Walking through the courtyard on the way to her job in the kitchen, Doheny passed by Lyra, who had the biggest grin on her face. “Lyra, you look especially happy today. Is it your birthday?”

“No, but it sure feels like it. For some reason, I seem to be able to jump and leap higher than ever before. Watch this!” With very little effort, Lyra leaped into the air and must have jumped a good ten feet straight up.

“Wow! How did you do that? I’ve never seen any elf who was able to jump like that!”

“I don’t know. It just started after breakfast this morning. I don’t know how I do it, but I sure like it! It’s like being on a trampoline. See you later, I need to get to school,” Lyra said as she bounced her way across the courtyard away from Doheny.

Doheny opened the door to the administration building where the kitchen is, and started walking in while still staring back at Lyra leaping into the air.

“Whoa there Doheny,” I said as she bumped into me in the doorway.

“Santa, I’m glad I ran into you!”

“You sound a little upset. Is everything okay?”

“I’m a little worried about Lyra. Have you seen her lately?”

“Not since yesterday. Why?”

“I think that maybe she has eaten some jumping beans or something. When she walks, she bounces really high into the air. I’ve never seen an elf do that,” Doheny stated.

“She is probably just happy and . . .” I started when Doheny broke in.

“There, look on the other side of the courtyard. Can you see her between the dorms and the Elf University building?”

Looking over I could see Lyra jumping as high as the second floor of the dorms. “Oh my, I see what you mean. I better get Bernard and look into it.”

I immediately turned around and headed back to my office.

When I got there, I hit the button on the intercom, “Telsa, can you get Bernard to meet me in my office as soon as possible?”

“I’m on it Santa. I’ll let him know right away.”

“Thanks Telsa.”

I sat at my desk when Bernard came in and I told him what I had seen Lyra doing. Then noticing Bernard staring at the wall behind me and seeming to ignore me, I said, “Did you hear me? What are you looking at?”

“Did you spill some of the reindeer Fairy Dust?”

“Of course not. We both know how precious that dust is and I am always very careful when anyone handles it. That’s why I keep all the fairy dust we use for Christmas Magic, in my safe.”

“Look at the top of your safe.”

Swiveling around in my chair, I saw a bag of red dust on top the safe. It had been opened and some of the dust had spilled out.

“Now how did that get there,” I wondered to myself.

Looking back at Bernard, “The fairies were supposed to make a delivery this morning, but they have the combination to the safe, so they can properly store it if I am not here.”

“Well it would appear they just set it on top today. Do you think Lyra got into the bag?”

“The elves know they are not allowed in my office if I am not here, but I suppose it is possible. Maybe we should get Lyra in here and ask some questions.”

“I agree. I scheduled her for some training over at the University today. I’ll call over to the school and have her sent over here right away.”

Bernard and I were sitting on my couch talking about the days schedule, when Lyra walked in, “Afternoon Santa, Bernard. You wanted to see me?”

“Yes, we did.” I pointed to the corner safe and asked, “I don’t suppose you know anything about this do you?”

Lyra’s face turned a bright red, as she responded, “I umm . . . umm. I may have made a mistake.”

“Can you tell me what happened?” I asked.

“Well, I had just finished breakfast and was walking down the hallway to head over to school when I noticed a couple fairies fly into your office with a small bag. Looking into the office, I saw them try to open the safe and then just leave the bag on top of it.”

Looking a bit relieved to be telling her story, she continued, “When they left, I just had to see what was in the bag. Opening the bag, I saw what I thought was red sprinkles, and loving sprinkles, I took a taste.” Twisting her mouth into a sour look, “Boy was I wrong. I found out right away it was not what I thought, and I left,” she continued.

“That bag was my new supply of Red Fairy Dust for the reindeer. It is what Highstep, the elf in charge of the reindeer, and I use to make them fly.”

“I guess that explains why I bounced when I walked.”

Bernard with a slight grin, responded, “Lyra, now that we know what happened, the effects of the dust should wear off in a few hours, but I sincerely hope you do not go into any of our offices again without our permission.”

“You can count on that. I have definitely learned a lesson today!”

Note from Santa: I hope you enjoyed today’s story. I will post another one next Monday. If you have any comments or if there is something you would like me to tell you about, please feel free to leave me a comment. Until next week . . .

Illustration by FireMane Studio