"AN UNCONVENTIONAL CONVENTION'' Today was a very busy day at the Hamilton Princess Hotel. Stella watched as her mother and the rest of the staff prepared for the enormous party coming to Bermuda for a week-long convention. Stella's mother had explained to her that they were a group of small people who claimed to be Santa's elves. Although she was too old for such a notion, Stella couldn't help hoping that they were the real thing.

She was almost ten, but inside, she still secretly believed in Santa Claus.

One Christmas Eve she thought that she had seen him eating his mince pie by the fireplace. She had dismissed it as a dream but still wondered whether it was something more than that. Maybe, just maybe, these little people were truly Saint Nick's Elves.

For most of that day, Stella kept out of the way and paced about the hotel.

When she had tried to help earlier, she had caused some confusion and been sent up to the apartment that she and her mother shared on the fourth floor of the hotel. Stella just couldn't wait for something exciting to happen.

The next day, when all the preparations had been made and everything was almost perfect, the hotel staff awaited the arrival of the extraordinary guests. Even some of them secretly wished that elves really would check in at reception. One by one a succession of taxis appeared. Then at intervals, two or three little people jumped out carrying their baggage. The porters rushed to help them with their suitcases, toys, tools and various other strange things.

These, so-called, elves didn't really look anything like Stella had imagined them. They were very short (the adults were maybe the height of a five year old) but they had perfectly adult facial features. There even seemed to be different races of elves. In the crowd she could see white, black, Asian, Hispanic and countless other races of elves.

Another startling thing was that they didn't wear little green frocks as they do in all the story books. In fact, today they were almost all wearing Bermuda shorts and t-shirts. They weren't even wearing the traditional "pixie'' hats.

The group of elves included men, women, and young elves. If this didn't convince the Bermudians that Santa existed, what would? Over the next few days the Elves' Convention was in full swing. In the mornings, there would be a lecture on toy manufacture. This would usually be carried out by the head elf, Randolph Jingle but they also had various guest speakers such as the manager of TYCO TM, the owner of Mattel TM Inc., and the owner of Hamleys TM toy shop in London.

This would be followed by an open discussion on the progress of Santa Clause's toy factory. They finished at lunch time and at that point they could do as they pleased. Some of them stayed at the hotel and went swimming in the pool.

Others rented mopeds and rode up to the beach. The elves on the beach were a very amusing sight to passers-by. Yes, it was almost Christmas, but tourists from the North Pole will swim at any time of year! Other elves visited the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute and the Aquarium. They found that very interesting as they had never been to a place with a semi-tropical climate. What a marvellous time they had! The elves were such likable people. They had a tremendous sense of humour and had fun wherever they went. Stella made friends with the head elf, Randolph.

He told her stories and played games with her. He was extremely comical and remarkably wise (the perfect character for a head elf). He was quite old with greying hair that was mostly hidden under a rainbow coloured sun hat. He wore green Bermuda Shorts and it was clear that he was fond of sweets because of his roly-poly tummy. He smelled of peppermint and chocolate and was always laughing cheerfully.

The elves were all exceedingly kind to her. As she was on her Christmas holidays, she was able to spent much with them. They talked to her about their new toy ideas and how they made them. From their description of the toy factory it sounded like a wonderful place. There was a huge machine for making any toy that a child could ever imagine. There was also a huge room for testing the safety of toys. (Many were discarded as they had sharp edges or small pieces.) As well as all those magical things, there was a candy machine that produced the most delicious Christmas sweets that a child would ever taste. Stella had never had such fun at the hotel. She wished the elves would never leave.

The elves, too, were enjoying themselves so much that they all decided they wanted to stay in Bermuda. They were even prepared to pay for an extra year at the Hamilton Princess. They all completely forgot any responsibilities they might have. They enjoyed wild parties and had famous bands come and play for them. They all went to the beach and played volley ball.

The trouble was, it was getting dangerously close to Christmas and there were thousands of toys yet to be completed. The elves were having too much fun to notice. As much as Stella wanted them to stay, she decided that she couldn't let the children of the World be disappointed at Christmas time. She went to see Randolph who was in the health club being massaged.

"Randolph,'' she said tentatively, "I hate to bother you while you're relaxing, but I think you've forgotten something very important.'' "Pardon me?'' murmured Randolph as he opened one eye and looked at Stella.

"Have you really forgotten?'' asked Stella sadly.

"Forgotten? Forgotten what?'' replied Randolph.

"You can't stay here anymore!'' said Stella, "There are two weeks until Christmas and you haven't finished making all of your toys! If you don't go now you'll disappoint all the children in the whole wide world who believe in Santa.'' "Jumping Jingles! How in the world could we all forget about a thing like that? We have to go as soon as possible!'' The other elves all agreed quite reluctantly to Randolph's plan. They packed up all their things and prepared to go. There was only one slight problem.

They had missed all the flights that could have taken them back to the North Pole and at such a peak holiday time it was impossible to get any more tickets. It looked as if the elves' most important occasion was going to be spoiled and nobody was going to help them.

Randolph telephoned Santa to see if he could help.

"Well, my jolly old friend,'' said Saint Nick, "you have got yourselves into quite a pickle. I would come and pick you up in my sleigh if only you'd all fit, but I'm afraid that's not possible. Mmmmm. Let's think. You are in quite a predicament.'' Randolph began to grovel as he was so ashamed of himself: "Yes we are and I'm very sorry if it inconveniences you in any w....'' Santa Claus cut him off, "Wait!'' he cried, "I can send you some of the magical flying dust that makes my reindeer fly. You can then sprinkle it on something to fly you over here.'' "What a wonderful idea! exclaimed Randolph.

The next day Saint Nick "Federal Expressed'' a parcel containing a large bag of the golden dust and a note that read, "Use wisely.'' Now came the difficulty of choosing something to carry 1500 elves all the way to the North Pole. There was a long discussion held where all the elves gave pideas and thoughts on the matter.

"Let's make the mopeds fly!'' exclaimed one.

"Why don't we get lizards to pull the sleigh?'' suggested another. At that a very small elf-woman wearing a pink and blue sun dress stood up and in her dainty voice declared, "I have a cousin in Canada who works on a Reindeer Farm. I'm sure he would not mind lending some of them to us as it is in aid of such a very good cause.

We will find a way to get them here.'' There was violent applause from some, but most of the elves protested. How were they going to get the reindeer here in time for Christmas? "I promise you that I will get some reindeer to take us home as soon as I can,'' said the petite little lady who was gaining confidence every second, "in one way or another.'' There came a loud cheer as questions were fired at her and she received various pats on the back. To a stranger this scene might have looked like a group of children playing "grown-up'' in a conference room. Little would they know of the great importance this would have to Christmas that year as well as a long time afterwards.

The little woman-elf (whose name was Holly) set to work that afternoon with the help of Randolph, Stella and her mother. They made many phone calls to Holly's Cousin and It seemed that it would be perfectly fine for him to lend some of his animals if they were not harmed and brought back safely. They then needed to find a way to get the animals to Bermuda. They made many phone calls until they found the perfect solution.

It just so happened that a shipment of Christmas trees was leaving Canada that very day on its way to Bermuda. The clever group ordered 150 beasts to be sent with that shipment. They had to pay a considerable price, but it certainly was worth it. The shipment would take three days to arrive in Bermuda. Everybody hoped that it would come on time, but they had other things to worry about.

The great group of elves had to find a sleigh-like object that could hold 1500 or more of them and could fly in the air while being led by 150 reindeer. This proved to be a difficult task as Bermuda is so small. An aeroplane was out of the question and it was difficult to construct anything without any raw materials lying around. Nobody could come up with a solution to this problem.

What were they to do? Most of the elves despaired and they walked around with glum faces. They realised (and felt very sorry about the fact) that they had ruined Christmas for everybody.

A few days later, Stella awoke to the sound of a foghorn in the distance. She was just wondering what ship was coming in at this time of year when a wonderful idea suddenly hit her with a bang . She started to laugh as it seemed absurd that she had not thought of this already. A cruise ship would be the perfect thing to carry the elves to the North Pole! She immediately ran to one of the conference rooms an spotted Randolph sitting at the head of the table. He was arguing with another group of elves who thought they could solve the problem by riding on the reindeer all the way to the top of the world.

"Stop! Please stop!'' exclaimed Stella. She was breathing quickly with excitement. She looked down at her white sneakers and then at all of the elves in the room. They had all gone deadly quiet and were gazing at her wide eyed.

"I know how you can get to the North Pole. I heard a cruise ship come in this morning and I got a tremendous idea. What if we hitch the reindeer to the front of a ship and fly it all the way to the factory? I think it just might work.'' "What do you say to that, Randolph?'' cried one of the elves in the room.

"What can I say? It sounds like a splendid idea!'' exclaimed Randolph.

With the aid of her mother, Stella contacted the captain of the ship. At first he was doubtful, but when he asked the passengers, they all seemed perfectly happy to stay in Bermuda for a few more days, all expenses paid. There was much rejoicing with the elves. Now all they had to do was wait for the reindeer to come.

The next day Stella's mother received a telephone call from the customs officials in Hamilton. They said that "the animals'' had been checked over and didn't have ticks or fleas. As long as they were taken overseas again soon they were free to take them back to the hotel. When they went to collect them they were shocked to find that there were no deer waiting for them, but 150 moose! When Stella and her mother took the moose to the elves they all took one look at the poor beasts began to roar with laughter. Holly had not remembered that her cousin wasn't farming deer anymore, but moose. When she realised this, she turned holly berry red with embarrassment. They decided that they would try with the moose anyway and hope to goodness that it would work.

The day had finally come for the elves to leave Bermuda. There were mixed feelings upon leaving. They were unhappy to leave the island paradise that they would have gladly made their home, but they were immensely relieved that they had a chance of finishing their toys almost on time for Christmas Eve.

Stella had been invited to go back with them to the toy factory as a reward for quick thinking and kindness. She agreed wholeheartedly.

An Unconventional Convention The moose were hitched on to the cruise ship with ropes and harnesses borrowed from Spicelands Riding Stables. The elves and all the others going with them boarded and were given cabins for the night. Randolph sprinkled Saint Nicholas's magical dust onto the moose and then onto the ship. The dust shimmered as it reflected the light over the calm ocean. It wisped around the moose and turned their antlers into golden wings.

The ship then rose majestically, with the moose leading it, from the harbour into the air as all the passengers (Stella included) waved from the railings.

It then flew up far into the atmosphere until it was so far away that you could barely see it. At the same moment a beautiful rainbow appeared. What a wonderful sight it was! All the Bermudian children watched in amazement, as sured that they would have a wonderful Christmas after all.

The elves certainly made sure that they would. They were so full of energy after their trip to Bermuda that they were able to work in double-quick time to complete their quota of toys when they arrived back at the North Pole.

Santa's big night went off without a hitch as usual.

Elves still return to Bermuda almost every year. I have heard that they always stay at the Hamilton Princess. One day, you might be lucky enough to spot one on the beach or at the Aquarium. Their pointy ears will always give them away.

Even Randolph comes back for his annual energy boost. There is magic in the air at Christmas in Bermuda.

SHORT STORY COMPETITION CPN