The Frontida and the Kevastis

Two hundred elves were having lunch amid the icy lands of Antarctica. I was sitting with Ross and Ellis, my best friends. Through the centuries, all elves have got along well. But my friendship with Ross and Ellis was so special that it was considered the epitome of friendship in our community. It wasn’t normal for us to have such a quiet lunch. But the atmosphere was so tense even Ross couldn’t joke.

“A reindeer is flying toward us,” someone said.  

“I think we should allow him to come,” I replied calmly and looked around for affirmation; an elf never made a decision alone. Ross and Ellis gave me encouraging looks.

“What if it’s a trick, Curtis?” Silas asked.

“We are not at war, Silas. This is a disagreement between brothers,” Ellis answered.

Silas scoffed but didn’t argue further.

 

I looked up at the reindeer"he was my hope. The elf community was dived into two groups: The kevastis, who use their magic to convert the wood of the apsito trees into presents, food, or other items of need, and the frontida, the care-takers of the reindeer and the apsito trees. We neither die nor are new elves born.

Three days ago in a meeting of all elves, I had suggested that the frontida should get holidays at Christmas and Easter. Living forever, working without holidays makes you tired and irritated. I had no idea that my suggestion would be the cause of such a huge dispute. The kevastis argued that the reindeer require constant care so we had to work every day. In the argument that followed someone said that the kevastis are superior to the frontida and only they were entitled to holidays. Greatly offended, we walked out. We made shelter in a clearing in the woods and had been staying there for the past three days. For the first time in elf history there was a divide, not of labors, but of spirit.

 My thoughts were interrupted when Silas handed me an envelope.

“The reindeer delivered a letter. Read it out loud, Curtis.”

I simply nodded.

 

To the frontida,

We are sorry for the harsh and incorrect statement made by one of us. Let us discuss and find a solution to your demands. Tomorrow is Christmas. Presents have to be delivered this night, and we cannot do it alone. We need your help. Let us end this dispute now. Please come to the discussion hall as soon as possible.

Your brothers,

The kevastis

 

“We should go,” I said after I had finished reading the letter.

Sounds of protest came from the crowd immediately. “Let me finish first, then you can speak one by one,” I pleaded to no avail. Ellis was the clever one amongst us; he waved his hands until the message “SILENCE! Let Curtis finish!” appeared out of thin air. That indeed got everyone’s attention. Simple elf magic could have such a great effect!

 

I continued speaking, “Their letter clearly says that they do not consider themselves superior to us. They have apologized. How will we live here forever without them? We cannot even make food as well as they do. We live to give presents to humans at Christmas. We can’t give that up. So the frontida and kevastis have to live together. We will get holidays; I will not compromise on that. What else do we want? Those who wish to speak may raise their hands.”

Many hands went up. I asked one of them, Morris, to speak.

“They are calling us just because it is Christmas and they need us.”

“True. They need us, but we also need them, Morris. We have to accept that.”

“Don’t you see, Curtis? They do not respect us!” Chris said.

“They seem quite amicable and respectful in the letter. We need to hear them out. Let us at least listen to what they have to say and tell them exactly what our problems are. Without proper communication nothing is going to work.”

After a great deal of effort on my side everyone agreed to go, though many of them were still unsure.

 

We received a warm welcome when we reached the discussion room, a gesture that showed the kevastis were truly sorry.

Once we were all settled, Reuben, one of the kevastis, stood up to speak.

“Thank you for coming. We understand your need for a break from work, but we can’t leave the reindeer without care. We have given this a lot of thought and finally came up with a solution. You may form two groups. One can go on holiday while the other works.”

This was followed by murmurs. I sighed as I looked around. Some frontida seemed to consider the option while other faces had a look of dissent.  I immediately turned to Ellis, who was sitting beside me. He seemed uncertain.

“Curtis, half of us doing so much work will be difficult, really difficult. Morris and others will obviously disagree. What do you think?” Ellis asked.

“I agree. Also the frontida get holidays once in two years while the kevastis get a holiday every year. It doesn’t sound fair enough.”

Ellis nodded.

 

I stood up to speak, but before I could begin, a group of fifty kevastis marched into the hall. Their approach was aggressive, like that of an angry mob.

“You were not invited over here,” Reuben shouted at them. His face was white, as if all of the blood had been drained from his cheeks.

Chaos followed and I couldn’t make out what the group was saying. The sound of shattering glass was deafening"someone was using magic to break all the windows one by one. Tables and chairs were being smashed too"there was destruction everywhere.  For a few moments I was completely stunned.  None of us had ever used magic in such a violent manner. I immediately began to rebuild every broken window. Others soon joined me.

“This isn’t going to work,” Ellis pointed out, and he was correct. They would continue to break things as quickly as we could repair them.  It would never end.  “Make a shield,” Ellis said.  I instructed the others on what had to be done and we soon made a powerful shield around the group, preventing any magical attack. The whole place was a perfect pandemonium. We waited, using all our strength to keep the shield intact while Reuben tried to regain control.

“This will not be tolerated! Why have you used magic in such a manner?” Reuben asked, his jaw clenched.

Glenn spoke up. “Reuben, we tried a peaceful approach but that did not give us your attention. What you are trying to do here is wrong! Changing such an old system is a sin! God has given us the gift of immortality and magic because of the way we function, and we should never change that. It is selfish of the frontida to ask for holidays! They are showing disrespect to the gift of magic by putting their want of personal luxury before the need of humans. They are abandoning their reindeer.”

I lost my patience.

“What we are asking for is no sin, but misusing magic in such a violent manner most certainly is! Holidays are our need and not a luxury. Even we need to relax sometimes!” I retorted.

“Do you have any idea what the consequences will be if you get this ‘need’ met?! The Reindeer might fall ill.”

“We will work in case of such an emergency.”

“Why do something which might cause an emergency? Why this need of holidays all of a sudden?”

“Because for centuries we have been working, working, and only working. With the growth of human population our work has increased tremendously.”

“Yes, human population has grown, the very reason we have no time for holidays.”

I sighed. Trying to convince Glenn would be futile.

“This argument has no end. We should vote,” I said.

“That is the way human society works, not ours,” said Reuben, who had been watching our exchange silently.

“That is because this is our first dispute. We have appreciated this new method human society uses to make decisions,” I pointed out.

“We are a minority over here,” Glenn pointed out.

“But you have put forward your opinion and others may vote for it.” I didn’t give him a chance to reply. “Let us vote. Glenn says no holidays for the kevastis. I say the kevastis and frontida get holidays every alternate year. The kevastis can take care of the reindeer when we are not there. This is a solution fair to all.”

“I say the kevastis form two groups. One can go on holiday while the other works,” Reuben said.

Then we voted. Almost half of the elves were kevastis so I knew we had a fair chance of losing. I prayed silently.

Elf voting was conducted very differently from human voting; the votes were magically tallied and displayed on a board for everyone to see. I read the result: 58 supported Glenn, 245 supported me and 217 supported Reuben.

“We did it!” I exclaimed. Ross and Ellis were beaming. The frontida were celebrating. I turned toward Reuben whose face remained impassive. Glenn and his group had walked out of the hall. I hoped they would eventually accept the results.

Unfortunately, we had no time to celebrate in a proper way. Arrangements were made for the frontida to leave Antarctica, immediately. We had presents to deliver. This was my favorite part of the year, flying on reindeer backs and secretly putting the presents in place, knowing that it would make kids smile. The high temperature was always a bit uncomfortable, but we enjoyed Ross’ ongoing jokes and even our stupid fights.

When we had delivered everything, we raced back home. Ross won as usual. I wished I could ride as fast as he. Tired from the journey, the frontida went to bed while the kevastis woke up and prepared a Christmas feast.

I was woken up by Ross and Ellis shouting, “Merry Christmas!” in my ears. We got ready and went to the Great Hall. Elves usually wore bright colors. We had adopted the human tradition of wearing red at Christmas.

The Great hall looked mesmerizing. The walls were lined with red and white flower bouquets. Flowers in Antarctica are unusual, but elf magic can do miraculous things. A huge Christmas tree stood on the left, and a mouthwatering feast had been placed in the middle of the room. On the sides were many round tables with lit candles placed at the center. The chairs surrounding the tables were covered with white cloth and red bows. To the right there was a stage.

Before we ate there was a ceremony where Ken read parts from the ‘Istoria.’ It is a book which describes how God had blessed us with magic and immortality to help human beings.  It also described the consequences of misusing this power.

Once Ken was done we loaded our plates with food and took a table. The food was amazing. Elves came to our table and either thanked or congratulated me. Reuben stood on the stage and announced, “A toast to unity of elves and holidays for all!”

After the meal we all began to sing carols, but Ross pulled me and Ellis out of the hall.

“What? I was having fun,” I said with irritation.

He didn’t reply but smiled handed me something like a pole. It was a red flag with the image of an elf on it.

I raised my eyebrows. Ellis gave me a look that said he knew nothing.

“See that?” Ross pointed to one of the glaciers. “It is the tallest glacier. I want to put this flag at its top. You’ll come, right?”

“Obviously! You can’t have all the fun, Ross.”

Ross beamed. “Um, Curtis? Thank you.”

“For what?” I asked, taken aback. Ross never used words like ‘sorry’ and ‘thank you.’

“My dream is coming true. Thanks for this Christmas holiday.”

Reviews

[Praveeta]

I liked how you have showed reasoning to solve argument between two groups of elves. Also, creating a story around Christmas is all part of sharing Christmas spirit.

[Khushi]

Thank you! Its good to know that you liked it.

[Praveeta]

My pleasure.