A Newfangled Christmas Read Online Free Page A

sheepish. “Sorry,” he said. “I
guess I just got carried away.”
    This time he started more slowly. First, he
pulled an aardvark out of his briefcase. “This isn’t just any
aardvark,” he explained patiently. “It’s a ROBOT aardvark.” Then he
took it apart, starting with the long nose, to show me how it had
been put together. Next he demonstrated how the electronics were
wired. Then he assembled it again, tossed a handful of plastic ants
on the workshop floor and clapped his hands.
    The aardvark took a few halting steps
forward. Then it swept its long nose back and forth on the floor,
sucking up the ants.
    “That’s all there is to it!” the techie
shouted triumphantly.
    I gave him a weak smile.
    “Think you can do it?” asked Nerdly.
    “Sure,” I murmured. I hoped he couldn’t see
how hard I was trembling. The truth was, I didn’t have a clue how
to make a dadblasted robot aardvark. Maybe he would show me how to
make something else.
    Then I remembered the very first e-mail I had
gotten. The one from Micah Mason, who wanted an Electronic Spy
Night Scope so he could spy on his sister in the dark.
    I shook my head sadly. An Electronic Spy
Night Scope would probably be harder to make than an aardvark!
Maybe there was something else I could start with that would be
easier.
    When I admitted my situation to the techie,
he nodded excitedly and chirped, “Not a problem.”
    He reached into his briefcase again and
pulled out a cuddly brown teddy bear. I did a double take. It
didn’t look like it was electronic. In fact it looked just like the
ones the Elves make every Christmas.
    “Meet Hug-A-Bear,” said Nerdly, thrusting the
bear into my hands. “He’s a one function robot. All he does is
hug.”
    As if on cue, Hug-A-Bear spread out his arms
and wrapped them around my neck. Then he gave me a gentle hug. I
couldn’t help but smile. My heart was smiling, too, because I knew
that I could learn to make a lot of these bears. And a lot was just
exactly what I would need.
    The techie patiently explained how to make
the bear. I said good-night to Nerdly and set to work. My big old
clumsy hands got comfortable making soft teddy bears right away. I
hummed a little tune as I wired the robot mechanism for each chubby
bear and stuffed it inside. Then I would sew the final seam and put
the bear up to my neck to test his hug.
    I was feeling pretty proud when I hung up my
apron at the end of the day. I counted the bears I’d made. Six
Hug-A-Bears were sitting in a row.
    Then my gaze shot to the calendar. Tomorrow
was November 1 st . That meant there were only fifty-four
days left until Christmas Eve. Fifty-four days times six
Hug-A-Bears was--I counted on my fingers--three-hundred
twenty-four.
    Three-hundred twenty-four toys for millions
of girls and boys! Maybe I hadn’t saved Christmas after all!
     

Chapter 9
     
    BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD
     
    I couldn’t sleep a wink all night. I tossed
and turned. I stared at the ceiling. I pounded on my pillow. But
nothing helped. Christmas was coming faster than an avalanche, and
I wouldn’t be ready.
    What would I do on Christmas Eve with no
where to go? What would I tell the reindeer? Worst of all, what
would I tell the children?
    When the sun finally came up I dragged myself
into the kitchen and poured myself a cup of coffee. The Missus was
sitting at the table, frowning into space as if I wasn’t even
there. Suddenly she looked at me out of the corner of her eye.
    “You have to talk to the Elves right now,”
she snapped. “You’ll have to go straight to their village,” she
went on before I could say a word. “Explain to them that what
today’s kids want most of all are electronic toys,” she went on
before I could say a word. “Tell them to shape up! Get with the
program!”
    I shook my head sadly. “I don’t think it will
work. You should have seen how upset they were yesterday when that
techie tried to tell them how to make newfangled toys.”
    “Then