Chasing Santa

Chapter 3

~Point of view from Charlie, or 'the boy that copies Maggie'~

I woke up at the same time as the other kid, the girl. We were both wrapped around each other, and this would've been awkward if we weren't related. We untangled after a series of 'hey!'s, and 'excuse me!'s, all done by that twin. I believe she was trying not to be rude.

So with that done, we turned to the Santa man for instructions. We had stopped on the middle of nowhere, we were just sitting atop a snow pile, waiting for nothing. Then Santa pulled out a remote from his shirt pocket and pressed a round button with white trim on it. There were a series of five buttons, each had a different surrounding color. White, red, green, yellow, and blue.

When the button was pressed, he put the remote back in his pocket and pulled a lever on the sleigh, causing the entire thing to sink. We went right through the snow, and I tried to scream but my throat was too raw. I expected the snow to suffocate me, but we went down a few inches before emerging into a underground room. Me and the girl (her name is still unknown) jumped right out of that thing, and the girl stumbled and fell. She must not have been used to the ground after all that flying. I almost fell, but I caught myself just in time. To be more specific, I grabbed the sleigh to steady myself.

Santa came and patted my back, the pressure caused me to nearly fall again.

"Ho ho ho!" That's the sound he made when he laughed. He grasped the girl's arm and pulled her upright again, and he steadied her before moving on.

"Well, here we are!" He exclaimed and put his hands on his hips, and we went over to the open balcony he stood on and gapped in awe.

This wasn't a room, it was a city.

The little houses and floors were covered in snow, and the trees were tall and poofy, also covered in snow. The roofs were either angled or in a cone shape. The houses were colored with red and green, with an additional color to add to the atmosphere. Everything was colorful, with no black anywhere. If there was it would seem out of place in here, it would be too dull. Little people filled the streets, and some where carrying items with them. Like briefcases, and tools.

Santa sighed and looked at the village.

"Look at those little elves go," he muttered, then in an even quieter tone he added "I really should give them some time off." Then he paused for a second.

"Ok, time to go!" He clapped to get our attention and turned to the wall, going into a large brown door. We had no choice but to follow him. We entered the door and found ourselves in a stairwell that crossed back and forth in a small space. We finally made it to the bottom and went into another door. Now we were in the village.

Little, 'elves', as he called them, poured over to us, talking to Santa. He silenced them and said to get back to work, and that he would be sending out something on tv, on 'What's Your Christmas'. It sounded like a weird title to me. Apparently Santa is a big thing here.

He continued to lead us farther down in the town, towards the back of the underground town. We approached so close to the wall, I thought that's where we were going. But instead we entered a big building that looked connected to it. We walked into a room that looked like a waiting room. It had a secretary in the corner and large doors on the sides. I even saw some restrooms.

Santa went right past the secretary, I assumed it was because he owned the place anyway. We went up some short-heightened stairs, that were very widely placed. It stretched up a long ways, and them separated at the two sides. We didn't enter either of them, and went straight, then entered an elevator.

It was pretty decent sized, and we all went in with our own space. Santa went over to the end and fiddled with the buttons for a second. It was amazing how many floors there were! So far the highest number I saw was 21. He clicked the 12 floor button, and we zoomed to the right floor. It was a little too fast for me and the girl, but Santa seemed used to it. He looked rather bored actually.

The doors pulled open with a dinging sound, and we stepped out. What we first saw was a very big room. It was worth three normal stories, all connected to one. We were on a balcony that wrapped around the 12th floor, and little people were scrambling about with little trinkets in their hands. Santa went over and grabbed a checklist from a waiting person on the side. This must have been expected. We went through the floor before heading down to the next. We were able to see the entire place by the time he was done.

"Sorry kids," he apologized "this just has to be done before we go to my office."

"That's ok." The girl said sweetly. I didn't say anything.

Santa finally finished the sheet and gave it to another little man waiting for him. Then we went back to the elevator and he pressed yet another button, 20. I looked at the buttons again and found a new highest number of 32. This thing must be going up to a mountain. The elevator jerked to life and we flopped around until we managed to grasp the hand bars on the side. Couldn't this elevator be adjusted?

The doors opened with the same ding as before, and we found ourselves to a hallway. Santa took us down the hall and around a corner. A man came running around to meet us, and he turned to walk side by side to Santa as we walked.

"Santa," he said urgently "we have some problems."

"I'm listening, Simon."

"Ok, the bears department found a reindeer earring the fluff storage, and they suppose he was on medicine for the training. We have a small amount left, but we might not have enough for this years Christmas presents. And the action figures department found an all of a sudden change in demand- we need more wrestling figures this year. We have half the staff working on the new product, and we need more supplies. We only supplied enough for the calculated amount a month ago. And-"

"That's ok, Simon. We can fix those things easily."

"But Santa," he glanced back at us uncertainty. Santa sensed the urgency in his words and stopped. The girl wasn't paying attention, so she ran right into him. She blushed and stepped back. Santa didn't notice, and he bent down very far so the person could whisper in his ear. Having Santa bend down like that really showed me how short these people are. They only go up to his boot! The little man whispered in his ear.

Santa looked a little startled at this mysterious news, but he tried to cover it up and move on.

We arrived at the last door on the hall and went in side. Santa and the little man went right to their spots quickly, while me and her stood in the doorway.

"Come on in," Santa called out to us. The small man hadn't looked at us at all since we saw him. Even when he 'looked at us uncertainly' he didn't really look at us, his eyes just flickered in our direction. We sat on two chairs that I swear weren't there earlier, and the small man finally made contact with us.

"Hey, Maggie and Charlie." He greeted us somewhat solemnly.

And the funny part is, I didn't even know I had a name. What's weird was that it was familiar, and he knew my name, the one I didn't even know.