Rhyming Crime

Waldo Elf wandered through the streets of the North Pole, carrying a small spoon and a very large dish. He was finishing off the last bit of his world-famous strawberry-and-mustard pudding. He had made a big batch to bring to the Thanksgiving Day dinner, and now he was finishing off the last bit of the leftover pudding. As he strolled along, he sang the song that he wrote for last week's North Pole's Got Talent! contest. Because he didn't stop eating while he was singing, his voice was a little muffled and sticky.

"Santa Claus (burp) is my buddy!" sang Waldo. "He is (chomp) not a fuddy-duddy!" He wiped his lips with his sleeve, and continued. "I like you more than (urrp) strawberries and mustard! I like you more than fish sticks and (smack) custard!"

"Don't sing with your mouth full, Waldo," said Jiller Elf, as she walked up to him. Waldo swallowed, wiped his mouth, and started to sing again. "I've thought it through..." "On second thought, don't sing at all," said Jiller. "How are you doing, Waldo? Where are you going?"

"I'm going to go help Holly Elf wrap presents!" said Waldo. "There's so many kids on Santa's Nice list this year that there's lots more presents to wrap."

"Make sure you wash your hands before you start wrapping," said Jiller.

"Wait, " said Waldo. "Do you hear that? Someone's singing!" Jiller listened, and could faintly make out the sound of a group of elves singing. The tune was familiar. "That's my tune!" said Waldo. "They're singing my song!" Waldo giggled. "I knew it was a catchy tune! I'm glad others like it too!"

Around the corner came Teema Elf and a group of young Elves. They were carrying presents to the wrapping room. As they walked along, they sang Waldo's song, but the words were changed slightly:

< i>"I love you more than strawberries and mustard!" they sang. "I love that, cuz my brain is busted!" And then they all laughed!

"Hey!" said Waldo, angrily. "That's not how it goes!"

Jiller scolded the young elves. "That's very rude!" she said. "Why are you singing like that?" A young elf pointed at Teema. "She started singing it," The young elf giggled. "It's funny!"

"I heard some other Elves singing it, so I thought I'd sing it too," said Teema with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Well, it's not funny," said Jiller. "It's rude to Waldo, and you should stop singing it." She turned to Waldo. "I'm sorry about that," she said.

"Me too," said Waldo. "'busted' doesn't rhyme with 'custard.' If it did I would have used it!

Why were the Elves making fun of Waldo? Will Waldo make more Strawberry-and-Mustard pudding? Keep reading the North Pole Times to find out!