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By J A KAY
Santa was drowning in the newspapers landing on him , they were flying in from all around the world , even his new-fangled elf smart phone jingled in alarm showing the same headlines .
The news read ,” Christmas is Cancelled !”
Not since the last greatest war had Christmas been threatened like this . Some headlines on the tackier tabloids read , “ A Crappy Covid Christmas for All ”, and the financial paper read , “ Starve a Kid to Save a Quid .”
Evil had finally won the war ; it had taken control of all the governments in the world . No one believed in magic and the power of good anymore . The joy meter in front of Santa showed a new all time low . Without the joy and wonder produced by the children then the magic was depleted , it was a catch 22 , you could not have one without the other .
Even the weather on Earth had turned against Santa , instead of blowing with him all the weather fronts were blowing towards the north pole preventing his sleigh from leaving .
Santa looked out of his large bay office window overlooking the workshop of his elves . Normally they would all be laughing , singing and dancing with each other as they made all the toys for the children tapping the raw materials with their tiny magical hammers .
Today they were all slumped at their workstations asleep on the job their heads resting on their fore arms . Some were crying , others cuddling another elf for comfort , their tears were falling as snowflakes to the ground . The few who were older and more determined continued to work but they struggled to hold their tiny magical hammers in a limp grip . When they managed to hit the magical material to create that special doll or toy train it turned into a lump of coal .
The elves were very empathic and felt the great depression experienced by all the people in the world . The children could not visit their grandparents to give them a kiss and cuddle , they could not visit on Christmas day to uplift that ‘ Special ’ present Santa had left there for them .
Santa was not immune to the grief and despair around him but he had prevailed before and was determined to again . But the challenge was beyond him to resolve on his own . He called his chief administration elf to him .
“ Call an emergency council meeting of all the magical creatures ,” his voice boomed .
“ What all of them ?” the elf squeaked , “ even the easter bunny and the tooth fairy ?”
“ All of them !” an irate Santa replied .
The vast workshop was the only space large enough to accommodate the large number of magical creatures as they began to pop into existence . The workshop elves had already lost the battle and were lying in the corners starting to pass into the great sleep .
The first to arrive were the fairies , they had survived better than most hiding and preserving their magical lore deep in the bowels of the planet . The next to arrive were the tooth fairies followed by the easter bunnies . They were still believed in by the children and retained their magical power .
The next caused quite a stir and soaked all around her causing many to flee out of the way . She was a good friend of Santa and had been on the planet as long as him . Nessie was very wise and her counsel would be much appreciated .
Unicorns , mermaids , trolls , gnomes , imps , pixies , dwarfs , goblins , wood elves , snowmen , a few leprechauns , the sandman and a haggis appeared until the workshop was full to overflowing .
Santa opened the large office bay window and stood facing out at eye level with Nessie to address the magical and great invincible council ( M . A . G . I . C ). The sleeping workshop elves began to stir with all the noise and excitement in the room as all the different forms of magic mixed together . All the creatures including Santa bathed in the magical glow , feeding off it , rejuvenated .
The workshop elves had felt elfless , but no more as they began to sing and jump about chanting , “ Santa , Santa , Santa .” They felt elftastic now , their elf-restored .
Santa raised his hand for silence and spoke , “ I know some of you don ’ t get on and have had conflicts with each other in the past . If we are all to survive , we must work together now to defeat our common enemy . I know you can do it , you did before when the last war threatened mankind . Without the human ’ s imagination we cannot thrive and will cease to exist . No more stories will be written about us . The world will become dull and lifeless , despair will win . We cannot let that happen ! I need all of you to return and remind the humans of our existence . A few appearances will help , Nessie is an expert at this , take your lead from her . Sandman redouble your efforts and let them dream about us . We must let the adults as well as the children know we are still here !”
The council burst into cheering , Santa was right , he was always right , and it would be fun appearing to them again , they had been hiding for too long .
Santa waited until the noise calmed down and spoke again , “ I will be revealing myself for the maximum effect , this new breed of human only believes what they see on their phones and computing devices . I will visit Scottishjakay who has helped me in the past . The children where he stays in the village of Kilmaurs have saved Christmas before . You all know what to do , lets do it , and save Christmas and ourselves !”
All the creatures began popping and vanishing from the workshop until only the workshop elves were left . They were bubbling with excitement now and rushed to their workstation with their tiny hammers clasped tightly in their hands . The elftastic toys began appearing fast and furiously with every tiny tap . Santa was encouraged and the joy meter in his office lifted from zero to the half way mark .
He just hoped it was enough ?
In Scotland J A Kay had been feeling low and had put his Christmas lights on early to raise his spirits . He had just raised his second large glass of brandy to his mouth as he looked out his conservatory window . His garden hut was illuminated in the blackness by a large snowman and Christmas presents in its front windows . A bright multicoloured lit steam train driven by Santa travelled around his garden past illuminated deer and a Christmas tree .
He was feeling a great deal better as the liquor warmed his spirits as it began to snow . He thought what a great photo the scene outside would make as the snow began to lay heavily on the ground . J A Kay rubbed his eyes in disbelief as his finger hit the video record button on his phone as a blinding white flash lit the interior of his hut .
The locked hut door opened as Santa stepped out of it onto the virginal snow with a crunch . He looked J A Kay in the eye and with a tap of his be speckled nose stepped back into the hut . There was another white flash and J A Kay almost fell as his slippers slid in the snow as he rushed down his garden , phone in hand . He tried the hut door which was locked , he felt the key in his pocket , took it out and opened it .
The hut was full of the usual junk but no Santa and nowhere to hide . He returned to his house for another sip to calm his nerves and hit playback on the phone . He was not dreaming , the recording verified everything he had just seen .
J A Kay was not a mad drunk and Santa was real . The world must know as he pressed share to twitter !