The Wonderful World of Rudolpha: Jack’s eventful day at the Elf Academy

It’s a beautiful day in the North Pole. Rudolpha the reindeer, teacher at the North Pole Animal Day Care, brings the children outside for a special project. They’re to draw a gigantic Christmas Tree in the snow and decorate it using glow-in-the-dark paint. Santa and his team of reindeer will be able to admire their work when they fly overhead.

The children are just finishing their tree when Jack the elf-of-all-trades arrives carrying his toolbox. “Do you need any help here?” he asks.

“No thank you, Jack. We’re just finishing,” answers Rudolpha. “Unless you want to tell us about one of your adventures. I know a few people who love to hear your stories.”

“Okay! I’ll tell you all about what happened to me at the Elf Academy last Friday.” The children gather around to listen.

“I was waxing the floor in the cafeteria when I noticed green footprints going up the wall and disappearing into the ventilation duct in the ceiling. I had never seen anything like it before, so I got on my ladder to take a closer look. When I removed the duct cover, red sequins poured onto my head and all over the floor. What a mess! I had to clean them all up and then finish waxing the floor.

“Then I went to the gym to replace a lightbulb that had gone out. When I got there, I saw that all the lights had been replaced with purple bulbs, giving the room an eerie glow. Once again, I had to put everything back.

“My next job was to put up a Christmas tree in the academy’s entranceway, but someone had wrapped the trunk in layers and layers of wrapping paper, plastic wrap, aluminum foil and newspaper. It took me half an hour to unravel it all.

“Under the final layer of rainbow wrapping paper, I saw a message signed by my friend Tricksy. She’d put the sequins in the vent duct in the cafeteria, changed all the lightbulbs in the gym and wrapped the Christmas tree trunk with paper. Her pranks made me work extra hard that day.”

“Were you mad at Tricksy, Jack?” asks Snowflake the polar bear.

“Of course not. You see, Tricksy is a prankster elf in training. She’s learning to play tricks in people’s homes. She was just practicing for her exams. Not that she needs any more practice, she’s already the best in her class.”

“But still, three pranks in one day must have been frustrating,” says Bianca the rabbit.

“It was a little, but to make it up to me, Tricksy promised to buy me three hot chocolates from the Holly Café, and they’re the best in the world!”

Written by Johannie Dufour and Sarah Beauregard
Translated by Cyan Caruso-Comas