ThinkabaraJingle was the newest elf in Santa’s workshop, and he had the most important job of all: keeping Santa’s list safe until Christmas Eve.
But on the morning of December 24th, Jingle opened the golden box — and it was empty! The list was gone. Jingle’s pointy ears turned bright red.
He could hide. He could pretend nothing happened. But Jingle remembered what his grandma always said: “The truth is always the best present.” So he walked straight to Santa.
“Santa,” he said in a tiny voice, “I lost the list.” Santa’s eyebrows went up. Then he smiled. “Thank you for telling me, Jingle. Now — let’s find it together.”
The elves searched everywhere. Under the toy trains. Inside the teddy bear pile. Behind the giant candy cane. The reindeer sniffed the snow, and the penguins checked the ice.
Finally, Mrs. Claus laughed out loud. “Look!” she said. The list was wrapped around a roll of wrapping paper — Jingle had accidentally wrapped it into a present!
Everyone cheered. The list was unrolled — it was so long it went out the door and down the hill — and Santa checked it twice, just in time.
That night, as the sleigh rose into the sky, Santa called down, “Jingle! Next year you’ll be my Head List Keeper. Anyone brave enough to tell the truth can be trusted with anything.” Jingle grinned all the way to bed. Merry Christmas.