A GIFT BEFORE HALLOWEEN - ST/MILEVEN AU

Chapter 2

A few hours earlier

Christmas Town was always beautiful. The stunning landscape constantly covered in a thick coat of snow that glistened in the sunlight. The town itself was minuscule, the houses cozy and comfortable, forever with a decorated tree in the centre of the living room. Surrounding the gigantic tree in the middle of town was an ice rink that you could always count on to be swarming with penguins and elves. Railway tracks ran through the mountains that enclosed the small town, little karts moving along them with all the necessary tools for toy making. Everything was always lit in colourful Christmas lights; they hung from the roofs of houses and from the lampposts that ran through the streets.

With sixty-two days until Christmas, the residents of Christmas Town were working hard. Many hidden away in the toy factory, others in the bakery; however, one resident found herself sat alone, an incredibly bored expression upon her glacial features.

Being the daughter of the most famous man in town was hard. She had never been treated as a normal person; people were either overly sweet or spoke carefully as to not accidentally say something they shouldn't. And whenever people spoke to her, it was almost never about her, always about the holiday or her father or was she excited to take over one day?

The answer was no. She wasn't.

Eleanor Hopper had never been more than the daughter of James Hopper - the one and only Santa Claus - and she doubted she ever would be. It had been the same for as long as she could remember, an immortal life of nothing.

There were positives. Eleanor had a wonderful mother and brother as well, though they weren't related by blood. Her father had married Joyce when Eleanor was merely five years old, but she couldn't even tell you how long that had been - she's been eighteen for forever, as had her step-brother Will.

On a small hillside, at the bottom of the mountain, she sat and gazed down at the luminous town bellow. She saw some people having snowball fights, whilst others built snowmen. Parents aided to their children who had fallen over whilst ice skating, Eleanor felt her heart twinge when she noticed other children going over to help, knowing she had never had friends like those. She also felt sorrow at the thought that many of those children would stay children forever.

Eleanor had always thought that she lived a completely unfair life. She got to overwatch kids from all over the world grow up and have children of their own, yet she wasn't even allowed to get a job in her own town. It made her want to burst into a ball of fury because even though the children in Christmas Town would stay young for life, they had each other to spend eternity with, she was stuck on the verge of adulthood with one friend who was her brother, and he was the least adventurous person in town.

With a forlorn sigh, she stood from the ground, brushed off the snow from her legs and carefully ventured back home. She had gotten used to the cold by now, yet she wore woollen tights under her red and white plaid skirt and a poncho-like red and white coat over her white t-shirt.

It didn't take her long to wade through the blanket of snow back home. Her family lived in a grand house at the head of Christmas Town, her bedroom window overlooked the buildings bellow and it made for a wonderful sight to wake up to.

"I'm home!" Eleanor declared upon crossing the threshold and hanging up her coat.

"Hi, honey," Joyce responded, her voice echoed from the living room.

"Where's Dad and Will?" The girl asked upon seeing her mother, who was sat reading in her armchair in front of the fireplace, which was aflame and crackling.

The woman reached for her bookmark and placed it between the pages before she closed the book and faced her daughter. "Hop took Will over to the factory, said he wanted him to learn the ropes."