Digging out

A busy day.

The snow that Dimmis’ machine made is so dense it’s almost like ice. We’ve had to chip away at it and haul it away in chunks.

We’ve had teams of reindeer busy pulling – something they have not been too happy about!

We’ve also had to be careful because if we cut the snow wrong, some of it could collapse on buildings.

While we were working on the snow, Eomar came to me.

“Dimmis is waiting at the airfield,” he said. “He has a packed bag.”

I went to the airfield.

The minute Dimmis saw me, he started to cry.

“Don’t worry, Santa,” he blubbered. “I’m leaving. I’ll never cause another problem.”

“Problem?” I said. “Why, you made a wonderful machine. I’ve never seen such lovely snow.”

“But I’ve almost buried the village.”

“Nonsense,” I said. “We’re getting it cleared away. But, to be honest, we can use more help.”

“I could get my digging machine,” he said, brightening.

“Well…” I said. “I’m sure it would do well under normal circumstances. But, ah, what we have here is a delicate operation. We need your careful touch.”

“Careful?”

“Of course. I’ve seen some examples of your paint work. Very delicate. We need that for this operation.”

“I guess I could help,” he said, picking up his bag, grinning from ear to ear.

An hour later, he was busy cutting away at the snow.

And he was doing a fine job of it.

Without machines!