20/05/2026
🎄 **Chinny the Elf & the Chinchilla Show** 🎄
The showgrounds glowed, the Ferris wheel strobed across the Queensland sky and Chinny the Elf; five inches of festive menace was over the fence before you could say *show bag*.
He hit the fairy floss stand first. Four bags, inhaled in three minutes. His eyes went unhinged. His legs started moving independently. He ran a full lap of the pavilion at a speed that left several adults questioning reality.
Then he found the Pluto Pup van and ordered thirty. The woman behind the counter had seen a lot of things at country shows. Chinny demolished the lot with the focused intensity of someone making terrible decisions and feeling great about it He wiped the mustard on his Christmas hat and headed off to explore the Chinchilla Show.
The Art Pavilion door was propped open. Inside, children's prize artworks hung neatly on boards — watercolours, pastels, crayons, all ribboned and proud. A full tin of acrylics sat unattended on the table.
Chinny cracked his knuckles. Both of them.
Five minutes was all it took. Every single artwork had been improved (in Chinny's professional opinion). Newly painted selfies! The prize-winning horse now had a triumphant elf riding it. The family farm portrait featured Chinny and Fairy Floss. The parents and kids were horrified! The sunset painting now had a five-inch silhouette on the horizon looking genuinely magnificent. He signed each one in the bottom right corner. *"C. The Elf. 🎄"* The lettering was very neat.
He put the brushes back and walked out like a man who had contributed meaningfully to the cultural life of the Chinchilla district.
The dodgem cars were next. Wedged behind the steering wheel, he spent eight minutes terrorising every driver on the rink, executed a three-car pileup in the far corner, then disappeared leaving only a faint smell of pine.
Then the Sky Swing. This was, in hindsight, a catastrophic decision. Thirty Pluto Pups and four bags of fairy floss do not mix well with thirty feet of altitude and a pendulum arc. One man near sideshow alley claimed it rained on him despite clear skies. He did not elaborate.
Chinny straightened his hat, walked directly to the ring toss and on his twelfth attempt landed a perfect shot around the centre peg. He pointed at the giant stuffed unicorn. The teenage operator had no choice. Chinny dragged it away on his back, leaving a furrow in the dust.
They found the unicorn at the front gate the next morning with a note. *"Merriest Show ever, Chinchilla. Better luck next year. — C"*
In the Art Pavilion, the volunteers arrived to find every painting still ribboned, still beautiful and now featuring a grinning five-inch elf in every single scene. The girl who'd painted the prize-winning dog studied hers for a long moment.
*"Mum. I think my painting is better now."*
A trail of glitter led out the gate, down Zeller Street, and simply stopped. Gone. Into the warm Queensland night.
*Until Christmas.* 🎄✨🧝♂️
Chinny The Elf MWAH
Chinchilla Show Society Western Downs Queensland Western Downs Libraries
