Special Delivery

“Are you sure about this?” Holly asks, “This is not a simple task, after all. Perhaps it would be better to-“

“For the last time, Holly, it’ll be fine!” Jingle insists, clambering into the sleigh, “You know how eagerly every child waits for this time of year and poor Santa is sick in bed with a frightful cold; we can hardly expect him to make all those deliveries in the snow! We’ve made all these toys for years, without issue, how much harder can delivering them be? Now, are you coming, or not?”

With a sigh, Holly climbs up into the sleigh with him. “Well, for one thing, you’ve gotten the date wrong. It’s only the 22nd,” she points out.

“That’s because we’re inexperienced, so we need more time to make the deliveries,” Jingle answers, grandly. “Now, let’s, hmm… how do you start this thing?” He gives the reins an experimental flick, but the reindeer ignore him.

“Er… maybe there’s a catchphrase? What’s it that the big man always says? Oh, right, ahem. Now Dasher! Now Dancer! Now Prancer and Vixen! On, Commit! On Cupid! On Donald and Blitzing!” Jingle shouts.

Nothing happens, except that some of the reindeer give him dirty looks. Holly sighs.

“First of all, it’s Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen,” Holly corrects, “Second, Santa doesn’t actually say that, it’s just something someone wrote in a poem. Here, let me give it a try.” She takes the reins from Jingle and gives a sharp whistle, flicking the reins at the same time. The reindeer respond immediately, straightening out in their harnesses and beginning their run across the snow. Moments later, they are climbing into the sky, the North Pole shrinking behind them.

“Beginner’s luck,” Jingle pouts as Holly steers the sleigh.

 

“Ugh, where are the handholds? How is one expected to- whoa!” Jingle lands in the fireplace awkwardly, sending up a puff of soot. Grumbling, he stumbles out into the living room and takes a quick survey of the place.

“Why aren’t there any stockings out?” Jingle asks, searching the empty mantelpiece as if they might suddenly appear.

“I told you, it’s too early. No one is expecting Santa to show up until Christmas Eve,” Holly explains, landing much more elegantly than Jingle did and brushing off the soot from her clothes.

“What? That’s just poor planning! They shouldn’t leave things last minute like this!” Jingle grumbles, “Ugh, never mind, let’s see, hmm… two kids on the Nice list for this house, huh? Isn’t there usually a list of what they’re getting?” Jingle flips the list back and forth, but no such list appears.

“That’s a separate list,” Holly says, “Santa used to keep them on the same list, but some of them got pretty long, so he keeps the wishes separately.” When Jingle gives her a blank look, she sighs, “Don’t tell me you left the Wish list behind.”

“Eh, whatever, it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out. Um, first kid is Silvia, 7 years old. A nice doll should do,” Jingle fishes one out of the sack.

“Um, I didn’t memorize the whole list, but I think she actually asked for a rock hammer and a chisel,” Holly replies.

Jingle stares at her in disbelief, “What sort of seven year old wants tools for Christmas?!”

“One that’s an avid rock collector? Might just be a phase, but she was really into rocks this year,” Holly replies, “Oh and I do remember that her older brother wanted the sewing kit. Something about becoming a fashion designer in the future.”

Jingle who had just been pulling a baseball out of the sack, sighs and dumps it back in. “What’s with kids these days?” he mutters, “Ah, at least the last one’s easier!” Jingle cries, in relief, “Their brother, Brantley, is on the Naughty list, so he just gets a lump of coal.”

“Not anymore,” Holly replies, “We don’t hand out coal now, because it’s bad for the environment. Instead, bad kids get lumpy underwear, itchy socks, or a package of those pink erasers that don’t even work the first time you use them and just leave a black smudge on your page that’s impossible to get rid of.”

“What?!” Jingle exclaims, “When did that change? And why wasn’t I informed?!”

“Ten years ago and there was a memo,” Holly chastises him, “Didn’t you read it?”

“Who has time to read memos?” Jingle grumbles, but he manages to find the rock tools, sewing kit and a pair of ugly wool socks that make Holly’s feet itch just looking at them. “Alright, onto the next house. I hope that one’s easier.”

 

“Ugh, how many more are left on this list?” Jingle asks plaintively.

“We’ve done five houses,” Holly replies.

“So what does that leave us with?” Jingle asks, again.

Holly just sighs.

 

The city has begun to stir by the time they make it to the fifteenth house, barely managing to avoid a particularly aggressive Chihuahua who spots them just after they had left the necessary gifts. Without saying anything, both elves decide to call the night over and Holly directs the sleigh back towards the North Pole. Jingle is quieter than she’s ever known him to be, not speaking the entire way back.

As they return the reindeer to the barn, a surprising, but familiar figure steps out to greet them.

“Santa! Should you be up like this? I thought you were sick!” Jingle exclaims.

“Ho ho ho, I was, indeed I was, but Mrs. Claus’ hot toddy works wonders and I’m quite alright now! Ready for Christmas Eve and all those deliveries.”

“That’s great!” Jingle grins, genuinely pleased. Then his smile falters slightly, excitement fading.

“Oh, in that case, I guess I didn’t need to…”

“Hmm? Didn’t need to what?” Santa asks, curious.

“I, er, well… I thought you were too sick, so…” Jingle stammers.

“He thought you were going to be too sick to make the present deliveries, so he decided to help out by completing some of them ahead of time,” Holly explains, “We finished fifteen houses.”

“Did he now? That’s very thoughtful! Thank you, Jingle.”

Jingle beams at his praise, then looks slightly crestfallen.

“Oh, but I guess it was a bit useless now that you’re better now.”

“Nothing is ever useless, Jingle,” Santa leans closer as if to share a secret, “To be completely honest, I’m not feeling 100%. Thanks to you doing those fifteen houses, my job will be much easier, and I'm sure I'll be able to complete all of the rest of the deliveries on Christmas Eve. You could have very well saved Christmas!”

“Really?” Jingle perks up again, “Imagine that, me saving Christmas!” He walks away with pride, already forgetting about all of the difficulties and mishaps from that night.

Holly waits until he leaves, then gives Santa a critical look, “You were never sick, were you?”

Santa gives a hearty chuckle, “Always the cynic, Holly! Of course, I was, Holly; I would never make something up like that and intentionally leave my employees in a lurch! Although… I may have taken slight advantage of it to give Jingle a chance at accomplishing his long time Christmas wish.”

Holly still looks sceptical, “Still… what about the kids we delivered to? Pretty sure he messed at least a few up.”

Santa smiles, “I wouldn’t worry about that. It’s not something that can’t be fixed with a little Christmas magic.” He wiggles his fingers and sparkles dance between them.

“If you say so,” Holly remarks, and turns to leave.

“Wait, Holly,” Santa calls after and as she turns back, tosses her a small wrapped gift.

Holly stares at the gift in surprise, “What’s this?”

“This is your Christmas gift, of course,” Santa winks, “Don’t let it be said that I don’t look after my employees. I’ll even let you open it early, since you were so helpful with Jingle.”

Holly shrugs and opens the gift. Her eyes widen when she sees the contents.

“Is that an 1889 CC Morgan silver dollar?!” It was the last one missing from the collection she had been carefully putting together for many years.

“It is, indeed,” Santa chuckles, “Merry Christmas, Holly. Ho ho ho!” 

Word Count: 2074
Hours Spent: 3
Software Used: DAZ Studio 4 With IRAY