The plastic pickaxe snaps, clinking against the window as it falls to the ground. I gasp in surprise, but it quickly turns into a frustrated groan.

"It's no use, Santa," I say. "The window can't be pried open."

Santa's normally chubby cheeks are more drawn than usual. It's so wrong to see him without his signature grin.

"There must be a way to get inside," Santa murmurs. "There has to be. Christmas is too important to be shut down by a window." His eyebrows, white with flecks of gray, furrow in a single line. It reminds me of the fuzz I use to stuff animals back at the North Pole.

You may be wondering how we ended up in this situation. It all began earlier in the day this grim Christmas Eve. This year was finally my turn to accompany Santa around the world with my brother, Eddie Elf. We started out as Santa always does, taking the reindeer for a test flight before midnight strikes in Japan, our first stop.

All went well with the first test, and Santa decided to give the reindeer a rest. He didn't want to tire them out too much before our big night, so he landed the sleigh in a large field. Except it wasn't just any field, it was a field surrounding a huge, vacant parking lot and office building. Since no one was around, we figured it was the best place to rest before flying to Tokyo.

Only about twenty minutes passed before Santa, Eddie Elf, and I needed to use the restroom. In hindsight, he probably shouldn't have those two extra glasses of eggnog before leaving, and neither should me and my brother. Rudolph offered to take us to the top of the office building to find a way inside.

When we returned, our bladders emptied, a police officer stood beside our sleigh, scribbling furiously in a notebook. Two others in black mechanics jumpsuits were hooking the sleigh up to a tow-truck.

"Is anything the matter, Officer?" Santa asked. He always has a high respect for the law, no matter which country he is in, and tries to be a dutiful citizen. He even reads through thousands of record pages from police and judicial record books while crafting his naughty and nice list.

"This your sleigh?" he drawled over a piece of chewing gum. I distinctly remember the smell of cinnamon roll bubble gum wafting from him. It was identical to the specialty Clause's Candy Sweet as Cinnamon and Sugar Chewing Gum™ Mrs. Clause makes every year as a stocking stuffer. Given the staleness of the scent, I imagined the gum was a leftover from his presents last year.

"Yes, Sir. It is," Santa said.

The officer ripped off the piece of paper and shoved it in Santa's face. I peered over the fur on Santa's red robe, gasping in horror. It was a ticket — a parking ticket.

"You don't have authorization to park your sleigh here," the officer said. "There's a fifty dollar fine for parking here without a pass."

"I'm so sorry, Officer. I didn't realize. Let me..." Santa trailed off as he began patting his suit pockets. He grows more frantic in his search, jamming his hands into his pant pockets, then the little pockets on his shirt, even the secret pockets inside his suit. "Did I...no, I couldn't have...but..." Santa's eyes went wide, and his hands clutched my arm for stability. "Oh, Ella Elf, I can see it now."

The officer squinted at him. "See what?"

"My wallet. It's on the table, right next to the sugar cookies." Santa hung his head in shame. All the mirth died from his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Officer. Could I bring it after Christmas? We really need to get going with delivering presents..."

I glanced at my watch. It was ten p.m. in Tokyo, two hours to midnight.

"You're not going anywhere without paying the fine." The officer crossed his arms.

"But Officer, it's Christmas! Where's your Christmas spirit?"

"At home, with my wife's collection of cliche Hallmark Christmas movies."

An idea popped into my head. "But wait, I have fifty dollars!"

Santa turned to me in surprise. "Really, Ella Elf? Where did you..."

I reached into my Infinity Pockets™ to pull out a chocolate dollar coin.

"I have at least double the fine," I said.

"Oh Ella Elf," Santa said, shaking his head. "He wants real cash, not chocolate."

"'Fraid he's right." The officer eyed the chocolate pinched in my two fingers. He reached over and snagged it, shedding the foil outside and popping it into his mouth. "Alright, make it forty-nine dollars."

"We still don't have it," Santa said. Tears glimmered in his eyes, and I hugged his arm tighter. Please don't cry, Santa! What will the children think if any spot you with puffy eyes?

The officer nodded to the mechanics. "Tow it, boys."

I shake away the flashback. Inside the garage window, I can spot the sleigh among the other impounded cars. The reindeer shuffle around with barely enough space to move. They can't even lay down. Another sigh deflates my lungs. How on Earth are we going to get them and the sleigh out? We don't even have the presents since they're in the sleigh.

Eddie Elf clears his throat. "Santa, Ella Elf, I hate to say this but I think we're going to have to break the glass."

"No, no, no," Santa says, deep and full-bellied. "We can't do that. That'd be breaking and entering."

My brother and I exchange glances. "But Santa," Eddie Elf continues, "how is prying a window open and entering different from breaking and entering?" Santa's chubby face scrunches into thought.

"Santa, it's Christmas," I say gently. "Think about all the children who'll be let down if we don't bring them presents."

Santa seems to slowly shrink. Finally, he says, "alright. But how will we break it? We're not strong enough."

"I could use my hoof," Rudolph offers.

"No, no, no," Santa says. "All the glass shards might cut you. We don't want you to get injured before the big night."

"Then how about my antlers?"

I rap my knuckles against the glass. "Seems pretty hard. Your antlers might break."

"Let's not have any more casualties tonight," Santa says.

Rudolph snorts. "I want to help."

Eddie Elf stares down at his emergency toolkit. Most of the hammers, picks, and wrenches are plastic, a highly unfortunate oversight.

I glance at the ground, lifting a large rock that lies at my feet. "How about this? I could throw it at the window."

"No, no, no," Santa says. "It might break one of the cars inside!"

"If it does, I'll make one to replace it," Eddie Elf says.

Santa opens his mouth to protest further, but before he can say anything, I hurl the rock at the window. Santa and Eddie Elf duck. The glass shatters, spraying fragments into the snow. I cringe at a series of crashes inside. When the noise dies down, Santa, Eddie Elf, and I slowly approach the window. The damage fell mostly on a car underneath the window, which now has a dent and a cracked windshield.

I reach my hand through the window, careful to avoid the jagged, glassy jaws around the hole in it, and unclasp the latch. The window swings open, large enough even for Santa to fit through.

We weave our way between the cars. I can mostly slip through the tight spaces, and so can Eddie Elf, but Santa sometimes has to crawl over the car hoods. By the time we reach the sleigh, dust and dirt stain Santa's usually pristine velvet suit.

A whirring sound hums through the air. It takes a moment for me to realize where it's coming from — the garage door.

"Freeze!"

Santa and Eddie Elf's heads whip toward the door. A car blocks my vision, and I peer out from behind a silver sedan to see the two officers with guns trained on us.

"You are trespassing on the government's property," the first officer says. "Step away from the vehicles and keep your hands up."

"Oh no, no, no," Santa moans. "What are we going to do?"

"Come out you, two," the officer repeats. The other pulls out a set of handcuffs.

Wait, you two? I suddenly realize that they can't see me due to the car. Santa and Eddie Elf approach the officers, who swiftly handcuff them.

"Unless someone posts bail tonight, you'll be spending the night in a jail cell," the second officer says.

"But it's Christmas!"

"And trespassing is still a crime. Come on."

I glance between them, quickly marching to the garage door, and the sleigh. I have to get out before they lock me in. Both officers have their backs to me, so I tip-toe from my hiding spot. The reindeer turn to me with a series of confused grunts, and I hold a finger to my lips.

"When I give the single, go!" I whisper to Vixen, the closest reindeer to me. He nods in response before softly spreading the news to the other reindeer.

I take a large step to mount the sleigh and sit on the leather seat. It seems empty without Santa and Eddie Elf beside me, but there's no time to dwell on it. The officers are nearly at the garage door. I grab the reins, taking a deep breath.

"Now, Dasher! Now, Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen!" The sleigh lifts from the ground as the officers whirl around. I keep plowing through the mystical rhyme. "On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donder and Blitzen!"

Bullets ricochet off the metal skeleton of the sleigh, but the night air already fills my lungs.

"Yes, Ella Elf!" Santa cries from below. "Deliver the presents to all those eager children!"

The reindeer whisk me around to the back of the garage, where Redolph waits. His hoof digs a deep hole in the snow, and he grunts in annoyance.

"There you are," he says. "Where's Santa?"

I shake my head, sadness weighing in a heavy cloud over me. "He was caught in the garage. I'm the only one who can deliver the presents." I glance at my watch and gasp. "And it's only twenty minutes to midnight!"

"Hitch me to the sleigh, and we'll do our best," Rudolph promises.

In record time, the reindeer fly me across the United States, across the Pacific Ocean, all the way to Japan with a minute to spare. I bolt from the sleigh the moment it settles on the roof and grab Santa's sack from the back. It's so heavy, it barely budges from the seat.

"Let me help," Rudolph offers, peering back at me. My cheeks burn hot with embarrassment that Santa's Infinity Sack™ is too heavy for me to carry. Then again, it does contain the toys for everyone in the world.

I untie Rudolph's bridle, and he manages to carry Santa's sack between his teeth. I circle around the chimney, trying to figure out the best way to get down. Finally, I decide to just go for it. One leg climbs over the side, then the other. With a big inhale, I drop myself into the chimney.

It is not a pleasant trip down. Stone scrapes at me, and soot gets in my throat. The chimney spits me out of the fireplace coughing and sputtering. The room is dark except for a single, dim lamp, where hello panda cookies and milk are laid out. I blink a few times before I notice the tiny person standing before me. A girl no older than five peers up at me.

"Y-you're not Santa." Her bottom lip pops out, and tears fill her eyes. "Where's Santa? Are there no presents this year?"

A commotion clatters inside the chimney. Out pops Rudolph with the presents in tow.

"No, no, of course not," I whisper, not wanting to wake her parents. "I...I am Santa!"

The girl crosses her arms. "Santa is a boy! And he normally wears red!"

I glance down at my green work suit. "Yes...but this year he decided to dress up like an elf."

"Why?"

"Because..." I turn to Rudolph for help, but he merely shrugs. "Because...it's Elf Appreciation Day!"

"What? I've never heard of that."

"No, it is. You see, Santa's elves work very, very hard year round to ensure that all the presents are ready by Christmas. So he decided that every one-hundred years, he would dress up like an elf to show his appreciation for them." I hold out my arms. "See? You get to be part of a very special moment in history. Had you not stayed up tonight, you would never get to see Santa dressed like an elf, unless you waited another one-hundred years."

By the end of my speech, the girl's eyes shine in wonder. "Wow!" She touches one of my pom-pom buttons and giggles. "It's soft!"

"Yes, it is soft. Now go on to bed so I can put all your presents under the tree."

"I want to open them!"

"You can tomorrow. But I can't put them out until you go to bed."

The little girl pouts, but reluctantly retires to her room. Once she's out of sight, I quickly arrange her presents, stuff her stockings, give Rudolph a well-dressed drink of milk, and devour a few panda cookies. Those chocolate-filled wafers are good.

As we make the rest of the rounds, I tell the same story to any other children — and some parents — who were questioning "Santa's" appearance. By Christmas morning, at least one person in every country knows of Elf Appreciation Day.

We return to the North Pole once all the presents are delivered. Mrs. Clause is furious that Santa was locked up and doesn't spare a moment in going to the police station. After a strong lecture, the shaken officers release Santa and Eddie Elf without a penny being paid.

And that's the story of how Elf Appreciation Day came to be. Mark your calendars for December 25, 2025, and be sure to support your local elves.