It was almost Christmas, and Santa was hurriedly finishing up his toy-making, checking that everything was labeled with the correct name and address. After pulling yet another all-nighter, Santa collapsed into his favourite armchair. Mrs. Claus took one look at her poor, tired out husband and shook her head.
“You’re tiring yourself out too much dear,” she said. “I think you should take a break. Rest for a few days – go somewhere warm and sunny. The elves and I can take care of the business.”
Santa gave a big yawn and shook his head.
“I can’t leave now! Christmas is coming in a few days! I can’t stop now!”
Mrs. Claus was insistent. “You can’t go on like this,” she told him. “If you don’t rest soon, you’re going to end up giving all the presents to all the wrong children! Think of what a mess THAT would be. Besides. It doesn’t have to be long. Just a few days of rest. You’ll come back refreshed and all the more ready to work hard again!”
Santa gave a big sigh, rubbed his eyes, and thought about arguing, but he was far too tired. “Alright, fine,” he conceded. “But only for a few days.” And with that, he promptly fell asleep.
Mrs. Claus and the elves quickly put a suitcase together for Santa and prepared the reindeer. Mrs. Claus whispered to Rudolph to take Santa somewhere warm and sunny, and, with the sleepy old elf snoring away in the back, the reindeer set off for summery Australia.
When Santa woke up, he was quite refreshed. He hadn’t had such a good sleep in days. He felt energized for once, ready to get some more toys together. What’s more, his alarm clock hadn’t even rung yet! He wondered why he felt so awake, even before 6 in the morning. He opened his eyes, and nearly jumped though the roof.
He was in an unfamiliar room with white walls and a low-hanging lantern. Unfamiliar framed paintings hung on the walls. There was a TV across from the bed, and a PlayStation controller sitting on top of it. The room was plain and dark compared to the bright, colorful bedroom in Santa’s Workshop. Next to the bed, the digital clock read 9:34AM.
Where was he?! After a few seconds of panic that he had been abducted, Santa vaguely remembered the exchange he had had with his wife the previous day. It all seemed fuzzy now, like a dream… something to do with taking a break. So that hadn’t been a dream. Santa whistled to his reindeer. It was time to go back – he felt refreshed from his over-three-hour beauty sleep, and there was no more time to lose. After three distinct calls, though, the reindeer still didn’t show up. Santa sighed, sat back down on the bed, and pulled out his cell phone.
Before speed-dialing Mrs. Claus, he noticed the “location” icon in the top left hand corner of the screen. Sydney, Australia, it read. Santa was furious. How could his wife have sent him all the way to Australia?! There was so much to do! He had to get back to the North Pole straight away.
Simon the head elf picked up the phone. “Good evening! This is Santa’s Workshop, how may I help you?” he said in a cheery voice.
“Put Mrs. Claus on the phone, Simon!” Santa yelled into the phone, his usually friendly voice rather intimidating as a result of his frustration. “I should be back at the North Pole, not in the middle of Australia!”
“Well, actually, Sir,” replied Simon, “Firstly, Mrs. Claus has given orders not to let you come back until at least a day, and secondly, you’re actually pretty close to the coast of Australia, not in the middle of it. Oh look, here she comes now… oh. Sorry. I have to hang up now. Enjoy your vacation!”
Simon cut the connection before Santa could respond. He redialed the workshop several times, but no one picked up. Mrs. Claus must have turned on the caller ID. She could be so stubborn sometimes. Santa realized there was no going back to the workshop, at least not today. He decided to pass the time by exploring the city – after all, he was in the capital of Australia. Perhaps a respite would do him good.
Santa went out for a walk on the street. The elves had been kind enough to pack extra clothes for him, and he was grateful to be able to wander the sunny city in shorts and t-shirt instead of his heavy, faux-fur-covered Christmas suit.
Sydney actually wasn’t a bad place to be. The weather was great, a warm change from the cold, icy climate of the North Pole. Santa had ended up in a Holiday Inn, and could see the Sydney Opera house a little ways away. He decided to check it out – Santa had always enjoyed the opera. Half an hour later, Santa Claus was standing in front of the Sydney Opera House, admiring the quirky architecture. He trekked up the steps and went in to see if there was an interesting show he could attend. To his delight, there were three shows playing that day. Santa decided to pick one about Pinnochio – the others were about Christmas, and he felt he’d feel guilty if they depicted him as the hardworking, jolly old elf he usually was. The show didn’t start until 3 in the afternoon. Santa decided to pass the time by strolling around, discovering the city of Australia. He had never been here before – he was always too preoccupied with the children of North America.
Sydney turned out to be a rather charming city. It was bustling with people, but Santa was used to the crowds – his own workshop always had traffic jams and crowds of elves rushing around, frantically getting down all the Christmas wish lists and toys matched up. The only difference here was that there were people his height bustling around, rather than tiny elves running around, the bells atop their hats sometimes brushing against his protruding belly.
Santa had an amazing time in the city. He went to see the Royal Botanic Gardens, and then toured the zoo for a while before realizing the time and rushing back to catch his Pinnochio show. Afterwards, he decided to go to one of the fancy restaurants for dinner, and enjoyed a belly-pleasing meal. After dinner, the Australian Museum was already closed, but Santa wanted to visit it so badly he decided to stay one more day. He went back to the hotel room, ordered a little snack from room service, and worked on the condensed version of his Naughty-Nice list that was stored on his phone for a while before turning off the light and going to sleep.
The next day, Santa enjoyed a complimentary continental breakfast. He visited the Australian Museum, has he had planned, and also discovered the Art Gallery of New South Wales, which took up his entire afternoon. In the early evening, after another hearty dinner, he went back to the Opera House to catch a performance by the Sydney Symphony. During the intermission, he looked at his phone to see the time. 9:30PM, it read. 12/24.
December 24th?! Santa couldn’t hold back his gasp. It was Christmas Eve! How long had he been in Australia? He ran out of the Opera House and whistled for his reindeer, crossing his fingers and hoping with all his might that they would come. Fortunately, he saw the comforting glow of Rudolph’s nose right after his whistle. The sleigh was all ready to go as well. Santa gave Rudolph a great big kiss on the nose before jumping into the sleigh, calling to all of them to rise back up into the sky and shoot off towards the first stop, New York City.
Santa felt as if he had never given out presents so quickly. It seemed like it only took him one second a neighborhood – into the house, out of the house, next house, repeat. By the time his phone’s clock read 4AM, he was heading back to the North Pole.
When he finally got home, quite proud of himself for his quick delivery, Santa was greeted with a frantic Mrs. Claus.
“The sleigh has been stolen!” She cried out. “I had all the presents loaded for tonight already! What are we going to do!?”
Santa was confused. “Tonight? Today is Christmas Day. I took the sleigh – I had to do my job!”
Now it was Mrs. Claus’ turn to be confused. “It’s December 24th today,” she said.
“No, it’s the 25th,” Santa replied. He took out his phone to prove it. “See?” He unlocked the phone just in time to see the “location” icon change from Sydney, Australia to Santa’s Workshop, the North Pole. With that came another change – to the time and date: The clock now read 9:27AM 12/24.
Santa was quite distraught. “Oh, darn these time differences! You mean I just delivered all those presents a day early?!” Mrs. Claus tried to calm him down.
“Well, look on the bright side. It’ll be a wonderful surprise.”
Santa still felt miserable. He had never made such a big mistake! Though, he did admit it was better than getting all the presents to all the wrong children. What a mess THAT would have been.
Mrs. Claus gave Santa a hug and suggested they all go inside the house. “It’s been a rough year for you,” she said. “I’m sure no one will complain too much about it.”
Santa sighed yet again and slumped into his armchair. He turned on the news.
“This just in,” the reporter was saying, “Children are confused yet ecstatic about early appearance of Christmas presents as scientists are baffled by a sudden surge of UFO sightings.”
Well, the children are happy, at least, Santa thought to himself. Perhaps I can be happy I made it an intriguing Christmas, if not a well-organized one.
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