It was getting dark on this December 23rd. Eight-year-old Ben and his sister Mia, two years younger, sat sadly in their small room. It had been barely an hour since their mother had spoken to them in the living room.

Times were hard, the rent had gone up, everything was getting more expensive, and all this now without their father....

Their mother told them that the money would be just enough to buy some food and pay for the heating. There was nothing left over for a Christmas tree or presents, and so Christmas would have to be canceled this year. And so everyone went to bed that day deeply saddened, with no hope for a nice celebration.

Late that night, when silence reigned in the family's small apartment and throughout the house, only very attentive people would have been able to hear the soft voices outside the front entrance.

"Are you sure we are in the right place?"

"Of course! Why do you ask?"

"Well, because it doesn't look like Christmas here at all! Where do we have to go exactly?"

"Wait, I'll look again at the order roll.......Ah here, first floor on the right, small family. Just the mother and two kids."

"Alright, let's take a look."

Quiet scraping sounds from the house wall, a murmur that sounded a bit like curses and an indefinable noise from the direction of the window were heard, then there was complete silence again.

Suddenly again barely audible voices.

"Oh my! It doesn't look like Christmas here at all! We were just supposed to be watching over the Christmas spirit!"

"We have to do something, this is not right at all!"

"But the rules, it's all exactly in the order role......"

"Forget the regulations! This is a Christmas emergency! Come on, we have a lot to do and the night is short!"

And all night there was rearranging, creating and organizing. But nothing could be heard as the two guests used all their skills and arts, and no one in the house noticed anything.

The morning of December 24 dawned, Christmas Eve.

Ben and Mia woke up, and although they had cried themselves to sleep, they were fresh and rested, because they had slept soundly, which was a little surprising. They both got up and went to the kitchen, where they greeted their mother, who prepared a meager breakfast. She hugged her children affectionately and sent them to the living room where they were to set the table.

The moment Ben opened the living room door, he let out a cry of amazement, and when Mia looked past him into the room, tears of joy came to her eyes.

In the middle of the room stood a beautifully decorated Christmas tree, this was hung from top to bottom with golden ornaments, small figures and all sorts of other beautiful things.

Countless lights made the tree shine brightly, and cast a warm light on the numerous packages that lay underneath.

But also the rest of the room was festively decorated, and the living room table almost collapsed under the amount of cakes, cookies, roasts and many other fine foods.

The children's eyes sparkled when they saw all the gifts and Christmas decorations, and their mother was completely speechless.

Then, when they found a memento of their father on the dresser, tears finally came to their eyes. But these were tears of happiness and joy at the blessing that had unexpectedly befallen them.

All the gifts and food would also be enough to get by better, at least in the near future, which greatly reassured the mother of the two children. But first, Ben, Mia and their mother were happy about the saved Christmas.

The two Christmas gnomes watched all this from behind the scenes. They were very happy about the little happiness they had brought to the little family.

"Well, we managed quite well, didn't we?"

"Yes, for one night and only two gnomes, it wasn't bad. Hopefully there won't be any trouble about the rules now."

"Oh, forget the regulations! This was an absolute emergency. Little kids without Christmas! You can't have that!"

"You're right. But it's all good now."

The two gnomes sat arm in arm watching the happy little family, and both had a few tears of joy in their eyes.

"I wish you a Merry Christmas!"

"I wish you the same!"

It was nice to be a Christmas gnome.