Wreck the Halls

3 AM

Christmas was five days away and the end of my sanity, five minutes.

Calvin jumped up and down on our bed, waking me and Ellie up in a panic.

"Earthquake!" I rolled off the bed and hid under the desk.

Ellie screamed and then suddenly her screams turned into laughter, "Calvin, what are you doing?" She giggled.

"Christmas is five days away!" He replied, excitedly, "Do you have any idea what this means?"

"What?" She replied, happily.

He paused and stopped jumping, "It means Christmas is five days away...I didn't think that all the way through." He hopped off the bed and knelt down to look at me, "You know what time it is, Ricky?"

"Time to stop calling me Ricky." I replied, still traumatized.

"Nope. Time to go shopping! I'm all set, though. I started shopping in January. But I bet you have some work to do." He pulled me by my arm out from under the desk and lifted me up on my feet, "Shop 'til you drop, Ricky."

I fell back down and hit my head on the clock. It fell on the ground and I looked over at it, "Oh my gosh, Calvin, its three in the morning!"

"I know! Get there early and get better stuff! No lines, nothing's sold out. Its the best time to shop, Ricky!"

I grabbed him by his collar and pulled him down to my level, "Its three in the morning. I have to go to work today. There is no way I am going shopping, do you hear me?"

We made it to the store by 3:12. Everything looked like a blur, and I think I was hallucinating because I am pretty sure flying elephants don't exist.

"Who opens a store at three in the morning?" I asked Ellie angrily.

"During Christmastime, stores want all the business they can get." She replied, "We should split up so we don't see what we're getting each other."

I nodded and yawned, giving her a thumbs up.

"Oh, and don't forget to get gifts for Calvin!"

I walked the opposite direction of Ellie and started browsing the store. I started muttering to myself in my best Calvin impression, "Oh, Ricky, good morning. Hope you slept long enough. Now go by me stuff." I examined a bottle of body wash and then put it in a shopping cart and moved along, "Isn't Christmas great, Ricky? Waking up early and wasting all your hard earned money on useless garbage?" I shook my head and kept moving.

"Excuse me, sir?" a small voice came from behind me.

I slowly turned around, "Yes?" I said as I rubbed my eyes, but nobody was there. "Hm." I turned back around and kept looking for just the right earrings for Ellie.

"Ahem! Excuse me, sir?" The voice came again.

I wheeled around, "Yes?" But I still saw nobody.

"Down here."

I looked down. Standing there, with his hands on his hips, was a small elf, dressed in all green and wearing a hat with a bell dangling off the top, "You seem to be a bit Scroogey this evening."

I stared in amazement and then rubbed my eyes, but he was still there. I shook my head and turned back around, ignoring what I just saw.

"Hey! Don't ignore me!" His tiny voice yelled, "I know just who you are, Richard Hall."

I spun around quickly, "How do you know my name?" I asked, suspiciously.

"I work for the Great Clause himself, of course I know what your name is." He looked down and said to himself a little quieter, "He's just as naive as they say."