Mylee Has Questions About Santa And His Elves

 Mylee had so many questions about Santa Claus. She knew that he lived at the North Pole, but where exactly was that North Pole? Then there were elves. She had always heard that Santa needed help making toys and gifts for good little boys and girls, but how many did he need? Did he need ten elves or a hundred? She had looked at a globe and the world was really big. Then she had heard about one of the elves that sat on a shelf. Was he lazy? Was he naughty? Why would Santa want a lazy naughty elf to help him make gifts for little boys and girls? She just had so many questions. One day she decided to ask her grandma about this. She had heard her mom and her grandma talking one day about the elf on the shelf, but it seemed like to her he was all over the place. One day he was in the refrigerator getting into their food. Then one morning she discovered that he had slept by her bed all night! She had found him on the Christmas tree and even in the bathtub floating in hot chocolate and marshmallows. He had left a terrible mess for her mama to clean up. She knew he was naughty, but in spite of herself she laughed when she saw him in the tub. This elf just did not sound or act like the kind of elf that Santa would want working with him.

One day Mylee went to her grandma's house while her mom was at work. "Nana, I have so many questions about Santa and his elves. Do you have time to explain it to me? I really don't understand why Santa would want a naughty elf at the North Pole? Where is that elf now? Did he run away from the North Pole? Oh no! Nana, is he homeless? We might have to keep him."

Mylee's grandma said, "You know what? I think I heard that there is a book about Santa's Elf Mates that might explain some of your questions. Some questions we never do find the answers to, but we can use our imaginations to make up our own answers. Our imaginations let us change things in our mind and make us smile. Right now I can imagine what you look like with your shoes on and a pair of freshly washed hands," she laughed. Mylee made a silly face but quickly went and washed her hands and put her shoes on. She was going to find the answer to all of her questions at the library. She just knew it.

When they walked in there were several grownups and children in the library. Some were reading books, and in one room there was a lady reading a story to some children. Mylee's grandma had explained that they needed to be very quiet in the library. She took her Nana's hand and walked up to the desk where the librarian was working. She listened while her grandma asked her some questions. She quietly spoke and pointed to some shelves not far from her desk. There was a Christmas tree all decorated with lights and decorations. The shelves of Santa and elf books were nearby. Mylee's grandma walked quietly up and down the shelves. She reached up and found a book. She quietly leafed through it and said. "Mylee, some of your questions are answered in this book. You might not be able to read all the words, but I will help you. There is a little chair by the tree. Go sit there and I will be right back with a chair so that we can look at the book together."

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 Marlee was so excited to have her mom read the new book to her, but something wasn't right. Her mom looked funny as she opened up the book. "What's wrong, Mommie? Don't you like the book that I picked out at the library?"

Her mom looked at her and said, "I don't think this is the same book that you picked out, Marlee. This book should never had been on a shelf at the library, Honey. It's a one of a kind book written by a queen in a faraway country hundreds of years ago. See the inscription on the inside of the book, Queen Harleigh 1782  Dedicated to all of those that have the courage to dream and do. This book should actually be in a museum. I wonder how in the world it ever got to Texas and in a little library like ours. See how brittle the pages are, Marlee? Books this old should never be touched because of the oil in our skin. We need to return this book immediately and see where on earth it came from. It seems like we have a mystery on our hands, Marlee. 

Marlee was a little interested, but would rather have kept the book. She loved unicorns and dreamed of being a princess with her own castle and her very own unicorn someday. "Yes, someday I will own a unicorn farm. I might even let my little brother touch one if he's good. Okay, Mom. I'm ready to go back to the library, but let's pick out a book I don't have to give back for awhile, okay?"

 But her little brother said, "Mom, I don't feel so good. I need to go to bed. Sorry, Marlee."   

And sick he was, so the old old book was put in a safe place until it could be returned to the library or it's original owner.

        

Life Is One Big Adventure Filled With Many Little Ones

 She was so very lonely. She had no brothers or sisters and no friends at all. Her mother was the queen and was always too busy with national affairs to spend much time with her. She spent much of her time daydreaming of being a princess or a queen in a magic kingdom all of her own. She would have parties and lots of friends to keep her company. She smiled as she picked up her favorite book. "Yes, I would have unicorns and rainbows to keep me company as well. It would be a magical place. There would be no lonely children in her kingdom. There would be flowers and kittens and beautiful lakes and of course, swans that gave her friends rides to the top of the rainbows that appeared through her window every morning. Oh and the castle it would be pink and sit high on a hill. There would be beautiful brooks of shimmering water that would make tinkling music that would make her smile. Now where was I? Oh yes, this page must have been where I fell asleep. Mother says I waste my time reading about things that aren't real. Are not unicorns real? I think that they probably were at one time, now there are very few of them. Yes, right here it says that they need warm weather and sunny skies. Yes, my castle will always have warm weather. They only have one horn on their head and it is full of magical powder. I wonder how that works..."

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She really had a problem. Whatever was she going to be when she grew up? People were asking her all the time! "I have no idea what I want to be when I grow up! I would love to be a princess and ride unicorns and climb to the top of a rainbow, but I really like to dress up and dance and look beautiful. But then I have really thought about being a farmer and raising chickens because I think chickens are the very best animals in the world. Oh, dear. I wonder when I have to make up my mind? I guess I'll ask Mom. I'm sure she knows what age I need to be before I have to make up my mind."

Her mom picked her up from school that day and Marlee saw her chance to ask her question. "Mom, how old do I have to be to make up my mind what I want to be when I grow up? Old people keep asking me and I don't know yet."

Her mom smiled and said, "Oh you have lots of time to choose, Marlee. You need to get older and enjoy being young. You love to dance now, but maybe when you are older you would like to do something else. No worries, just enjoy what you like to do now like painting and cooking. Let's go pick up your little brother, okay? How would you like to stop at the library on the way home? Maybe you can find a book that you would like."

Marlee loved going to the library. There was a section of books just for children her age. Her little brother found a book and so did she. It was a book about unicorns. It was really old and hard to read, but it had wonderful pictures in it of a little girl living high on a mountain in a castle that was pink. She couldn't wait for her mom to read it to her.

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Marlee's mom and dad were having a really serious conversation outside the camper. "I really want to go home. I think Dad wants to stay in Texas. Mom wants to go home too." She could hear the voices outside and thought about her Grandma B. "I think I will call her. She needs to come to Texas and see if she can't fix things. Besides that I miss her and the mini farm. I miss my friends too. I wonder if maybe that girl I saw at the grocery store would come to visit us too. I can't believe her name is Marlee too. That's fun. I need to tell B about her. We have the same name, but we are really different. I wonder what she likes to do? There's that spider! Come here you are going outside!" When she opened the door to let the spider out she heard her dad say, "We are going to stay here for awhile. I need to check out that silver mine. It could mean that our kids and their kids would never have to want for anything in their lives. I just have to do this. Please understand."

Since Marlee loved adventures like her dad she decided that she would ask him if he would take her to go see the silver mine. She loved time with her dad too. Yes, that was a good plan. She would wait to call B. Yes tomorrow she and her dad would have an exciting adventure, she just knew it. Marlee smiled as she thought of her old friend, Grandma Lu. She always said "That life is just one big adventure filled with all kinds of little ones. Have all the adventures that you can, my girl. Have as many as you can and take your friends with you because adventures need to be shared."

"Yes, tomorrow, Dad and I will have an adventure. Whit and Mom can have an adventure while we are gone. "Let's get ready for bed, Whit. Tomorrow should be a fun day."

They Found Old Pictures And A Moving Wall!

 Marlee was getting tired of being cooped up in the camper. Yes they had gone to the ranch and visited with the horses and the other animals, but she was getting tired of doing the same old things. Her mom and dad had talked about the ranch having a silver mine on it and maybe being rich someday. What did that mean; being rich someday. Were they going home or not? She missed her Grandma B in Missouri. Her other grandma, Lollie, had come to visit, but she had gone back home. She needed somebody to play with other than her little sister, Whitlee. She suddenly had an idea. "Mom, can we Facetime, B? I miss her. I miss Willow too and Stashia, and the mini farm. I think I'm getting what they call sick of not being home. No that's not right." Her mom chuckled and said, "Homesick, Marlee. That sounds about right. I'm a little homesick myself. We can Facetime B maybe tonight. I thought maybe today we would go over to the main house and do a little exploring. The other couple said that they don't want it. They said as soon as they pay us off they will probably tear down the big house and build another new one. The thing is, your dad and I are not sure if we want to sell yet. He's in town now. He is at the courthouse checking on the  mine that that old book of yours talked about. If it still has silver in it we might move to Texas. We just have to do a lot of digging and see first before we make any decisions. Okay?"

Marlee looked at the picture of her and Willow that was on her mom's phone. "I sure do miss them. Willow is getting so big."

After breakfast that morning Marlee, Whitlee, and their mom went over to the big house to explore. It was almost empty. The furniture had sold at the auction so actually there was little to see. Marlee didn't like the big old house. It smelled funny and she could see weeds growing over the windows. They were upstairs when she heard Whitlee yelling for them to come see what she had found. They saw that there was a wall that moved. It actually moved all by itself! There were old dolls and books and stuff in there. "I'm not going in there. There's all kinds of spiders and cobwebs on stuff. Yuk!" shivered Marlee. By this time Marlee's mom walked into the deserted room. "Marlee, come here. Look at this picture. Wasn't there a picture like this in that old book that you bought?" She dusted it off on her pants and said, "Yes, I'm sure this is the same man riding a horse. It was some kind of horse show in Kansas City. Let's take this picture back to the camper with us. Maybe there is something on the back of it that can tell us who this is. Interesting room, that's for sure. Eww! What's that running around in here? Oh my gosh, I think there's rats in this house. Come on girls, let's get back to the camper. We might have a mystery here. Then how about a picnic? Sound fun? No, you can't have a doll, Whit." Even though it was a hot day in Texas, she felt herself shiver. She shook her head as she walked down the stairs. "I do love spooky stuff in movies and books, but in a real house, not so much," she thought.

  When they got back to the camper Marlee asked if she could take the old picture out of the old metal frame. Her mother said that she would do it because the glass in the frame was broken. I'm going to have to be very careful not to cut myself on this old glass."

Marlee's mom found that she had company when she was carefully picking out the broken glass. A spider scurried across her knuckles on it's way to a safer place to live. "Oh! Did you see where that spider went to? Girls! Did you see that spider? Oh well, I'll soon find it I'm sure. She needs to be outside."

Marlee said, "So how do you know it was a girl spider, Mom?"

About that time Marlee's dad came into the camper grinning. "Yes, Mom. How do you know it was a girl spider? I'm curious myself." About that time the girls ran and grabbed him around the legs and begged for him to go outside with them. "We are going to have a picnic, Dad. Mom said."

He looked over to see what his wife was doing. "Where did you get that old frame? In the attic at the main house? Can I see it a minute?" He took it over to the window and rubbed it with his thumb. The sun glinted off the frame and his smile widened when he looked at his wife. "Well, this just about sums it up, my dear. I'm thinking that this frame is silver, I mean real silver probably mined right here on this very ranch. The man at the courthouse affirmed that there is indeed a silver mine on this property, but that it is closed off because it probably was mined out and is a danger to people that might wander in. He gave me a map and instructions on how to find it, but warned me not to go inside. He said the timbers that keep the mine from collapsing are so old that a person could get buried alive in there. He said he remembered the couple that owned it a long time ago. He said his name was Edward and hers was Virginia, but they are long gone." Again his wife shivered and said, "So let's go home as soon as we can, okay? I'm not liking it here anymore. Too many unanswered questions, spiders and rats. I'm ready to pack."

"Did Mom tell you that the big house has walls that move? Did she tell you that there was a silver clock up there too? I bet there are ghosts up there in that old icky room. I bet there are!" Marlee started chasing her sister outside making scary gestures and howling noises soon to be followed by their dad who was laughing and teasing their mom. "I guess this ranch is kinda a fun place, but I really would like to go home," Marlee thought.