The Year Mrs. Claus Delivered Christmas

The Year Mrs. Claus Delivered Christmas  (E) A contest Entry #2067711 by Chris Breva

The Year Mrs. Claus Delivered Christmas
Based on Prompt 3

Curtains for Santa

Santa had a cold. It was no ordinary cold either. It was a magic cold. Anybody knows that a magic cold is the worst kind of cold. Therefore Santa had a serious problem. It was one day before Christmas Eve and Santa was too ill to make his annual round the world trip! What was he to do? He had considered many options and all of them had fallen through. He had contacted his friend the Easter Bunny and found that the Easter Bunny too was ill. He had gone through his list of elves and none of them was qualified to take over for him. He had even gone so far as to contact the Grinch Who Stole Christmas and found that the Grinch was also ill.
“Mama” cried Santa to Mrs. Claus, “what am I to do? I have less than a day to find a replacement. If I don’t I’ll be forced to cancel Christmas. Just think of all the disappointed children we’ll have if I fail them!”
“I’m sure something will work out” Mrs. Claus answered. “I’d deliver Christmas for you if I weren’t so busy.”
“That’s it”, Santa exclaimed. “You can deliver Christmas this year! I’ll go along in case you run into trouble. I’ll stay in the sleigh so I won’t contaminate everybody on Earth.”
“Now Santa” Mrs. Claus replied “you know I can’t do that! I have to be here at home to supervise the elves while you’re gone.”
“Barney, the chief elf can do that” Santa replied. “He’s more than qualified to keep an eye on things here. He’s practically running the shop already.”
“But who will prepare your meal for your return” Mrs. Claus asked. “Who will prepare your hot chocolate and make your bed?”
June can do that” Santa responded. “She’s actually the one who does those things anyway. You only supervise. If it makes you feel better you can write out a set of instructions for her. She really won’t need them though. She’s very good at her job. You know that as well as I do.”
“She should be good at it” Mrs. Claus replied. “I trained her to do it and she’s done so for over two thousand years.”
“So there you go” Santa answered. “I’ll have no more arguing about it. You’re going to deliver Christmas this year. If you don’t I’ll be forced to cancel it.”
“Okay Santa” Mrs. Claus replied. “I’ll have to dig my suit out of the mothballs and have it altered to fit me. There isn’t much time so I best see to it right away.”
“Howard” Santa called to his assistant. “Dig Mrs. Claus’ suit out and have it altered to fit her. Also tell the elves to leave room in the sleigh for two passengers this year. Mrs. Claus is going to deliver Christmas. If I go into anybody’s house I’ll spread this magic cold to every human on the planet. It’s bad enough that I have it. If it breaks out in the human population I would be responsible for the deaths of millions of people. I’m not willing to expose one single person to it. The last thing the world needs is a pandemic.”
“But Santa” Howard asked “won’t Mrs. Claus spread it after being around you?”
“No” Santa replied. “As long as she isn’t ill herself she won’t. Magic colds only spread when the carrier has a fever. We’ll keep a close watch on her, but she should be okay. As long as she isn’t showing any symptoms we’ll be okay. I’m going to have Edward, the chief medical elf examine her to be sure. I’ll also have him mix up some of his magic cold formula and then have her take it. If she is starting to come down with it, the formula will keep her from spreading the disease while she’s exposed to humans.”
“Won’t the formula prevent you from spreading it as well” Howard asked. “You know how Rudolph and the other reindeer complain if you have more than one passenger.”
“I’m sure they’ll understand” Santa replied. “I’ll talk to them and explain the situation if it will ease your mind however.”
“Thank you” Howard said. “I don’t want to have to deal with all the grumbling.”
Santa went to the stables where the reindeer were practicing their flying. “Rudolph” he called. “Can you come here? I need to have a word. Have all the team gather around as well.”
“Dancer, Comet, Cupid, Blitzen, Prancer, and Malcomb” Rudolph called. “Can you all gather around. Santa needs to have a word with us.”
“Malcomb” Santa asked. “Why do you want Malcomb?”
“Because Dasher is ill” Rudolph replied. “He picked up a stone in his hoof. He’ll be too sore to go this year. We’ve trained Malcomb to take his place.”
“I see” Santa responded. “Well something like that is why I asked you all to gather here. I am not going to be able to deliver Christmas this year. I have a terrible magic cold. I either have to cancel Christmas or else Mrs. Claus will have to go along. I know you all don’t like pulling the sleigh with an added passenger but it’s my only option. I won’t force you to do it though. It’s strictly voluntary.”
“We understand” Rudolph stated. “I believe I speak for each of the reindeer when I say we’ll volunteer to do it. We know how important it is. We don’t want you to cancel Christmas just because of a magic cold. On the other hand we don’t want to be responsible for releasing a pandemic on the human population. We care for the humans just as much as you do. Isn’t that right guys?”
The remaining reindeer all shouted their agreement. Then Santa put out his hand and each of the reindeer laid a hoof on top of it. “On three” Rudolph called out. “One, two, three, Merry Christmas!”
Santa walked back to his office. He was met there by Howard. “The alterations have been completed on Mrs. Claus’ suit” Howard told him. “It only needed a slight adjustment. Mrs. Claus hasn’t gained but a few pounds in the hundreds of years since she wore it last. She really looks sharp in it. Have a look-see for yourself.”
“Here I am” Mrs. Claus said from behind him. Santa turned in the direction of her voice. Mrs. Claus looked absolutely stunning in her suit. Santa could easily see why he had chosen to marry her. She was very beautiful, even at 2500 years of age. Her eyes were like two beautiful, green stars. Her raven hair hung most of the way down her back. Her button nose and bright smile topped off a beautiful tapered chin. She looked exactly the same as she had when he first met her nearly 3,000 years earlier.
“You look beautiful” Santa stated. “You’re every bit as beautiful as you were the day I met you. Do you remember that day?”
“Yes, of course I do” Mrs. Claus replied. “You were visiting my father, Father Time. He introduced us and I knew you were my future husband. I was right too because you proposed on the spot. I thought you were being a bit presumptuous in proposing marriage to a woman you had just met. However before I could think I heard myself say yes. My father performed our ceremony on the spot. He told me later that he had known all along that you and I were destined to be together. Of course that’s no big deal for him because he knows the future since the future is part of him.”
“How is your father” Santa asked. “I haven’t heard from him for nearly three months.”
“Oh he’s fine” Mrs. Claus answered. “He called the other day in fact. He’s seeing Mother Nature again. I think they’re going to reconcile. Father was torn up pretty badly after the divorce. He never quit loving her. Mother knew it too. I think that’s why she called on him and asked him to come see her. They’ve been seeing each other regularly ever since.”
“Well I for one would love to see them get back together” Howard replied. “They’re meant for each other. Now I must go see to the last minute arrangements before you all leave tomorrow night. I need to make sure the sleigh has provisions for two. I must also make sure you have the proper protection from the elements. It’s extremely cold in some parts of the world. There’s also a tropical gale blowing over the south Pacific. You’ll have to detour around it. Therefore I have to make arrangements for the reindeer to deviate from the flight plan. If all goes well, you may actually cut a few hours off your travel time.”
“I know we’ll cut some time this year” Santa replied. “The reindeer have been working on a way to fly twice as fast. Besides that, Father Time has granted us the ability to distort time even more this year. He’s providing us with some stable wormholes over North America and Europe. Those alone will allow us to shave six hours off of our time. Mother Nature is also going to help. She’s going to provide tail winds wherever we go. The tailwinds will propel us even faster. Last year the weather over South America was very uncooperative. So Mother Nature reprimanded the weather there and assures me that there will be good weather everywhere. She’s also going to provide everybody with a white Christmas. Well everybody north of Tennessee anyway. The other areas are much too warm for snow. She said she would see what she could do about providing snow even in the hot areas though.”
“Santa” June the elf called. “I heard that Mrs. Claus is going with you this year. I want to assure you that everything will be prepared exactly as you like it when you return. I’ll also double the preparations to accommodate Mrs. Claus. I wanted to ask you if I could use Martha the elf as my assistant this year since the work will be doubled?”
“Yes you can” Santa replied. “Howard, have Barney reassign Martha to assist June. Tell him I approved the transfer. Now I must take Mrs. Claus to see Edward. I want to make sure she isn’t going to spread this stupid cold.”
A few minutes later Edward was examining Mrs. Claus. “I’m certain she’s been exposed” Edward told Santa. “Since she is a magical creature there is no doubt that she’ll come down with it. However I will give her some medication to suppress it. The medication will keep it at bay for about a week. That will prevent her from spreading it to any humans. Now I suggest the two of you get some sleep. You have a big day tomorrow.”
Santa left Edward’s office and went to his quarters. Sleep came quickly since he knew that all was going to work out well.
The next day he awoke with a start. It was Christmas Eve and they would be leaving on their run shortly. The whole run typically took twenty-four hours to complete. They would go across the Arctic Circle first, stopping in Greenland. Greenland didn’t have a large population but there were several Eskimo families living there along with some military families. They would visit each of them before going to Asia, then Europe, Africa, Australia, and then the Americas. It wasn’t unusual for Santa to leave the North Pole at 6:00AM and return at 7:00AM on Christmas morning. “We’d better eat our breakfast and then prepare to leave” Santa told Mrs. Claus. “I appreciate you doing this for the children.”
“The children are our very reason for existence” Mrs. Claus replied. “Of course I’m willing to help.”
They ate a hearty breakfast and then went to the docking bay to begin their trip. Santa climbed into the sleigh on the left side and watched as his wife sat down to his right. Then he picked up the reigns. “On Comet, on Cupid, on Donner, and Blitzen, on Dasher, on Dancer, on Rudolph, and Malcolm. Away!”
The reindeer took off down the launching tube at a gallop. In no time at all the reindeer left the ground and the sleigh soon followed. Moments later they cleared the long launch tube and headed out over the frozen wasteland that made up the North Pole. In no time they were at their cruising altitude high in the clouds. Shortly thereafter they landed next to an igloo in Greenland. True to her word Mother Nature had provided a nice tail wind and they had made the trip from the North Pole to Greenland in moments. Mrs. Claus looked at Santa questioningly as they pulled up next to the igloo. “How am I suppose to enter an igloo if it has no chimney?”
“Just pick up the bag and a chimney will appear when you’re in position” Santa answered.
Mrs. Claus picked up the bag and suddenly started floating to the top of the igloo. Just as Santa had said a chimney suddenly appeared and swallowed her up. Before she could blink she was standing in the center of the igloo. To her surprise the igloo was quite warm. She reached into the bag and placed it’s contents under the make shift tree, which adorned one corner of it. Then she instinctively lay her finger beside her nose and went up the chimney. Once she cleared the chimney she was put down on the opposite side of the igloo!
“Santa” Mrs. Claus called. “The bag put me down on the wrong side. Why did it do that?”
“Because you aren’t finished yet” Santa answered. “Reach into the bag.”
Mrs. Claus reached into the bag. She felt something huge. When she pulled it out, it was a kayak. She took the kayak out and placed it on the rack behind her. It was a replacement for the kayak that was already there. When she saw the old kayak she remembered why she loved Santa so. The old kayak was tattered and in bad shape. It was far from being seaworthy. She took the old kayak down and placed it behind the kayak rack. Then the bag lifted her into the air and she floated across the igloo and was placed in the sleigh next to Santa.
Thus they continued their trip until well into the wee hours of the following morning. They returned to the North Pole two hours ahead of schedule. Mrs. Claus was ecstatic with the success of her first mission. An elf came to meet them and unhooked the reindeer from the sleigh. As the reindeer were led away, the sleigh began to be lowered to the second deck where it would remain until the following year. A team of elves waited for it there. They would go over it with a fine tooth comb to make sure it was ready for the next trip.
“I have your cocoa waiting Santa”, June stated. “Martha also has a cup of cocoa for you Mrs. Claus. “It’s just the way you both like it. We’ve also laid out your pajamas and turned down your bed. You must be exhausted after your trip?”
“Yes” Mrs. Claus replied. “We’re very tired. Cocoa sounds very nice and then going straight to bed afterwards sounds even better. Who knows? I may want to deliver Christmas again sometime. Say in perhaps a thousand years?”
The End



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