santa's list

santa drew up his list of who should and who should not get presents. he was undecided about the heffen's as they seemed not to parade in the colour he wore.
never in red but always in blue and, besides, they never drank the water so how would they shine.
he drew a line through their name on the page.

yellow paper
yellow paper

next he looked at the kotaloc's who sang loudly and displayed their colours proudly on their chests. peacock proud but green. the wrong colour thought santa and besides they sing too much and far too loud and their perfumery smells like old pond water. no shine at all.
he drew a line through their name on the paper.

ancient paper

then he looked at the jozation's the tribe from way back dark who fled the palace with dark robes of purple and hues that fell on balding heads. they wouldn't eat and they wouldn't drink unless the sun shone on monday's and the rain fell on wednesdays. a good people but confused by minor detail. they dressed in purple and that would never do.
he drew a line through their name on the paper.

greasy. folded. parchment.
grey paper.
old paper.

finally he came upon the blessed breed who grew cattle and thought trains that ran over long plains and over tall mountains. they drank the blood of royal jelly and forsook all efforts of televisual news to corrupt their minds from the ideal waters that lapped at their feet. they dressed in red and this seemed good to him. very good indeed and so he took to watching them even when they slept.
he drew a circle around their name on the sheet of paper.

he called the paper max.