O' Christmas Tree

Chapter 18- Boston, 1990

"Holy jingle bells!"

"Ah, you really didn't think I was just gonna disappear, did you?" Dad questioned as I looked over in surprise.

"What in the world is that?" Santa asked.

"It's my new ride," Dad explained.

"Doesn't exactly scream aerodynamic," Santa remarked. "What do you call those?"

"It's my team of jackalotes," Dad yelled.

"Jack-a-what?" Santa questioned.

"Jackal and coyote hybrid. My creation. Pretty cool, huh?" Dad explained.

"They're a long way from cool. But, you are clever, Belsnickel. I'll give you that. Just not clever enough to beat me," Santa said, laughing.

"Wanna bet?" Dad questioned, ramming his sleigh into ours.

My hands slipped, and the star fell from the sleigh. Santa chased after it. I tried to use my powers, but it was too much. We slowed down as Dad dove faster. He caught the star, cheering victoriously.

"Why did we stop? What's going on?" Kate questioned.

"I don't know. There's something wrong with my instruments. I gotta do something, fast! We need to get that star back from Belsnickel!" Santa said before we were sucked into a portal.

Green swirled around us, making Kate scream. We ended up in a stormy sky. Kate clutched onto me.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"You mean when are we? Look!" Santa said, pointing at the instruments.

Boston, 1990. "I think somehow we've gone back in time."

"Back in time?" Kate questioned.

"Wait a minute. Boston. Logan International Airport, Christmas Eve. It's not good," Santa realized.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Well, during the holidays, airports have some of the lowest Christmas Spirit in the world. Right now, this one's at... seven percent, and dropping," Santa explained.

"Well, what happens if Christmas Spirit gets down to zero?" Kate asked.

"The reindeer won't be able to fly at all. Now, look at them. They're exhausted. All right. Hold on tight. I'm gonna have to bring her down. Now, this... this might get a little rough," Santa warned.

Kate held onto me as we flew around signs. We barely missed an airplane ready to take off. The reindeer collapsed when we hit the ground, moaning their complaints.

"Are they gonna be okay?" Kate asked.

"This is worse than I thought," Santa said, jumping down from the sleigh.

I jumped down, then helped Kate out. "Oh, no."

"What?" I questioned worriedly.

"We just opened a tear in the fabric of time. Those wormholes won't stay open for long," Santa explained.

"How much time do we have?" I said, determined to fix things.

"Eleven, twelve minutes at the most. Which means if we don't get Christmas Spirit up soon..." Santa trailed off.

"We're stuck here forever," Kate finished, panic filling her eyes.

"That's not going to happen, Katie. We're going to get back up there and fix things," I assured her.

"Bingo! There's the guilty culprit, right here," Santa said, taking a round thing off the sleigh.

"What is it?" Kate asked.

"Santa, can I see that?" I asked.

"Sure, but I don't think it'll do anything," Santa sighed, tossing it to me.

I smiled. "You know something, don't you? Do you know what to do with it?" Santa questioned.

"I know how to build one of these in my sleep. I used to take these apart and put them back together when Dad wasn't home. I just need to figure out what he improved," I explained.

"Perfect. Come on," Santa said.

We walked into the airport, and I practically felt the depressed atmosphere. I opened up the Time Twister. I expected some intricate motherboard that created a power board.

"Triple-A batteries," I sighed.

"Only Belsnickel could power a time machine with triple-As. All right, let's see what I've got here," Santa said, pulling out some batteries and handing them to me.

"These won't work. They're expired," Kate noticed.

"What?" Santa sighed. "That's all I've got."

"I'll go look in the gift shop," I decided.

"Yeah, good thinking. All right. You go get 'em and then meet me right back here. All right?" Santa instructed, and I nodded.

I picked out a set of four Triple-A batteries and placed them on the counter. I placed a five-dollar bill next to the batteries. The woman snorted.

"Is this some kind of joke?" the woman asked. "Is this monopoly money?"

"No, that's real," I said, smiling.

She scoffed. "This is the worst counterfeit job I've ever seen. It says 2020."

"Oh," I said, realizing my mistake.

"I bet they won't even be using paper money in thirty years," the woman said.

"Right. My mistake, sorry," I blurted.

"Hey, you gotta pay for those batteries," the woman said as I backed up.

"What's goin' on here, young lady?" an officer asked, startling me. "Where are your parents?"

"I'm eighteen, sir. I'm traveling alone," I explained.

"Can I see your boarding pass, please?" the officer asked.

I searched my pockets, patting them and coming up empty-handed. "I must've dropped it somewhere."

"You know what, why don't you come with me?" the officer asked, grabbing my wrist.

"No, sir, please," I begged.

"Look, kid, you got no ticket, no parents. For all I know, you could be a runaway, or worse, a felon," the officer explained.