Tom Nookie

Beach City Christmas

In Beach City Town Square, like the massive sweat he is, Sir Pierce was working hard to recreate Santa's village inside their office, while Mayor Betty laid on the floor out of exhaustion. The office was covered in large candy canes, cotton-made clouds, fairy lights, and mini Santas staring into the soul of anyone who dared enter. They had spent hours decorating that could have gone towards doing their actual jobs. But at least the office looked pretty.

"No no no!" Pierce scolded, "This simply won't do!"

"Give it up, Pierce!" Betty mumbled from the floor, "At this rate, we're going to miss Christmas with how much we're decorating!"

He huffed, "then so be it!"

"But it already looks so good! Someone even asked me what time Santa was coming!"

The confusion was understandable. The office looked straight out of a fantasy with how much effort had gone into it. With Pierce's obsession for unattainable perfection, the office looked way better than anything Santa could have done.

Pierce asked without taking his eyes off his clipboard, "Were they an animal?"

She hesitated, "Maybe."

"Then that means nothing! I'm pretty sure a pair of socks could confuse them!"

"Hey! Socks are confusing! Once, I got scammed into buying a rock by an orange sock!"

"Just put on the star already!"

"Aren't I supposed to be the one bossing you around?"

"Do this one thing, and I'll let you take a break."

"Fine." She took the star out of the box, "This should be easy."

Betty pulled over Pierce's rolly chair and placed it in front of the tree. Putting on a star shouldn't be that hard! The tree towered over both of them, staring down at them like a king would at his lowly peasants. Her arms shook as she inched towards the top. Just a little bit more until she could place the star where it belonged.

The chair slipped. She leaned too much on the tree. Like a fallen empire, the tree came tumbling down, pulling Betty alongside it.

BAM!

"WHAT HAPPENED?"

"I'M SO SORRY, PIERCE!"

"No, it's fine. I'll just go buy us another tree." Pierce turned his head to the clock on top of the door, "Heard they were selling some at that new nursery downtown. If we hurry up we can probably still get one." He grabbed his jacket off its hook, and opened the door, "Come on."

"No. Everyone goes there so they'll only have the bad trees." Betty stood up, brushed off the tree leaves, and suggested, "We should head up to YetiVille if we want a good tree."

He mocked, "Since when do YOU care about having a good tree?"

"Ever since I broke it!"

They went to the train station, which wasn't nearly as festive as their office. Because of the lack of people, it was mostly quiet. The only one besides Pierce and Betty inside the train was the conductor, Porter, who was more focused on the tracks than making small talk. With the promise of a new hat, they convinced him to take them straight to YetiVille where they could get their tree.

Staring through the window, Betty cheered, "Look Pierce! There's snow! We never get snow in Beach City!", as she was jumping inside the train.

The snow's volume was comparable to that of a ball pit. It would be easy for someone to drown if they were to mindlessly jump in. There weren't any houses or people in sight, only tall trees, and silence. In between the snow was a narrow, rocky, plowed path, that led somewhere on the other side of the hill. They exited the train.