The Duo That Saved Christmas

A Turn For the Worst

School went by fairly quickly. Nick was having a great day. He got a perfect score on a math test he thought he was gonna fail and he got to judge the annual Cookie Baking Contest in his Home Skills class. Since he was to be the next Santa and he will be eating lots of cookies in his future his teacher felt he would be a great judge. Which also meant that Nick didn't need to participate in the contest which normally wouldn't be optional but since he was judging he didn't need to participate. Nick loves his cookies so he was a happy guy. Benny helped him with his one assignment and now he doesn't have any homework for over the weekend. Things were great.
As for Greta and the other Misfits, they were having a horrible day. Greta's teacher wouldn't let them pass their Christmas Cheer class since they didn't have any. Even though they got every question right on every test and assignment, the teacher was still failing them. Greta felt that her teacher was being unreasonable. I mean come on they get all the answers right just let them pass. The teacher wouldn't even let them try and get their grade better which pissed off Eben. The teacher despised the misfits so she wasn't planning on helping them anytime soon.
Then a teacher decided to have a pop quiz that none of the three friends were ready for. Heather got so frustrated and mad she melted her pen, then almost melted the desk.
Finally at lunch they had to deal with August and her friends tormenting them. For forty minutes straight they sat there and had to listen to their rude remarks while they pointed their fake nailed fingers at them and laughed about the dumbest things. Which was normal but today that was the last thing they needed. If Greta wasn't already walking on thin ice with the headmaster she would have gone off on August and her friends but she kept her cool.
The end of the day couldn't come fast enough. The second that final bell rang they got their stuff and quickly left to go back to their little town on the outskirts of the village. Little did they know the day was just about to get worse.

When it came to the end of the day for Nick. He grabbed his stuff, met up with Benny, and headed back toward the workshop.
Something was wrong.
They could tell as they were walking through the village. Usually there would be elf's talking merrily as they walked home, shopping for gifts for friends, or taking a break before they headed back to work. The smell of cookies and sweets would be the most potent since after school is when bakers were the busiest. But as they walked home they saw elf's talking with worried tones and in very hushed whispers. There were no elf's shopping and barely anyone taking a break. The smell of sweets were faint and barely any Café's and Bakery's were open which wasn't normal. Then Nick saw one group of elves crying outside the shop.
He and Benny looked at each other. There was something in the air and they both felt it. Something in the air that you never feel unless something was really very wrong. Fear.
"Something is not right. We gotta find our dad's and see what's going on," said Benny.
"Yeah let's go," Nick pushed open the doors to the workshop.

As you open the big gold doors you walk in and see a big room filled with Christmas decorations and hard working elf's. The room was two stories. The inside was decorated with dark wood floors, dark wood railings, and a staircase in the back used to get to the second floor. On the ground floor was where all the letters from Santa came in and would be read. Once they were read the elf's would put the name of the child and what they want into a computer system where then the toy makers that made the specific thing that was asked for would get a notification of the child's name and what they wanted.
There were rows of desks with computers filled with elf's hard at work. Each desk was decorated uniquely to fit each elf. The desks were decorated with small Christmas knickknacks and photos. Next to each desk was a basket of letters that needed to be read and put into the system. If they were to stay on schedule all the letters in the basket needed to be read before the elf went home.
None of them were talking which wasn't usual. Typically there would be Christmas music playing and talk about Christmas especially with it being so close. But there was no music and no talking. The silence was strange.