Elmer The Elf And His Flying Machine

                                                            "Elmer The Elf And His Flying Machine"



                                                                                    By



                                                                            Jerry Steele

                                     





Once there was an elf named Elmer. He and his wife Mary lived in Happyville. Happyville was a tiny place where only elves lived.



Elmer was a farmer. He grew crops like beans, carrots, corn, and peas. One spring day, Elmer worked in a field with his hoe. The hoe made a sound, it went "chop, chop, chop." He dropped an elf-kernel into the hole. All at once, he heard a funny noise. The noise came from the sky it went "whr-r-r".



Could it be a bird, Elmer thought? }What was it? It flew over Elmer's farm.He dropped his hoe.



"Mary! Come here!" Elmer cried. She ran from the house.



"What is it, Elmer? I have pies in the oven."



"Look!"



Mary looked up. High, high in the sky, flew a red and white airplane. The pilot waved to Elmer.Elmer did not wave back. He was afraid. Airplanes had never flown over Happyville before. Elmer scratched his head. How could a human fly so high?



"Go tell Mayor Figglebee," Mary said, "he will know what to do."



Mayor Figglebee only laughed.



"Oh Elmer, you don't think a small elf can fly like a human."



Mary cried,"Oh, boo-hoo! If the mayor does not believe us, then who will?"



Elmer went back to Happyville.



He talked to Andy the Artist, Frank the Fiddler, Mac the Magician, Otto the watchmaker, and his Uncle Chuckle. And you know what? No one knew how a human could fly. They all laughed at Elmer. This made him angry. He would build his own flying machine. He told Mary his plan.



"But how, Elmer? How will you, just an elf, build this thing that flies like a bird?"



"I know they are bigger," said Elmer, "but humans have a brain to think with, don't they?"



"Why, yes."



"And don't I have a brain to think with, like a human?"



"Why, yes."



Elmer smiled and said, "Then I have all that a human has. They are only bigger."



Elmer watched the birds. He saw that their wings made them go fast and high. He found two popsicle sticks, down the road from Happyville, left by humans. Mary helped him lift them into the wagon.



"These will be my wings," he told her.



The next day in Happyville, he saw Otto the Watchmaker, sleeping on a wooden spool.



"Where did you get that spool?" asked Elmer.



"From Johnny the Junkdealer."



Elmer went to see Johnny, and told him his plan. Johnny did not laugh.



"I saw this flying machine, but said nothing."



"But why?" Elmer asked.



Johnny rubbed his chin and thought. "I did not think the elves would believe me." Then Johnny said,"I will help you build this flying machine."



And so it came to be.



They went to Johnny's junkyard. First, they needed a body for the plane. They found a large nutshell.



"It seems big enough Johnny,"said Elmer.



"Hm-m-m, yes," he said. "I think it will do."



Next, they searched for wheels. Johnny spied three wooden spools to solve his problem. Now, they had to find a motor.



"All the jobs are done by hand except -"then Johnny stopped. "Except for the windmill. Do you know what makes the blade turn when there is no wind?" Johnny asked.



Elmer jumped up and shouted, "a rubber-band!"



A toothpick was found for the propeller. He painted the plane red and white, just like the human's. He took yellow paint and printed "Elmer The Elf And his Flying Machine" on both sides.



Elmer took it out to a big field in his wagon. Everyone came to watch the show. The mayor called it an "Elf's Holiday"and closed the stores in town. The other elves came out to laugh at him. They teased Elmer, as he started to climb in.



"Look at Elmer! He thinks he is going to fly, like a bird!"



Then, something terrible happened.



Elmer discovered that he could not fit into the nutshell. He was too fat. He tried and tried, until his face turned beet red. He was just too big. The nutshell was just too small.



Elmer felt so bad, he began to cry, poor Elmer. He and Johnny had worked so hard. They had simply forgotten to try the seat.



Then he had an idea. If he was too big, then who would fit?



At first, his wife Mary, did not want to go.



"Oh Elmer, I couldn't. I wouldn't know what to do."



"All you have to do is steer it," Elmer said. He helped her into the shell.



Johnny tried, but couldn't turn the toothpick. It was just too heavy for one elf. He needed help. Then, his Happyville friends stepped up to Johnny.



"We will help you," they said, "for at least you are willing to try."



They turned the toothpick until the little plane trembled from the tension. Elmer kissed Mary, and waved his hand.



"Whr-r-r" went the rubber-band, as the wooden spool wheels left the ground.



Mary flew so high Elmer worried that she would touch the sun. Then, she circled the field and flew past, very fast.



And every time that she came by, Mary could only shout out one word, "I w-h-o-o-s-h!", "am w-h-o-o-s-h!" "flying w-h-o-o-s-h!" Johnny cheered and hugged Elmer.



"Well, what do you think of my flying machine now, Mayor Figglebee?" Elmer asked.



The bewildered major just sighed and said, "I guess it's not how big you are that counts. It's how big you feel inside."













                                                                    THE END