Three Elves on the Shelf
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Christmas is coming, but you don't stop to chat, and you don't put no money in this old man's hat. If you got none extra, well, that'll have to do, but if you're sitting on gold, I'm coming for you. Listen to this flute. Stay tuned. Stay tuned.

When you choose to earn your degree online from Southern New Hampshire University, you're saying yes to new opportunities and to new adventures. You're saying yes to something big, something you've always wanted to do. If earning your degree is one of your goals this new year, SNHU can help you get there. With low online tuition, no set class times, and multiple term starts per year, you can set the pace that works for you and save money along the way. Visit snhu.edu today to get started.

I have a bad dog. I mean, Georgie's a good boy. He's a sweet mutt. Somebody found him wandering around the side of the road. He's just a couple weeks old, missing a leg. So I don't know about his early life. It seems like it was tough, really hard. But whatever happened, it gave him something, some kind of magic power. Because now Georgie refuses to do tricks or anything to come fetch heel. He can't be bothered. Instead, he's

He's got a sixth sense. If you're feeling some kind of way, if you haven't even noticed it yourself, he notices it. Puts his head in your lap, looks directly at you. No screens, no filters. Makes you feel better. So then a little while ago, this dog suddenly starts bringing rocks in the house. Rocks. And I don't want him to hurt himself. So I take the rock from him. I toss it as far as I can. Bad dog. Leave them rocks alone.

But then he's right back in the house with some rock. Georgie! For the love of God. And it takes a while to notice that it isn't rocks that he's bringing in the house. It's a rock. One rock. Doesn't look particularly special. About the size of my palm. Just a rock-colored rock. And it's crazy. I can throw this rock, bury it, hide it, whatever. The dog is going to find the rock. Finally, we just decide. Let the baby have his bottle.

All right, Georgie, the rock stays in the house. And putting this rock in the living room, it seems to make this dog happy, or happier. He's always happy as a clam. And now the dog that won't watch TV or anything will sit and look at this rock for hours. And I don't care about any rock. At least I didn't. But Georgie loves this rock. And I love Georgie. So now I love the rock.

It's become kind of a totem, a charm. I rub this rock for luck. Sometimes I sit right next to Georgie and I look at the rock too. It's nice. In fact, if a thief came in the dark of night and stole away this rock, my family would mourn the loss. Something special, for real. What is going on? I do not know. But Georgie's getting older.

And I just asked the universe to please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please leave this rock exactly where it is. Let's start. Statues, ceramics. Let's meet Lorena. Lorena, she's on vacation down in Mexico with her mother and her sister. They've been checking out some amazing landmarks. With a little bit of time to kill, the tour guide suggests a detour to Huasca.

We're going in the car on a very long straight. The road is uncovered.

We're in the car driving down a long straight dirt road. The sky is turning gray. The trees are covered in moss, creating this archway over the road. Nuestro guía se llama Fernando. Our guide's name is Fernando. He's been driving us around on this private tour. At one point he says, "You should take out your cameras." People often take photos of these trees, hoping to spot elves and fairies.

Okay, this is obviously not true. My sister is just as skeptical. But my mom? She's totally on board. Growing up, she heard a lot of stories about elves. So she pulls out her phone and starts snapping pictures left and right. Por fin llegamos al museo. We finally get to the museum. We enter this little building that looks like a fairytale cottage made out of bricks and wood.

We walk into this huge hall and it's filled with elf dolls. They're on the walls, they're sitting on benches. Some are a foot and a half tall, others just a few inches. Some are plastic, others porcelain. These elves aren't exactly cute. They look like kids with grown-up faces.

They have big ears, wrinkled skin, huge noses. Some wear pointy hats and baggy pants. And their eyes... Their eyes are so expressive. Each elf has a small sign with its story and its name.

One of them is linked to fertility and the guy tells us that people who want to have kids should leave some money in front of it. There's another elf for those struggling with addictions. It's surrounded by cigarettes and a liquor bottle. There's even a guestbook where people leave thank you notes for these elves.

People write things like, thank you for allowing me to go on this vacation. Thank you, because we finally could have a child. And I'm standing there like, ¿Será verdad esto? Is this for real? Cuando ya terminamos el recorrido, hay una tienda de... So we finish the tour and come across this little gift shop. There are keychains, magnets, but also these tiny elves.

about two inches tall. These elves, they are so cute. They look like cereal box toys. They are all holding quartz crystals, with each crystal representing a unique elf power. So we get a red one for my mom, for her health. She had an accident a few years back, and she suffers from anterograde amnesia.

She tends to forget things that happen throughout the day, but holds on to her older memories. For my sister, who just graduated and is job hunting, we pick a green one for prosperity. As for me, I'm doing well at work. Things are good with my partner. So I just choose one for luck.

When you choose to earn your degree online from Southern New Hampshire University, you're saying yes to new opportunities and to new adventures. You're saying yes to something big, something you've always wanted to do. If earning your degree is one of your goals this new year, SNHU can help you get there. With low online tuition, no set class times, and multiple term starts per year, you can set the pace that works for you and save money along the way. Visit snhu.edu today to get started. Covered goals, start to listen.

Cuatro días después, llegamos a nuestra ciudad, a Pasto, Colombia. Four days later, we are back home in Pasto, Colombia. We start unpacking and we take out the elves. I put my elf on a shelf that's in my room. My mom puts hers next to the TV and my sister takes hers to her room. Then my sister says, ¿Les vamos a poner dulces? ¿Les vamos a poner monedas? Let's try giving them some candy and some coins.

So we rummage around for whatever candy we have at home. Recuerdo tanto que era un super coco. I find a super coco. It's a very cheap coconut candy with cream filling. Super sweet. And I just put it under the elf and take a picture. I send the picture to my friend, Tatiana, just to brag about my trip. She replies back, ¿Por qué no me trajiste uno a mí? Why didn't you bring one for me?

Of course, weeks go by and nothing happens. I don't feel any luck here. My sister, she gets a job, but we don't think it's because of the elves. And my mom, well, she eventually walks around the house and grabs the elves' candy and the coins. She just forgot. One day, I'm at work and my sister texts me, asking if I had taken her purse. I'm like, no, no.

Apparently it had a lot of money inside and she had put it on a tall shelf at home. So when I get home, I help her look for it. We look on the shelf, nothing there. We look all around the apartment, nothing. So I tell her: What if we give your elf a coin? Maybe that will help us find it. I'm just joking.

But she puts a coin in front of her elf and says: "Elf, please, let me find my purse." Ten minutes later, we're back searching through the same spot, and... Ahí está. There it was. Right where she had left it. On the top of the shelf. Suelto una risa, pero risa nerviosa. I let out a nervous laugh, but we're like... Maybe we didn't see it before.

It's now the Christmas season. Our tree is up and a cute snowman tablecloth covers our dining table. I'm at home doing arts and crafts for a work contest to see who could make the best nativity scene using only recyclables. My task is the three wise men, so I make one of the wise men figurines with styrofoam and old fabric.

Once I finish, I leave it on my bedroom table and go take a shower. When I get out of the shower, the wise man figurine is not there anymore. My first thought is: I'm home alone, so maybe one of my dogs took it? But that's impossible. We got a fence in the hallway to keep them out of the bedrooms, so I searched the rest of the house.

But this wise man is nowhere to be found. Hmm. This has already happened to my sister and her purse. So I start to toy with the idea of talking to my elf. My elf already had a couple of coins in front of it, about 50 pesos. So I stand in front of the elf and say, Señor duende, por favor, le dije que aparezca mi figura y te pongo un billete.

Mr. Elf, please, bring back my figurine and I will give you more money. I feel so silly talking to the elf. I go back to the living room and start searching everywhere again. But then I turn around and... The wise man is sitting on my Christmas tree, on one of the branches. I'm scared.

This is impossible. It wasn't me. But I go to my room and I put a 2,000 peso bill under my elf. About half a dollar. When my sister and my mom get to the apartment, I tell them what happened. But I try to keep the details light so I don't scare my mom. She just laughs and says, well...

Looks like we did bring some magical elves with us. She wasn't scared at all, but I'm a little spooked because I was alone when it all happened. That's when I start to believe in the elves. I start to feel like they're alive, living in my home. So I just keep giving them treats, just in case. Las siguientes semanas, empecé a volverme más generosa con ellos.

Over the next few weeks, I become more generous. I give them nicer candy, not super cocos, and larger bills. But I'm the only one doing it. My sister never gives them anything. As for my mom, she starts taking the money and the candy again. A few days after the Christmas tree episode, there was a concert by Marco Antonio Solís.

A few days after the Christmas tree incident, there's a Marco Antonio Solís concert. I'm in line with my boyfriend and my uncle. It's almost 7pm. Suddenly, I receive a phone call from one of my aunts. She tells me that my mom's not answering her calls. So, I call my mom. No answer. It's getting late, and my mom usually doesn't go out alone. I start worrying that something might have happened to her.

Or maybe she had some kind of breakdown. Even though she's been living with Amnesia for 8 years. Something like this has never happened. I step out of the line and I leave my boyfriend and uncle behind. When I get home, I start walking around the block. But I don't see her anywhere. I'm starting to panic because it's almost 9. She's been missing for 3 hours.

Estoy desesperada. Y al punto de casi llorar. I'm so desperate that I wanna cry. I'm thinking the worst. Maybe she was kidnapped? Maybe she had an accident? Then, an idea pops up in my head. I mean, this is like my last resort. Cerré los ojos y les hablé a los duendes. I close my eyes and I talk to the elves. Just like how you would pray to God. I say...

Please bring my mom back home. I'll give you a 50,000 peso bill, about $12. That was the biggest denomination in Colombia back then. After praying, I turn around and I head back home. And as I'm turning the corner, I see my mom standing in front of our building.

It happened so immediately. My mom is so calm, as if nothing had happened. I tell her I've been looking for her all night, and she says she wanted to go for a walk, and she didn't hear her phone ringing. But she was okay. We go back to the apartment, and I'm thinking, Thank you, thank you, thank you elves.

I take a 50,000 peso bill, wrap a rubber band around it, and place it gently next to my elf. That's the incident that made me respect the elves more. I'm starting to get a little obsessed. I start leaving more money. 5,000 peso bills, 500 pesos in coins. Llegó un punto en el que yo les hablaba. I'm starting to talk to them.

When I'm alone, I say out loud, No te vayas a llevar mis cosas. Please don't hide my stuff. No vayas a lastimarnos. Please, don't hurt us. Then one day, I'm heading out for drinks with a friend, but I realize I'm out of cash, so my only option is to take the 50,000 peso bill from the elf.

I go up to the elf, look in its eyes and say: I'm gonna take the money but I'll make sure to return it later.

When you choose to earn your degree online from Southern New Hampshire University, you're saying yes to new opportunities and to new adventures. You're saying yes to something big, something you've always wanted to do. If earning your degree is one of your goals this new year, SNHU can help you get there. With low online tuition, no set class times, and multiple term starts per year, you can set the pace that works for you and save money along the way. Visit snhu.edu today to get started.

One night, my boyfriend is staying over at my place. We're sleeping, and suddenly, sentimos un golpe fuerte en la sala. We hear a loud bang in the living room, like someone dropped a chair. I get out of bed to check, but everything looks just as it was, so I just brush it off and go back to bed. The next morning, I'm still kinda half asleep, lying next to my boyfriend.

He stretches out his arm and says: "Mira, look!" "Vi estaba lleno de rasguños pequeños." His arm is covered in these really tiny scratches. These scratches are small and short, like baby fingernails. It looks like someone did it on purpose. I text my sister about the loud bang and the scratches, and she replies with a photo of her arm.

Sus brazos llenos de moretones. Her arm is covered in these tiny bruises, the size of pennies. She says, I don't remember hurting myself. They just showed up this morning. Ahí nos empezamos a asustar. We start to freak out. Sabíamos que eran los duendes. It's the elves. We are sure it's them. My sister says we should throw them away. But something inside me is telling me that...

It can't be that easy. So we call this family friend who's helped us with this type of thing before. He comes over and I show him the elves. He just stares at them for a moment. And then he asks me to put them back in my room. He says, they can't be here with us because they will hear us talking. I'm gonna tell you how to get rid of them. The first thing he says is,

These elves are very powerful. You've been giving them a lot of treats. And then he looks at me and says, actually, your elf is the most powerful because of all the money and candy you've given him. That's the one to blame for everything that's been going on. He says, you bought these elves for a reason.

But if you continue to keep them in your house, they will turn against you. Your mom's health will suffer. Your sister will struggle at work. And you will run out of luck. Estaba asustada. Muy asustada. I'm freaking out. I'm wondering, what if we can get rid of them? What should we do? She says, ¿El secreto para deshacernos de ellos? The secret to get rid of them.

And don't ever repeat this aloud, okay? Vas a buscar una iglesia que tenga dos puertas. You're going to look for a church. And this church must have two doors. One door to enter, another to exit. Los vas a llevar. You're going to take them. And you're going to leave them at the church's entrance. Then you're going to tell them loud and clear so they can hear you.

Por favor, espérenme aquí. Wait for me here. Y yo ya regreso por ustedes. I'll be right back. After that, you're gonna enter the church, pray, and when you're ready, you'll exit through the other door. That night, I text my friend Tatiana. I tell her, Voy a hacer algo y necesito que me acompañes. I need to do something and I need you to come with me.

She asks, "What is this all about?" And I tell her, "It's about the elves." She's not taking me seriously. She just replies, "Well, make sure your elf is not reading your texts." So the next morning I meet up with Tatiana and we head towards the church. I'm carrying the elves in a black plastic bag. We're walking in silence. When we get to the church, there's no one around.

I walked to the front entrance and I placed the bag on the doorstep. I say, Wait for me here. I'll be right back. My friend and I go inside. We sit down and start to pray. At the back of the church, next to the statue of the Virgin Mary, I see the exit door wide open to my right.

I'm praying for the elves to stay so they don't follow me. After a few minutes, we slowly stand up and leave through the exit door. We quickly turn the corner and start speedwalking. I feel agitated, nervous. It's like we're escaping.

Once we are far from the church, I start telling Tatiana the whole story about losing money and losing my mom. She's freaking out. She's like, ¿Cómo la voy a llevar? ¿Hacer algo así? ¿Qué tal si se le hubieran pegado a ella? Why did you bring me here? What if they come with me? What if someone sees them and takes them? I tell her, No sé. I don't know. I just hope people think it's a trash bag and throw it away.

Once we get back to the apartment, I tell my sister and my mom what we had done. My sister looks relieved, but my mom? Well, she laughs at everything. She chuckles and says, "Ay, pobrecitos! Poor little things! Who's gonna take care of them now?" I have never ever gone back to that church. I think that was the first and the last time I have ever been in that area.

Mi miedo era que si yo pasaba por ahí, estuvieran esperándome. I'm scared that if I walk by, they're still waiting for me. Porque yo les dije que me esperaran. Because I told them, I'll be back. Thank you, thank you, Lorena, for sharing your story with the Spook. And do not forget, the next time you're in Mexico, be sure to pay a visit to Amoseo de los Duendes in Huasca.

But please be careful with any souvenirs you may purchase. Lorena's English voice in that story was by Laura Ubatte. The original score was by Nicholas Marks. This piece was scouted and produced by Eric Yanez. Oh, yes. Tears of Season, dear spookster, the winter solstice holds a special place in the hearts of those who seek to understand the shadow. And there are creatures...

entities set to only make their presence known during this season and no other. So if you have a story about such a power, about your relationship with such an entity, I would love, love, love to hear it. I promise to tell only one million of my closest friends, the magical mystical fellowship of spooksters. Let me know spooked snap judgment.org because there is nothing better than

than a spook story from a spook listener. Spooked is brought to you by the team that doesn't give pennies to elves under any circumstances except for Mark Ristich. He's out here, willy-nilly, on these streets, sticking coins into every scary-looking ceramic he can find. Naturally, there's Davy Kim, Zoe Ferrigno, Eric Yanez, Tao Ducat, Marissa Dodge, Miles Lassie, Doug Stewart,

Elliot Lightfoot, Paulina Kriki, Juan Diego Beltran, Sasha Wilson, Dan Yashinsky. The Spook Theme Song is by Pat Lassini Miller. My name is Glenn Washington and we bow before the carved figure sitting on the lotus leaf or the god hanging from a cross or the deity standing at the temple gates. We bow knowing full well this wooden pretense is not our god.

but a vessel that we pour into to remind ourselves of the mystery. So why are we shocked when it happens? It happens often that the figure, the statue we fervently beg for mercy, for hope, justice, healing, for revenge. Why are we shocked when that statue weeps as if an acceptance of the vision we have poured into it? We say,

The mystery has power over all things, but will recoil when it does the smallest thing. Wooden statues, ceramic figurines, totems. If we put something into them, isn't it natural that we also get something back? I don't want to be surprised at how the powers manifest themselves. No, no. I want to be careful. And the best word I know, the very best protection I have, is to never...

ever, never, ever, never, ever, never turn out the lights.

When you choose to earn your degree online from Southern New Hampshire University, you're saying yes to new opportunities and to new adventures. You're saying yes to something big, something you've always wanted to do. If earning your degree is one of your goals this new year, SNHU can help you get there. With low online tuition, no set class times, and multiple term starts per year, you can set the pace that works for you and save money along the way. Visit snhu.edu today to get started.