The Story of Santa Claus

Two weeks 'till Christmas, the North Pole is, in a word, crazy. It's like a winter factory has exploded! Well, maybe that's a little harsh, but there's really no other way to describe it. It's definately not the "Winter Wonderland" that everyone thinks it is. We had a blizzard last week, and some elves are still digging their houses out of snowdrifts.

Being Nick's sister has some benefits. Like having magic of my own. Magic for heating up hot chocolate, and clearing the front walk of snow, not fitting down chimneys and traveling around the world in a night.

So now I'm sitting in Toy Central, sipping a hot chocolate, watching Billy and Fred, Louis and Marc, Jesse and all the other little elves run around, making lists and checking them twice. (Yeah, I bet you thought that was Santa's job. Well, you were wrong!) There's wrapping paper everywhere, and a whole load of letters just came in with what'shisname, mail elf #4. Rolly. There we go. He's my favorite. He's pretty much the trickster of the elves. Today, he dumped a load of snow instead of mail! Needless to say, the elves were not happy.

"Um... Miss?" One shy little elf asked. I don't think she knew what to call me. It's wierd, because I'm not Mrs. Claus, but since I am Santa Claus' sister, and everyone thinks his last name is Claus, I'd be Ms. Claus... but that's all confusing. I really don't have a last name. It's always just been Natalie.

"Yes, dear?"

"Um... Santa told me to give you this note and these letters..." She trailed off, and I smiled.

"Thank you," I said, taking the note and letters from the little elf. I put my hot chocolate down, and unfolded the note from my brother.

'Nat,
I found these... interesting. Tell me what you think.
-Nick'

I turned to look at the letters on the table. The top one was quite thick. The top had already been sliced open, by Nick, I guess. Inside was a long letter and a bunch of photos. This wasn't the first person to send Nick pictures.

Looking through the rest of the letters, I found more of the same; odd things, like cookies in the envelope, or the recipe, for my brother, sugar cubes and carrots for the reindeer. One child had even recorded her Christmas list as a song!

I finished my hot chocolate, called the little waiter elf, and went to find my brother.

As I stepped out of the cafe, another mail load came in. As a part of the roof opened up, I could see that it was starting to snow softly, and the reindeer were running through their take-off routine. I decided to take a detour and visit those reindeer, and then I'd find my brother.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Outside, I could see even more elves running around, cleaning the sleigh, polishing the jingle bells on the harnesses. Some were checking the reins, and others were securing the "sky cover" on the bottom of the sleigh. Even more elves (there's a bunch of those little guys) were helping the reindeer improve their flight. I wandered over to the stalls and fed Malt a few sugar cubes. Malt was one of the newer reindeer. She was chosen to take Cupid's place in a few years.

No one hears about the reindeer changes. Everyone thinks that it's still Dasher and Dancer, and Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen (and, of course, Rudolph). Well, Rudolph, Cupid and Prancer are the only original ones still with a job. They don't die, of course. They're part of Christmas. But they can't fly forever.

Now it's Frosty (named after the snowman, who, by the way, is a nice fellow) and Snowflake, Prancer and Jingle, Sparkle and Cupid, and Star and Ribbon (yes, and Rudolph). I don't know who's going to take Rudolph's place, because not two many reindeer can lead the sleigh, and have a red, glowing nose too!

I finally started getting cold, and my nose was getting as red as Rudolph's. I fed Malt the last sugar cube, and headed inside. I didn't go back to Toy Central though. This time I headed to the N.P.M.C.; North Pole Mail Center. It's where all those letters go from Toy Central.

Now that I think about it, I don't know why the letters get dropped at T.C. I mean, they just go to the N.P.M.C. Why do they have to go to T.C. first? I mentally added that to the list of questions to ask my brother, along with things such as, why elves? I mean, honestly! They're great and all, but they're tiny!

As I stepped into the N.P.M.C., all questions were forgotten. Why? Well, the over-flowing mail bags might have had something to do with it, and then there's the Naughty and Nice List printers being on the blink, and, my brother, sitting on the floor, eating... a cookie... completely oblivious to the... mess... around him.

"HEY!" I shouted, above the music, which, by the way, was being played over the speakers by a group of rowdy elves. "NICK!"

He looked up and blushed. He stood up quickly, well, as quickly as a man with a belly like a bowl full of jelly who's recently been eating a cookie can.

"Hey Nat. I was, um... just taking a break." Mhm. Sure...

"Right. Well, break's over." Nick didn't look two thrilled, so I stepped over to the printers. Out of paper. Nice. I sighed, and re-loaded the paper trays. As I did, I picked up the Top of Both List (it shows the number one from both Naughty and Nice).

Number one-Nice: Cindy Lou Who (Yup, she's real. And an angel.)
Number one-Naughty: Susan Crawford

Well, that was no surprise. Those names hardly ever changed. Cindy was the best, and Susan was the worst. It had been like that for as long as I can remember, and I'm... well, let's not get into age.

It took a little over an hour to get everything straightened up, and to get those darn elves to stop blasting music. When I had finally gotten Nick out of the N.P.M.C., he had to run off and do who knows what. So I decided to visit, Leslie.

You know, Mrs. Claus. Yeah, she rocks.