Ella Elf

Deep in the forest lived a little elf named Fred. He was in love with a fairy princess named Tibet. But she would have none of it. She did not like his funny ears.

Tibet was not a very nice fairy. She would turn the elves’ cookies into carrot sticks because they needed to “lose weight”. She spent hours looking into the stream to make sure her skin was flawless and her perfect body was still perfect. She and all her little fairy friends would flit about and laugh at the elves while they worked.

There was another little elf. Her name was Ella. Ella loved Fred but Fred didn’t know it because he was too busy watching Tibet. Ella was a quiet elf, too shy to tell anyone she loved Fred. So she went on her way, just loving him.

Then one day she realized he was a shallow jerk because he loved Tibet because she was pretty. So she determined in her heart that she would NOT pine after Fred. Fred would become fairy dust in her mind.

She focused all her energy on her work: making rocks for new stream bottoms. She made them nice and smooth and almost shiny. Sometimes, when Fred would not leave her mind alone she would make sharp rocks and imagine him wading through the stream and stepping on them.

One day a new elf stumbled into the forest. This elf was named Jack. He had been injured by a deer. The deer had not meant to injure him. He was running and didn’t see Jack. But Jack could barely walk and could travel no further.

Ella took Jack into her tree and nursed him back to health. While nursing him she learned that his previous home had been destroyed by fire. He had fought til the end, trying to put out the fire. He was not successful and now he was looking for a new village to live in.

As Jack’s health improved he helped Ella with anything he could. Her tree was always clean when she came home from making rocks. Her bed of leaves were always in perfect order, more comfortable than she herself could ever arrange them. He even made her a new bench to sit on.

One day Ella realized she no longer thought about shallow Fred. She hadn’t made a single sharp rock in a week. Instead, her rocks were shiny now, smoother than ever before. And she realized she had been thinking of Jack the whole time.

She wondered what Jack thought of Tibet and her friends. Did he, like Fred, prefer them to her? They were much more beautiful to be sure. But did beauty matter to him or perhaps could he see past the outside to see what was hidden inside her. She wasn’t even sure what all was inside her. She was afraid to discover, lest it really wasn’t any better than Tibet and her friends. Alas, she had made sharp rocks in hopes that Fred would step on them! Surely that meant she was selfish and no good. Ah, but she was probably just as bad as Tibet. Given Tibet’s power, maybe she would turn elves’ cookies to carrot sticks.

Then one day Jack announced he was leaving. He was recovered, she had to admit. Had been for days, but she hadn’t said anything because she really didn’t want him to leave. He had become a friend to her, if nothing more. And he hadn’t said if he was choosing this village or maybe he was leaving for good! She said goodbye and cried as she worked, her rocks again losing their shine.

Jack had been gone for two weeks when Ella decided she must put him out of her mind as well. Apparently he was not coming back and her rocks had become sharp again. She was successful, mostly. At least her rocks were smooth again. Mostly.

One day she was cleaning her tree when there was a knock at the door. It was Jack. He professed his undying love for her. They were married that day and Jack took her away to a beautiful, flower-filled meadow where she no longer had to make rocks. She could do whatever she liked. So they had three baby elves and they lived happily ever after.