There was great concern because the elf had not turned up.
The three boys were worried as the elf, called Bunder, usually came by their house and this year he had failed to turn up.
Added to their misery was the fact that all their friends reported elves at their places.
What had happened to Bunder?
They stated their concerns to their mother, who promptly established an investigation into the whereabouts of the missing Bunder. She did not want her boys to miss out on what they had grown accustomed to each Christmas, and so she sent off a stern letter to the Head of the Elves to find out why Bunder had not appeared.
It wasn’t long before Bunder did show himself. The boys found him sitting on the mantle one afternoon when they arrived home from school. Under his arm was a letter stating he had been to visit their cousins, Joey and Arria and that he was sorry they were worried about him, but he was pleased to be at their house. His delay had been increased because at Arria’s house there had been a very sassy girl elf called Ruby whose cuteness had caught Bunder’s eye.
The boys were very familiar with the rules for having Bunder at their place. Rule one which their mum reinforced upon Bunder’s arrival was that the elf was not to be touched as that would instigate the removal of Bunder and a bad mark against their name for when Santa came round on Christmas Eve.
Each morning the boys would get up and go and see if they could find Bunder as he moved to a different spot each night. It was a mystery to them as he might be up sitting high up on a curtain rod, lounging in the Christmas tree or even playing with one of the boy’s favourite toys. They even found him one morning with chocolate wrappers around his feet from having eaten some of their mum’s chocolates she was keeping for Christmas day. Bunder was a delight but also a mischievous character.
And just as Christmas concluded, Bunder would disappear, his work done. The boys had plenty of Christmas cheer to enjoy, and Bunder would vanish hopefully to reappear the next Christmas.
Written for: https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2019/12/19/tale-weaver-254-christmas-tales-19-12/
Morpethroad 
Oh, I would love to have a mischievous Bunder to keep me on my toes. 🙂
He’s a lot of fun. My granddaughter has one of her own and the potential for them to have ‘too much fun’ was so tempting…
Sounds a little like Henry, a *house guest* when my children were growing up. But he was terrible. He liked to tickle them, and all of a sudden they’d burst into giggles. At least, they always blamed it on Henry. 🙂
Yes a friend of mine has one called Ashley who has far too much fun
I’m so glad my family aren’t really out on a limb!
Wonderful imagination Michael.
Thanks Sadje and best wishes to you for the Christmas period and into the new year.
Thank you so much Michael. Same to you and yours. 🙏
I found an Elf on the Shelf… book and Elf… which my Grandson adopted at a Little Free Library! Turns out that elf now has a friend for his sister too!
A fun read 🙂
Thanks so much Jules, best wishes to you and your family at the Christmas time.
We have Bunder’s cousin, Louie the Elf at my place 😀
Does he get up to mischief like Bunder?
Oh absolutely. You never know where he’ll turn up 😀