Modern Day Santa Claus

MDSC [1]

-revised- 

Chapter 1

The wind was increasingly freezing. But it was nothing out of the ordinary to a flushed, young girl who stepped out of her house wearing layers of sweater after sweater, topped off with a knitted, floral scarf wrapped around her neck.

She breathed out a sigh, but the scarf obscured her hot breath that still left a trail of fog in front of her. Today was Christmas Eve. She had just celebrated with her family, complete with a feast and lots of singing and laughter. Of course, there were presents, loads of them, in all different sizes situated right under their large Christmas tree.

She turned back to their house, an average two-story house decorated with lights which were all around their doors and windows. A seasonal wreath was also hung outside of their door. A snowman, which she built just this afternoon with her brother, was positioned out in their lawn which completed the whole look of their average Christmas decor.

She turned to the streets. Every house was adorned with similar decorations. There was a cheerful buzz in the air, something that could only be heard on a day like this. From the windows of the houses, the girl watched each family celebrate Christmas in their own ways.

Satisfied at what she just observed, she started walking to the left of their house. The snow crunched under her feet and honestly, it felt as if she was alone in the world. A lone girl walking on the night before Christmas. But as she reached the house next door and rang the doorbell, all trail of the feeling vanished.

She grinned brightly as the door swung open, revealing a woman dressed to go out whom she'd known for years. "Good evening, Mrs. Smith. You look lovely today," the girl greeted.

Mrs. Smith laughed. "Oh, spare me your words, Camilla Jae."

Jae huffed. "I thought I already told you that should call me Jae."

"And I thought I already told you to call me Anne," Mrs. Smith countered, a mischievous smile plastered on her face.

Jae genuinely laughed. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Smith. I'm already used to calling you that."

"Yes. You refused to call me Anne even when you were a toddler." She glanced inside the house, patiently waiting for her husband to show up any minute now. "How's Pauline, by the way?"

"Mom's fine. She just slept really, really early tonight," Jae answered. She rubbed her hands at her shoulders, hoping to alleviate the cold, but also wanting to show the neighbor that she's freezing, standing outside the house.

Mrs. Smith caught the action and immediately felt ashamed. "Oh! I'm terribly sorry. Please, come in, Jae." She stepped out of the way to let the young girl in.

"It's alright. I know you were waiting for Mr. Smith." But before Jae could come in, Mr. Smith showed up.

"Hey kiddo! Sorry, it took me a long time honey. The kids won't buy the story. But when they heard Jae was coming, they were ecstatic." Mr. Smith winked at Jae.

"The kids love you, don't they, Jae?" Mrs. Smith said fondly.

Jae humbly nodded, pushing away the annoyance she felt when Mr. Smith forgot to let her in as well. "They do, surprisingly so. They didn't like me as much when they first met me, though."

"Ah yes. Eryl has told me about Sandra. That she kept kicking you for no reason," Mrs. Smith said with a laugh.

That was almost a year ago, back when Jae first started out babysitting the neighbor's kids. Mr. and Mrs. Smith had five kids, two of them were sixteen (almost her age), one of them was eight, one was six and one was barely four. The youngest, who was three, hated her as soon as she was introduced to them. Firstly because she would be replacing their mommy and daddy and secondly, they hated her short hair.