Music twinkled through the air, snow sprinkling down onto the softly lit town. The Christmas spirit was heavy in the air. Noel trotted through the snow happily, passing by the elves’ workshop and the reindeers’ stable. Noel was the only pig in the North Pole, picked up by Santa on Christmas Eve just a year ago.
Noel was happy at the North Pole and soon he became immersed in the spirit of Christmas. He was a little cold, but he stayed toasty with a custom-made hat and scarf from Mrs. Claus. However, after spending a year there, Noel wanted more than to just live at the North Pole, he wanted to be a part of the holiday.
Noel trotted up to Santa’s cottage. Santa opened the door before Noel made it up to the door and said, “Noel! How’s the best pig in the North Pole doing?”
Noel explained how grateful he was to be at the North Pole, but how there was a part of him missing when he was here. Everyone else had their place and he felt he wanted to help. Santa pondered, “Well if my magic can make the reindeer fly, then surely it can make a pig fly too!”
Noel chortled with glee! He was going to be the pig that flew with the reindeer!
He went to the stable to begin practicing. The reindeer welcomed him, but then the practice begun. They started out with a run. Of course, every reindeer had a pace that was 10 times faster than his own. Even Rudolph, the smallest reindeer of all, would outrun him. Then they put a harness on him and let him try to fly. He could not fly as high as the other reindeer, but Comet convinced him that he would just need to keep practicing. After one final test run with the sleigh, it was clear Noel was not suited to be part of that team.
He was moved to the bakery with some elves, but since he did not have thumbs, the only job for him was to roll out cookie dough. He used a rolling pin, and for a minute, he thought he had a place in the North Pole — until the head baker told him that they had more than one batch of gingerbread men with hoof prints in them from Noel’s feet, and that they had to throw out too much dough because of him. In the end, it was unsanitary and not productive to have a pig in the kitchen.
Noel sat sadly on the steps in front of the bakery, afraid he wouldn’t ever have a place here. Santa came to the bakery and asked, “Noel, why are you so sad? Did the bakery not go well? I thought you were doing well in there?”
“Well, apparently the kitchen is no place for a pig … Maybe the North Pole is no place for a pig.”
Santa was worried, but told Noel to try out one more place … the workshop. Maybe he couldn’t make the toys, but there was something he could do. Noel showed up to the workshop the next day and took his job in the assembly line. There were several things to do in the workshop as it was a very meticulous place filled with gift wrappers, toy makers and toy decorators.
However, there was no middle man, or middle pig, apparently. All the elves had to do constant back and forth between stations. This is where Noel came in to play. He had to take these really big baskets from station to station with toys or paint, whatever supplies the elves may need.
Noel struggled to keep the pace that they needed, but after only a few days, Noel was one of the many unspoken heroes of Christmas. The one and only Christmas pig in the North Pole.
