TOO MUCH MAGIC?

The Great Room at The North Pole was filled with laughter. It was the laughter of 41 identical Santa Clauses, all delighting in the stories they were telling each other. The problem was: only one of them was the real Santa Claus! When Santa went to some 'Santa's Helper' conventions earlier in the week to help teach them to be as much like Santa as possible, they all came back to the North Pole with him thinking they were the real Santa!

"We have two problems," Toby Elf said to Bernard Elf, "First, we need to find out which one's the correct Claus."

"And the second problem," said Bernard, "is to make sure all these Santa's Helpers remember who they really are, and then get them back to their homes!"

"And that includes the three hundred and seventy-nine other Santas in the next room--the ones we know for sure aren't Santa," said Adamup Elf, Santa's Chief Counting Elf, who kept counting all the Santas because he didn't know what else to do.

"I want to know what caused this," said Bernard. "Maybe that will help us figure out what to do next."

Gizmo Elf, Santa's Chief Inventing Elf, looked miserable. "That's my fault," he said. "Just before Santa went to the convenions, I sprinkled some Christmas Magic on his mittens, so when he shook all the Helper's hands, they'd all get more into the Christmas spirit. I was certain I didn't add too much, but I guess I made a mistake."

"No you didn't," said Mrs. Claus. "Because when I baked the cookies Santa gave to the Helpers, I added some Christmas Magic to them, too. for exactly the same reason!"

"So each of the Santa's Helpers got twice as much Christmas Magic than either of you thought!" said Adamup.

"No wonder they all think they're Santa!" said Bernard.

"Then what we need to do is to figure out something that would remove all that extra Christmas Magic, and the Helpers would stop thinking they're Santa," said Toby. "Anyone got any ideas?"

"I don't,' said Gizmo. "I've only ever figured out ways to get people into the Holiday Spirit, not out of it."

"What will we do?" asked Mrs. Claus. "We have 418 Santas who all want to deliver presents on Christmas day, and no way to snap them out of it!"

Just then, the door to the Great Hall opened up, and two Santas walked in. "Excuse me," said the Santa who was a bit too tall, "I need to get back to Farmington, New York. There's a dinner at my church I need to attend. The kids will be very disappointed, if 'Santa' doesn't appear."

The other Santa, who was a bit too round, said "This isn't my suit, The mall where I work in Denver, Colorado won't be happy if I get it dirty. I'm not supposed to wear it when I'm not working."

The Elves looked at them in surprise. "You know you're not the real Santa?" asked Bernard.

"Of course not," said the first Santa, "and neither are the other folks in the room we left, and we all want to know why we're here, and when we can go home."

What happened to the Helpers? Will they be able to help the others as well? Keep reading The North Pole Times to find out!