It was a beautiful Bermuda day, 25 days until Christmas. The sun was shining, the birds were singing but down in Dockyard one Longtail was very unhappy. Longtail Lila knew Santa wouldn't be able to give presents this year. Lila knew the elves were going on strike 10 days before Christmas. She knew this because she had a special power ever since she was born. Lila could see into the future through her dreams. The dream that kept repeating in her head was Santa's elves running around in his North Pole toy factory with tiny signs reading "all work, no pay, no way!" The elves are so busy chanting "all work, no pay, no way" that no toys are being made! This is a disaster in the making.

"This is just great, I'm never going to get that golden egg that's on my wish list from Santa now. I can just see all the other poor children not getting a single toy from their wish lists either. I must do something, anything to warn Santa about the elf strike!" exclaimed Longtail Lila.

She thought and thought until, "I've got it! I'll fly up to the North Pole. There's nothing stopping me right!?" Lila blurted out.

Well, she was wrong, very wrong.

The next day Lila set off for the North Pole. First she flew over the Great Sound, past Hamilton, over the aquarium and around the airport. She was perfectly fine until she got to St. George's.

"Stop!!" commanded a voice she'd never heard before.

"Huh? What? Why?" Lila said confused.

An angry Kisskadee named Bob yelled, "You've crossed the Bermudian bird border line. You must give me your Bermudian passport so I can make sure your flying papers are in order. Once you show me your passport, I'll let you pass. Or, you can tell me why you are here without your passport and flying papers and then I'll send you home to get them."

"Oh my. I don't have a passport or flying papers," moaned Lila sadly.

"That's just too bad, isn't it?" mocked Bob.

" Well, yeah, it is!" Lila snapped back angrily.

"Since it's Christmas season, I'll make you a deal. You just bring me a lizard and we'll forget about those flying papers. Deal?" Bob said cunningly.

"Thank you so much," chirped Lila happily.

"Think of this as a early Christmas gift" said the Kisskadee.

Longtail Lila started on her long journey back home past the airport, over the aquarium, around Hamilton, over the Great Sound and back to Dockyard. Lila decided to fly all the way home to get an extra special lizard for angry Bob. One thing you must know about Lila is she hates the idea of killing any of Mother Nature's creations. After retrieving the special lizard, Lila once again travelled back over to St. George's to deliver the lizard to Bob the angry kisskadee. She dropped the lizard at his feet.

"Oh no mam, I'm never going to let you through now!" hollered Bob.

"Well, why not" cried Lila?

"This lizard is fake! Don't you think I can tell the difference?" snapped Bob.

"I hoped not," cried Longtail Lila and she begrudgingly flew back home to Dockyard and thought some more about what to do.

It took her days to figure out a new plan to save Christmas. It was hard work, very hard work. Finally she came up with the perfect solution.

"I'm going to go down to Devonshire and contact Santa from the big satellite dish," Longtail said proudly with confidence in her voice. It was evening now and the winter sun had just set. The sky turned from blue to black in an instant. Longtail was sitting down to a simple dinner of fruits and nuts. After dinner she would have a good night's sleep and set out for Devonshire in the morning.

The following morning, as the sun was gradually rising in the east, Longtail knew she had just over a week to find a way to contact Santa. Only 19 days until Christmas meant only 9 days until the elf strike! She had to make her plan work as quickly as possible. Lila set out for Devonshire and met up with her friend Sally skink. She was an absolutely tremendous mechanical engineer and could fix anything to do with electronic devices. Sally's hands were just a bit singed from her last job; it involved quite a large flame torch.

Sally lived in Pembroke so when Lila was flying over on her way to Devonshire, she was able to just pop by her house. Lila explained the situation to Sally and together they decided it would be best to make a warning tape for Santa. The two friends planned to use the gigantic satellite at Cable and Wireless in Devonshire to transmit the warning tape up to the North Pole.

The Longtail and the skink used equipment from Sally's workshop to film the warning tape to Santa. The friends were sure to tell Santa about Lila's dream and the striking elves. Once the tape was finished they headed off to Devonshire to find a way to transmit the warning message to Santa.

Lila flew all around the satellite looking for anything that might help them transmit the tape to Santa. Sally the skink noticed a small box just big enough for a tape to fit in. With Lila's help Sally pushed the tape into the box. Sally found a control pad close to the box. "Hey Lila, come look at this," Sally shouted over her shoulder.

"Wow, it looks like a control pad or a key board," exclaimed Lila amazed at their luck.

"Wait, no, it's a signalling computer," yelled Sally.

"Yeah, you're right," Lila answered back.

"I'll try typing in Santa — North Pole and hopefully it will work," said the computer genius Sally.

Meanwhile, at the North Pole, Santa was taking a break from his busy schedule and was watching a documentary on reindeer. Beep, beep, beep came from the television and his show was rudely interrupted.

"Huh, what's going on," Santa blurted very annoyed.

Beep, beep, beep.... "Hello, hello, Santa. If you are listening, the elves will be going on strike in 9 days." Santa could not believe his eyes. A Longtail from Bermuda was talking to him on his television! "Santa, you must give the elves a pay roll or they will strike and all the children of the world will have no Christmas toys! You must believe me. I had a dream. I've never lied in my life! Check your list — my name is Lila Longtail of Dockyard, Bermuda," Lila's message begged Santa.

Santa immediately checked his list. Indeed Lila was truthful and had never lied. Santa believed her. He called a meeting with all the elf staff telling them that from this day forward all the elves would receive pay on Christmas day. The elves were happy their plan to strike on the 15th of December was no longer necessary. The North Pole was happy and filled with joy once again.

On Christmas morning all stockings around the world were filled with goodies and toys. Santa had written a special letter to Lila thanking her for her message and especially for saving Christmas. The letter was next to TWO shiny golden eggs.