It was a few weeks after Christmas.
And most elves were on vacation.
The workshop was quite still and dark
Except for a lamp at one workstation.
An elf was putting the finishing touch
On a whimsical invention.
His face was lit with a magic glow.
Was it lamplight or intention?
He had put his mind and hands to work,
Mustering all of his elfin skill,
To craft what would come to be known
As the world’s first jingle bell.
He loved her the moment he saw her
– Her casing shiny and round –
And every time she jiggled
She made a jolly jingly sound.
Then he shared with her his secret
For staying happy every day.
“Jingle. Jingle with all your heart!
Jingle all the way.”
The elf laughed whenever she jingled.
Her tone was pleasing and true.
And every time she jingled
It was her way of laughing too.
He liked to keep her with him
Because she made him feel so grand,
But he couldn’t hear her in his pocket,
Or work with her in his hand.
So he stitched her to his stocking cap
For everyone to see.
And affectionately he called her Belle
– That is bell with an extra “e.”
All the elves admired her,
In her shiny silver case.
And when she jingled all the way
It put a smile on every face.
While elves were busy building toys
They would sing a jolly song.
And from the very tip of that stocking cap
Belle would jing-jing-jingle along.
When Christmas Eve arrived,
And the elves were loading Santa’s sleigh
– It happened. The stitch that held Belle
On the stocking cap gave way.
Belle jingled as she fell to the floor,
But no one heard her for all the noise.
And she was scooped into Santa’s pack
With the other Christmas toys.
The pack was loaded on the sleigh
On that hectic, happy night.
And by the time that Belle was missed
Santa’s sleigh had taken flight.
The elves searched high and low,
And turned the workshop upside down
Trying to find their jingle Belle,
But she was nowhere to be found.
Meanwhile up in Santa’s sleigh,
As swiftly and southward it flew,
Belle was there in Santa’s pack
Not knowing what to do.
Soon they started landing on rooftops
– So many she couldn’t keep track.
Then down one chimney after another,
Went Santa, with Belle in his pack.
When Belle felt the brush of Santa’s glove
And saw the glow of Christmas light,
For just the flash of a moment
She thought she would be all right.
But she got snagged in the bow on a package,
Slipped through and fell to the ground.
Santa was so busy filling stockings
He didn’t hear her jingle sound.
In an instant Santa was gone,
Leaving her there on her own.
As she tried to fall asleep that night
She felt sad and scared and alone.
But when she awoke she wasn’t alone
As she lay by the fireplace.
Someone was lying next to her
With a great big, curious face!
It was a little girl studying Belle.
She was no older than three or four.
“Santa must have dropped you,” she said,
As she picked up Belle from the floor.
Though Belle was scared as could be,
She saw kindness in the girl’s eyes.
Poor Belle didn’t feel like jingling at all,
But she remembered what her elf would advise.
He’d say, no matter what is happening,
If you want to feel more gay,
“Jingle! Jingle with all your heart!
Jingle all the way.”
Summoning all of her strength and courage
Belle jingled with all her might.
And that little girl’s face lit up
As bright as a Christmas tree light.
The girl took Belle to her mother,
Still laughing and giddy with glee!
Together they found the perfect place
To hang Belle on their Christmas tree.
Belle still lives with that family,
Though the girl has up and grown.
Now she shares her love of Belle
With a daughter of her own.
Though Belle misses the elves and the workshop,
– And she will hold them forever dear –
She is happy jingling all the way
To ring in Christmas cheer.
They remember Belle at the North Pole
– Oh the stories of her they tell!
And all of the elves wear bells on their caps
In honor of jingle Belle.
As for the elf that created Belle,
How often he thinks of her!
And sometimes he has to remind himself
“I don’t have to hold her to love her.”
Fabletime 