Honorific Santa

Mrs. Claus scurried about tending to the one hundred and fifty-two elves in her charge. Mid to late December was the worst. Everyone was cranky, overtime was mandatory, cooking for three shifts of toy production and taking care of Kris left her frazzled by the day's end.

"Mrs. Claus. Mrs. Claus. Mrs. Claus!" yelled Argus Magee from the front door.

"Argus, Argus, Argus. What is it?" asked Mrs. Claus as she burst through the kitchen door wiping her hands on her apron.

"Come quickly. It's Santa," said Argus. He waved his little hand frantically.

"Oh dear," said Mrs. Claus as she followed Argus out into the cold.

~

Santa was sitting in the snow, leaning up against a tree. He was surrounded by elves and reindeer.

"Coming through. Make way," said Argus as the little man trotted along ahead of Mrs. Claus.

"Oh, Jessica. You didn't need to come out in the cold," said Santa looking up sheepishly at his wife.

"Why are you sitting in the snow, Kris?" asked Mrs. Claus. Her hands poised on her hips as she looked over her spectacles at her rosy cheeked husband.

Santa took a deep breath and began. "I had just finished checking the list and I thought I'd take a break before I checked it twice. The second time through is just as much work, you know?

"I saw the reindeer out here playing their reindeer games and thought I would join in the fun. Dasher was dashing and Prancer was prancing..."

"Kris!"

"All right. Vixen got a little carried away, slid, taking out Blitzen and the three of us landed in a heap."

"And?"

"And I think I broke my left ankle."

She looked at his left leg with his foot pointing too far to the left.

"Oh dear," said Mrs. Claus. She closed her eyes and put her hand on her forehead shielding her sight. Everyone stood quietly, staring at Mrs. Claus.

"Bushy, I need that sled we made for Sam ..."

"Daniels. Sam Daniels," said Santa.

"Yes, Sam Daniels. And the wheelchair for Will..."

"William Langford."

"William Langford, yes. Then we can get Santa back to the house."

Bushy took off to the workshop, his little body wobbling along.

"Is Wunorse Openslae out here?" asked Mrs. Claus, scanning through the group of elves and trying not to look at Kris' foot.

"I believe he is at the stables," said Pepper Minstix. "I'll have him come check on the reindeer. Anything else, ma'am?"

"That was exactly what I was thinking, Pepper. We're on the same page," she said. "I need Doc Holly to tend to Kris and Sugarplum Mary to mind the kitchen. That should do it for now."

"At your service, ma'am," said Pepper Minstix. He returned to the crowd of elves and gave out assignments.

~

Mrs. Claus warmed herself before the fire and watched Kris nod off in his recliner with his feet elevated. His left foot packed with bags of snow.

Doc Holly sidled up to Mrs. Claus. "He needs to go to a hospital, but he won't go until the day after Christmas. I know he's Santa, but he's out for the rest of the game."

Mrs. Claus looked down at the little elf and glanced up at her husband. "What are we going to do?"

"I'm going to get a cast or boot or some contraption and go deliver the gifts," bellowed Santa from his recliner.

Doc Holly stomped over to Santa. "You most certainly will not. I don't know if your break is set correctly or if you need surgery. But what I do know is you cannot go tromping around on that foot."

"Then we need to have a meeting," said Santa.

~

Doc Holly, Alabaster Snowball,
Bushy Evergreen, Pepper Minstix, Shinny Upatree, Sugarplum Mary,
Wunorse Openslae and Santa all sat quietly munching on warm sugar cookies Mrs. Claus passed around.

"It's Christmas Eve Eve, so that means we have a day to come up with a plan," said Mrs. Claus. She sat on the fireplace hearth clutching the empty cookie tray.

"There is no plan. There's only one Santa Claus and he has a broken ankle," said Alabaster. He shook his head. "The kids are going to be heartbroken."

"The kids will not be heartbroken. We will come up with a solution," said Pepper Minstix. He turned to Santa. "You've been unusually quiet, Santa. What are your thoughts aside from walking on a broken ankle?"

"I was just thinking about what Alabaster said. You are correct that there is only one of me, but there is another Santa Claus that could do this job. I'm not sure I can get an agreement though," said Santa from his recliner.

"What?" "Another Santa Claus?" "What kind of drugs do you have him on Doc?" "Did you check to see if he hit his head? He must be hallucinating," said the group of elves.

"I'm not hallucinating," said Santa. "I'm telling you there is only one other person that could pull this off."

Wunorse Openslae said, "We cannot use a mall Santa. There is no way..."

"It's not a mall Santa, for goodness sake."

"Then who is he?"

"Santa Claus as in Mrs. Santa Claus," said Santa as he locked eyes with his wife.

Mrs Claus shot up from her seat forgetting the tray in her lap that clattered on the floor. "Oh dear," she said as she picked up the tray and held it to her bosom.

A room full of eyes quietly assessed Santa's idea.

"Absolutely not, Kris. Not going to happen. Think of someone else," said Mrs. Claus. She shook her head at varying speeds.

"Come on, Jessica. You know you are the logical choice," said Santa. "There is no one else. It's me or you."

"But how will she stop time?" asked Bushy Evergreen. "It's the only way."

"How, Bushy? How, you ask? Why she developed it to stay ahead in the kitchen," said Santa.

"Kris!" said Mrs. Claus. She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes.

"It's true. We had a little trick we used before, but once there were so many kids on the list, we started using her method."

"And what about the list?" asked Alabaster.

"She knows the list as well as I do. And she helped develop the Sleigh-Gift-Delivery interface that we use today," said Santa. "Don't let the flour on her apron fool you."

"My place is here, not out on that sleigh. You'll have to find another solution," said Mrs. Claus. She looked around the room at the elfin faces and stopped when she came back to Santa.

"Jessica, it's for the children," pleaded Santa.

~

The gifts were securely stowed in the rear of the sleigh and nine antsy reindeer stomped and snorted, eager for duty.

In a deep baritone, Santa said, "It's time Rudolph. Now Dasher, now Dancer, now Prancer and Vixen, on Comet, on Cupid, on Donner and Blitzen, to the top of the porch, to the top of the wall, now dash away, dash away, dash away all!"

The jingle bells tinkled as the reindeer took off. White gloved hands held onto the reins and the full gray beard parted in the cold breeze.

As the sleigh steeply banked over his house, Santa and the elves heard overhead a faint "Oh dear!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What a Character Contest,
2k or less, due 12/31.

Write a story that introduces us to your character using the prompt. Introduction should be entertaining and enlightening, not a simple list of qualities or activities.
Santa is incapacitated, missing in action, or otherwise unable to suit up and deliver all of his Christmas gifts. Who steps up and how do they solve the problem?