For hannahsue--'s contest.
Due December 24th.

I woke up to my phone ringing.

Not that my phone ringing was particularly odd in itself, but having my phone ring at 1:46 on Christmas Eve was a little odd. Well, if it was 1:46, it was already Christmas morning, wasn't it?

None of that flashed through my head as I groped around for my phone. It was vibrating like crazy, and sounded louder than a freight train in the peaceful silence of early morning. Finally, I grabbed it, and slid it open without glancing at it. "Hello?"

"There is a car waiting outside your house," a voice I didn't recognize said. The heavy accent sounded extremely fake. I was almost sixty-eight percent certain that Russian people didn't actually sound like that. Though, maybe I was just too tired to figure out what sort of accent the voice actually was.

"Get inside. You don't want to ignore this."

"I... Wait, what?"

Before I'd even finished speaking, the caller had hung up. I sat, listening to the dial tone. After a second, I put my phone down, glancing nervously at my wife.

As I did, she rolled over and groggily frowned at me. "Everything okay?"

"Um... Yeah. Work call." I pushed the covers off myself. "I have to go in."

"What? Now? It's Christmas Eve!"

"Christmas, actually." I shrugged, leaning over to put my slippers on. After a moment, I tossed them aside for my work shoes. "Marty had some sort of family emergency come up. I'm taking his shift."

She sighed and rolled back over. "If you aren't back by seven, the kids-"

"I will be," I assured her, standing up to change. Maybe when I got outside, that car would be gone. It was probably a wrong number, a teenage prank on a friend. Surely they hadn't really meant it for me.

As I walked down the hall, still rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I wondered if maybe this was a kidnapping. Maybe they would hold me for ransom. That didn't make sense either, though. It's not like we had much money.

When I reached the front door, I gently pushed the curtain away in one of the windows. Ever so slightly, of course, so no one would realize I was doing it.

To my horror, there actually was a car parked in front of my house. Though, I must admit, I felt a tiny hint of excitement. Nothing exciting ever happened in my mundane life. Maybe something was about to.

The car was actually more of a limousine than a car. It was long, low, and black, and it looked a little out of place in my middle class neighborhood, where the nicest car was Karen's minivan down the street. For a second, I hesitated, but before I could listen to any sort of logic or reason my brain could conjure up, I grabbed my coat and started out the front door.

The back door slid open as I approached, and I climbed in. The interior was dark, and at first I didn't see anyone else there. As my eyes adjusted, though, I made out a man sitting in the far corner of the car. He didn't speak, instead simply staring at me until I felt incredibly uncomfortable.

"Um... What's going on?"

"That's a very good question," the man said. "I'm afraid I can't tell you that."

I frowned and started teaching for the handle of the door. "Well, then, I think I'd better l-"

Before I could do anything, the car took off. It accelerated so fast that I was slammed into the seat across from me, hitting my head against the back wall. The next thing I knew, everything slowly faded into black.

~~~~

When I came to, I was in a very bright little room. The walls were white, and with the fluorescent lights shining above my head and making them even brighter, I could barely open my eyes.

When my eyes finally adjusted, I looked around, frowning. I wasn't tied up, but I didn't see a door anywhere. I groaned, pushing myself to my feet. Looked like I had been kidnapped. And on Christmas Eve, to boot.

As I tested my legs, a part of the wall slid aside, revealing two men in black suits that I didn't recognize. I wasn't sure, but I didn't think either of them was the man from the car.

"Where am I?" I asked. "Who are you?"

"Sorry about the bumpy ride," one man said, smiling and offering his hand for me to shake. "The name's Steve Curtis. Probably haven't heard of me, right?"

I slowly shook my head, wondering where this was going.

"Well, I am this division's Santa Claus. Your division's, to be exact."

I felt my jaw drop. Lunatics. That's what these men were. Complete and utter lunatics.

"This is my first elf in command, Bill Jingle."

Jingle? What kind of a name was Jingle? And he certainly didn't look like an elf. Though, now that I thought about it, his ears seemed vaguely pointy under his long hair.

"We work for the GSI. Global Santa Initiative? Probably haven't heard of it?"

I slowly took a step back. "Why am I here?"

"The very simple reason that we need your skills. You see, district 39675 recently lost their Santa. Samuel Carter died. Broke his neck falling down a chimney the wrong way. And we need you to replace him."

"Me? Santa? What?"

"You surely didn't think Santa himself did all that work in one night, did you?"

"No, because I, like most people, tend to not believe in him."

"Ah, yes," the man said, nodding. "Once you've accepted the position, you can meet the Big Guy and have all your doubts put to rest.

"Why me?"

"Well, an elf obviously can't do it, and the only other ones who know about the GSI are the division Santas. And, of course, you have experience."

"How on earth do I have experience?" I asked, staring at them. They were mad, and I was starting to get worried. "I've never heard of any of this!"

"Do you remember a certain middle school you used to attend?" Steve asked. As he spoke, a small screen came down out of the wall, showing my old middle school. I nodded slowly, not sure where this was going.

"I seem to recall that on December 16, 1997, you disabled the school's security cameras, broke in, and spent the night searching for your current wife's locker, to leave her a Christmas present. Am I mistaken?"

Over the years, I'd almost forgotten about that. However, as I watched it play out on the screen, the memories came back to me. "Yeah. I did. That's right."

"And you were never caught, right?"

"How do you know that?"

"We make it our business to know everything about every child between the ages of one and thirteen. You were twelve, and I remember this because of the dilemma you put us in. Should put this kid on the naughty list? He broke into his school! But he had the best intentions. We eventually had to call the Big Guy in and let him decide."

I stared at them, shaking my head. "I'm dreaming. This is all a dream."

"Why do you say that?"

I shook my head, trying to think of a logical reason that this couldn't be happening. "If you were really some sort of Santa, wouldn't you be out delivering presents right now? It's still Christmas Eve, right?"

The supposed elf and the man exchanged a knowing glance. "I see," the man said. "Have you ever felt that Christmas Eve is longer than most nights of the year? That's because it is. We make every minute last twice as long one night a year. I've already finished my rounds, and it's still only 4:30 in the morning."

I blinked. "I've got to be dreaming."

"Do you accept your position as District 39675's new Santa?"

I shook my head, backing away. "I'm dreaming. I have to be. Either that, or Ive been kidnapped by lunatics."

The elf and Steve glanced at each other. "Not again."

"I take that as a no?" the man asked.

"Of course!" I stared at him. "You're crazy!"

"Fine," the man said. "We'll be in touch once you've thought more about it." He snapped his fingers. The next thing I knew, I was in my bed again.

It was all a dream, I told myself, smiling at the familiar surroundings. There was my clock, reading 4:31. There was my wife's coat, hanging on the back of a chair. There was our messy dresser, full of makeup products and wrapping paper. I sighed and relaxed on my pillow. It was all just a dream.

My wife rolled over. "Oh. I didn't even heard you come in. Is everything okay at work?" She frowned at me. "Why are you still wearing your work clothes?"

Not a dream. It was not a dream.

~~~~

Endings are not my strong suit, especially on short stories! Sorry if this one kind of stunk. I tried my best! It took me longer than I thought to do this!

Thanks for reading!

~Ellie