Elmo. The cute puppet that everyone wants. But when we think of him we also think of something else. Forget it, we tell ourselves. Why? You may ask. One word. Gone. Forever? Maybe. Returning? Could be.

But before I continue, there is something you must know. That thing is called The Story of Elmo.

The Story of Elmo begins one or two years ago. One talented Whyvillian made him. The cute puppet named Elmo. So why is he gone? I'll tell you why. He began to expire. The creator of Elmo hasn't signed on for years. Or have they?

Elmo has been gone for as long as I remember. Many whyvillins feel there is no hope for him returning. Now they may think that way. I don't know if they are right or wrong. Everyone has a theory on how he could return. My opinion? In awhile the very few people (a number probably under 15) has the last original Elmos. So if those people don't have Whypasses he will continue to expire.

To get some more information on Elmo, I interviewed three owners of Elmo: chad1092, hotypoo, and soccer172. Here is what they had to say.

Ashley409: How much did you pay for Elmo?
chad1092: 6.5k before they were restocked twice.
hotypoo: 2k.
soccer172: 4.5k.

Ashley409: I've seen people with another Elmo, such as one with a scarf. Do you think people are making more Elmos?
chad1092: No, people just make accessories for him.
hotypoo: Yes, different colors.
soccer172: No, he's copyrighted.

Ashley409: If so, are people paying as much for the new ones as the old ones?
chad1092: No.
hotypoo: I'm not sure.
soccer172: No.

Ashley409: Do you think Elmo will ever return?
chad1092: Yes, most likely he will get restocked again.
hotypoo: Hard to say, maybe in a year?
soccer172: Definitely not.

Obviously, Elmo is very special to Whyvillians. But I must bring your attention to what chad1092 said in the first question. That last part, before he was restocked twice. He was restocked?!

Also, take another look at question two. Hotypoo said yes, but in different colors. Reader, there are many secrets behind Elmo. One that was mentioned in the interview. Most Whyvillians think he just ran out and expired, with only a few left. But is that what really happened?

Doing this article, I needed information on Elmo. So I thought, what better place than the Times archives? I looked up Elmo. The first page of things were amazing, fashion articles about him, even one called, "I'm in Love With a Puppet." I clicked next page.

One article stood out to me. It was by Akbar, article 4685. Why would that include the word "Elmo?" I thought. So without hesitation I clicked on it. Scanning through it, I saw it it was a list of face part rules (which I should have known in the first place, considering it was called Face Part Rules, part 4.) So all along I had always thought he expired and ran out. But readers, I was wrong. Because in one of the last paragraphs it explained how they couldn't let things like Elmo be in the face factory. Why? One word. Copyrighted. So, does that mean that he was taken off Akbars' shelves because he was copyrighted?

Okay, so now readers, we know it's very possible that he's gone because he's copyrighted. But wait, why are people allowed to make new Elmos? The answer, in the interview. He's been made with a scarf, in real life he doesn't have a scarf. He's been made in different colors, the real Elmo isn't blue, or pink.

So there are many reasons that Elmo is almost gone. Possibly even secrets about him that we don't even know about. But readers, that is yet to be seen.

This is ashley409, doing spell check.
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