Multitasker

The orderly toy-making in Santa's Workshop is thrown into a whirlwind by Claire.

Multitasker

          Claire the Elf had a problem. It wasn't that she lacked talent--far from it. She could assemble a teddy bear in under thirty seconds if she focused. The issue was that she never focused. While her fellow elves at Santa's North Pole workshop churned out trains and trolls with monastic dedication, Claire's workbench looked like a battlefield of half-completed toys: a doll with three arms, a teddy bear wearing a rubber duck as a hat, and a yo-yo tangled in Christmas lights.

          "Claire," scolded Eloise, the head elf of toy assembly, her voice like tinsel wrapped around a ruler. "You've started twelve toys this week. How many have you finished?"

          Claire glanced at her bench. "Uh... none? But I've begun twelve! That's a 100% increase from last week!"

          Eloise adjusted her reindeer-print apron. "You're supposed to be the 'amazing' elf, remember? The one who aced Toy Safety 101? Not the one who uses her workshop time to snack on roasted almonds."

          Claire blinked. "I wasn't snacking! I was... strategizing! You need energy to build toys!" She gestured to her workbench, where a plastic spoon now doubled as a drumstick for a mini cymbal set.

          The problem started months ago. Claire had excellent ideas--too many. She'd begin crafting an intricately detailed dollhouse, only to notice a glittering silver star decoration on the wall and decide, on a whim, to invent a new toy: the "Portable Ornament Organizer(TM)." By the time she'd duct-taped a tiny hook to a rubber chicken, a potato-on-a-stick commercial had flickered on the workshop's motivational TV. Suddenly, her brain screamed, "VEGETABLE TRANSFORMATIONS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN DOLLHOUSES." Two hours later, she'd have six potato-on-a-stick replicas, a half-built dollhouse, and a suspicious glint in Eloise's eye.

          Today, the chaos reached new heights. Claire had vowed to finish one toy: a limited-edition robot for Santa's "Most Requested List." She'd just welded its left arm when she spotted something odd through the workshop's arched window--a looming container ship in the river, chugging up the icy river. "What in the name of Rudolph is that doing here?!" she gasped.

          "Imports," Eloise muttered, not looking up from her task of sewing a thousand buttons. "The elves in Logistics thought it'd be 'efficient' to dock the container ship in the river. Silly things. You'd think they'd remember there's no room here for cargo."

          Claire, however, was inspired. She sprinted to her bench, grabbed a spare action figure, and declared, "This needs a 'Ship vs. Yeti' story mode!" She spent ten minutes jury-rigging a cardboard ship from a cereal box, only to remember her robot. Back to that, she said, until the smell of roasted almonds wafted by again.

          "Did someone say almonds?!" she yelped, leaping toward the snack cart. "I need to test a new theory: Can you power a toy train with almond butter?!"

          By 3 PM, Claire's bench was in a war zone. The robot had two heads, the ship had a detachable potato-on-a-stick propulsion system, and the cereal box was now a catapult for Santa's cookies. Eloise found her crouched behind the bench, shouting commands at a rogue strand of lights she'd convinced was a holographic elf.

          "This is unacceptable," Eloise said, arms crossed.

          Claire sighed. "I know. I'm trying to focus. Really!" She pulled out her "focus helper," a list titled Amazing Things:
         Roasted almonds (obviously)
         Silver stars (sparkle = productivity!)
         Container ships (mystery + machinery = double awesome!)

          Eloise scanned it. "You've written 'amazing' next to every entry."

          "Because they are! Look, I'm not your typical elf, but I see connections others don't! Like how a potato on a stick is a medieval spear-meets-snack?!"

          Eloise pinched the bridge of her nose. "Claire. Focus. On. One. Toy."

          That night, as the workshop hummed with the soft clatter of machinery, Claire had an idea. She scavenged her half-finished projects--the robot, the ship, the three-armed doll--and fused them into one bizarre creation: a robot-doll hybrid with a ship for a hat and a potato-on-a-stick lasso. She called it "Santa's Multitasker 3000."

          The next morning, Santa himself trooped in, his beard tangled in holiday cheer. "Elves! I need a new toy that can build a snowman, deliver presents, and explain quantum physics!"

          Claire stepped forward, grinning. "I think the Multitasker can do two of those!"

          Santa peered at her tangled masterpiece. "It's... incredible. It's... a silver star winner!"

          Eloise gaped. "A what?!"

          "Silver Star Awards," Santa beamed. "For toys that are... well, amazing in their uniqueness. This one's a genius mashup! And look, the container ship in the design? That'll sell like hot cocoa!"

          By Christmas Eve, Claire's toy was a hit. The workshop's new line of "chaotic-inventor kits" sold out, and Eloise, though still skeptical, gifted Claire a silver star to pin on her jacket.

          "So," Claire said, twirling the star, "I guess it's okay to be distracted if you just make something weird?"

          Eloise smirked. "Only if you finish one project before Christmas. And
no almond-powered trains."

          Claire saluted. "Yes, ma'am." Then, as Eloise turned, she whispered to her workbench, "Okay, time to build a Yeti vs. Container Ship action figure set..."

          And somewhere, a bag of roasted almonds rustled mischievously.

Word Count: 862
Prompt: Silver Star, Roasted Almonds, Potato on a Stick, Amazing, Container Ship in the River, Eloise