O' Christmas Tree

Chapter 3- Chicago

We flew into the clouds, having a beautiful view of the moon. We looked around in amazement.

"It's freezing," Kate said, shivering.

"Here," I said, taking off the sweater on top of my coat.

"He's gonna go back down again soon," Teddy reasoned.

"Maybe Santa has a blanket?" Kate said, throwing the sweater so that they covered her shoulders.

"I'll look," Teddy said, grabbing my hand and feeling the coldness of it.

A moment later, Santa yelled. Kate yelled back. Santa steered the sleigh upward, and Kate fell out, making me scream in surprise. Santa turned the sleigh around, flying so we could catch Kate.

"Teddy, (Y/n)!"

"Grab our hands!" we yelled.

"Reach!"

"I'm trying!"

"You got this, Katie!"

She finally grabbed our hands, and we pulled her back into the sleigh. Kate gripped us as Santa pulled the sleigh upward. We avoided an airplane as the reindeer went berserk.

We went through a sort of portal. Santa controlled the reindeer again, but then lost them.

"Hold on to her!" Santa instructed.

Wings burst out as we flew to the ground, one of them flying off. Teddy held both of us tightly. I skidded to the ground with him.

"Teddy. Teddy. Teddy, baby, wake up," I said, shaking him worriedly.

He darted up, panting. "(Y/n). Kate."

"Where's the camera?" Kate asked. Kate sighed in relief when she found it. "Still works."

"Where are we?" I asked.

"Teddy, (Y/n)..."

"I could've sworn I saw Paris," Teddy breathed.

"Uh, Teddy?"

"That plane almost killed us!"

"(Y/n)?"

"I was in the sky?"

"Teddy, (Y/n)!"

"What?"

Teddy screamed and grabbed me, standing up. He let go of me when he realized it wasn't anyone dangerous.

"Santa Claus?" Kate questioned.

"Alive and in person. One night only. You three okay?" Santa asked.

"Yeah. You look so... um, different," Kate noticed.

"Why, because I'm not a big fat slob?" Santa guessed.

"No, no. I-I didn't mean it that way," Kate stammered.

"Ah, that's okay, Kate. I guess it's understandable. I mean, who can eat millions of cookies in one night and not get fat, right? Well, I can," Santa sassed.

"Can you go 'ho ho ho?'" Kate asked.

"I don't go, 'Ho, ho ho.' That's a myth. Fake news," Santa explained.

"Sorry," Kate apologized.

"Oh, no. You three have really messed things up. You were supposed to be asleep," Santa scolded.

"It was all her idea!" Teddy said, pointing at Kate.

"Hey!"

"It was!"

"Wait. What did you do with my sack of presents?" Santa asked.

"It flew off the sleigh," I said, taking a step back in worry.

"Oh, not good. Not good at all," Santa said. "First star's there. Second star's there. We came back over Moscow and... and over Paris, New York, Boston... Oh. Reindeer must've broken off somewhere over Lakeshore Drive."

"Lakeshore Drive?" Kate questioned.

"We're in Chicago, young lady," Santa said.

"Chicago? That means we traveled thousands of miles in, like, thirty seconds," Teddy said.

"Epic!" Kate smiled.

"You mean epic disaster," Santa chuckled. "If I'm not up and running in the next couple of hours, half the continent's not gonna get presents, and that, well, that can never happen."

"So a few brats don't get presents. It's not the end of the world," Teddy commented.

"Teddy," I scolded, smacking his arm.

"That's just the kinda lame garbage I'd expect from a Lost Believer. You listen to me, Teddy Pierce. Tonight, young boys and girls all over the globe are waiting, hoping, expecting Santa Claus to arrive. And if I don't... Well, you don't wanna know what happened the last time I couldn't make my rounds," Santa explained.

"Yes, we do. Tell us," Kate replied, starting the camera again.

"You've heard of the Dark Ages? Read about all those wars in school?" Santa questioned.

"Yeah, sure, but..." Teddy trailed off.

"Those happened because you missed Christmas?" I questioned, my eyes widening.

"Christmas spirit is more powerful than you could ever imagine, (Y/n) (L/n). People need Christmas to remind themselves of how good they can be. Without it, well, Christmas simply... must endure! All right, I need to round up the reindeer, find my sack of presents, call the elves, and maybe, just maybe, I can still save Christmas," Santa listed.

"What is that?" Teddy asked, noticing the glowing device.

"Tracking device for the sack. The closer you get, the faster it chimes. It's pretty cool," Santa explained.

"Yeah, it is," Kate and I agreed.

"That's good. At least it's not that far away. Uh... Well... bye," Santa said. He jumped up in the snow, but landed face-first. He let out a grunt of discomfort.

"Santa, are you okay?" Kate asked.

Santa gasped. "Oh, no! Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no! My hat! My hat's gone!" Santa said frustratedly.

"Do you want mine?" Kate asked.

"Oh, that—that won't help. Your hat's not magic." Santa shook his head.

"Magic?" I questioned.

"Well, how do you think I can turn into coal dust and leap from rooftop to rooftop?" Santa questioned.

"Pilates?" Kate guessed.

"My hat! I can't believe this! She told me, 'You should always bring a spare, Nick!' Well, I guess I'm gonna have to do this the old-fashioned way. On foot," Santa sighed.

"Santa, just let us help you!" Kate begged.

"Oh no, no, no. I think you've done quite enough damage already, don't you? No, you just go on back to your house and get some sleep. No need to wake up early. There won't be any presents." Santa sighed. "You three are on the naughty list for life."

"We can't just stay here! Santa needs us!" Kate protested.

"I don't know. He seems pretty mad. We should just head home." Teddy shook his head.

"Home? We're, like, a thousand miles away! Teddy, you heard him. We're on the naughty list for life! We've ruined Christmas! I mean, that's, like, the worst possible thing a kid could ever do! Do you really wanna tell your kids that you were that guy? The person responsible for The Great Christmas Meltdown of 2018?" Kate questioned.

"Okay, fine!" Teddy defeatedly sighed.

We ran over to Santa. Kate called out to him. "Wait, Santa! We just wanna help!"

"Ah, well, I can't do anything to stop you. You better watch out, you better not pout, and you better not cry. I don't have time for any more of your shenanigans."