and he cried,
Then he lifted his head, sniffed once more, and spied
Up on the shelf in their clothes bright and new,
Cute little dolls dressed in pink, white and blue.
His eyes grew so bright he laughed out with glee,
He danced a wee jig and clapped, one, two, three.
The best idea just popped in his head,
He wouldn't patch, he'd make a new suit instead.
A little time passed with snip and a cut,
And Pinky had finished, My! Did he strut!
But the poor little doll instead of a gown,
Wore Pinky's old suit of very dark brown.
Tip-towing out he looked around the shop,
He closed the door and then didn't stop
Until he had reached Santa's Great Hall,
Where he showed off his suit to elves one and all.
"Such beautiful cloth!" they exclaimed all together,
And Pinky explained it was good for all weather.
But deep in his heart he knew he'd done wrong,
And all day he worked, not singing one song.
He, with his suit all shiny and new,
The doll, in an old suit. That just wouldn't do!
So away to the shop crept the sad little elf,
Took the brown-suited doll down from the shelf,
Changed suits with the doll, right then and there,
Put on the brown jacket that showed elbows bare.
Though now he is a tattered and ragged small elf,
He's happy at work and sings to himsel f. scqemues