---

 
Looking out across the frozen pond Will smiled at the sight of so many children playing on the ice. Several boys played hockey off to one side out of the way of the other skaters. A couple of those boys showed some serious skill on the ice, ‘Better than me,’ Will, who had been one of the original members of the North Stars when they joined the NHL in 1967, thought to himself. Nearer to where Will sat in his wheelchair, a small girl of no more than four or five years old held her mother’s hand while she timidly moved forward on a pair of double bladed beginner skates. Will thought back to when the mother was first led out onto the ice by her own father so many years ago. Like so many that came out to skate on the pond he had watched the small town build almost thirty-five years ago, Will had watched her grow up. He remembered when she had graduated to single bladed skates and the falls the once little girl had as she adjusted to having toe picks on the blades. A small chuckle escaped his lips as Will remembered how the woman, a teen at the time, had pretended to be a novice on skates to give her boyfriend, now husband, the excuse to hold her close.

He envied the mother for the life she lived, a life that only lived in his dreams. Being born in a time when men wore their hair short, or ‘high and tight,’ as the saying went, no boy was allowed to have long hair or act even slightly feminine while no proper woman would be caught in public wearing anything but a skirt or dress, it was impossible for Will to even consider acting on his feelings as he grew up. Then puberty came to smash any chance of his dreams to happen.

Most boys dream of puberty hitting them like it did Will. Tall and muscular with a wide chest, broad shoulders and chiseled Olympian features, Will had women secretly fantasizing about him. He had quite a few friends that were women as he held many of the same interests as they did. Will truly enjoyed those times when the girls would invite him to go clothing shopping with them. Of course their main reasoning was to have someone to carry the bags, which Will was happy to do just for the chance to be able to stand around in the women’s section of the stores and give opinions on the various styles and types of clothing as his friends picked through the store.

Will noticed two older children he didn’t recognize, which was unusual as he may have problems remember all their names now, but he knew every child in the small town. Both wore brightly colored knitted stocking caps that appeared to have been made of reds, greens and gold yarns that even had the little white pompoms on the end, pulled down over their ears to keep them warm. The way the two skated together across the frozen pond would have made professional figure skaters take notice. The grace of their movements across the ice, hand in hand as the two went into synchronized skating maneuvers that Will believed could easily earn first place in any adult competition.

Seeing two of the boys playing hockey with the blades of their sticks held above their shoulders racing toward a loose puck, Will cupped both his hands around his mouth and shouted at the boys, “Sticks on the ice!” Will had taught more boys about hockey than he could remember, this group was no exception and one rule he taught them all was to keep the blade of your stick down, preferably on the ice but never above the waist. Too many injuries and penalty minutes were caused by unintentional high sticking, which in Will’s mind the best way to avoid was to always keep your stick on the ice.

“Mr. Olsen?”

Will turned to the voice speaking to him, finding the two kids had skated over and was now standing in front of his wheelchair. Will couldn’t help but notice the coats they wore were not the factory made nylon outer shell stuff you'd find in a store. They appeared to be handmade, knitted out of heavy wool yarn in colors and patterns fit for the Christmas season just like the stocking caps they wore. “Don’t think I’ve seen you two out on the ice before?”

“We’re not from around here.” Will thought the one speaking was a boy, but the child’s features were so androgynous it was difficult to tell for sure since some girls would wear short hair now days too. Although looking closer at the two children, they both wore thick knitted tights so Will guess the child was a girl after all since boys would never wear green tights.

“You tow must have an indoor ice rink or a lot colder weather than we have here as good as the two of you skate.”

“Yes we can skate year round back home,” the longer haired of the two girls answered.

“So where is home for you two?”

“Up north,” The short haired girl grinned mischievously before reaching into her coat to pull out a package wrapped in Christmas paper and tied with a red ribbon. Holding it out toward Will, “We wanted to make sure you got this.”

Taking the package from the girl’s hand, Will could quickly tell whatever was inside was soft. Looking back up to the expectant looks on the two girls faces, “I’m guessing you want me to open it now?” Both girls nodded their heads emphatically. Removing the ribbon, Will found an edge of the decorative wrapping paper and tore open the package.

Pulling the wrapping paper away Will unfolded a red and white furred stocking cap, the same kind of hat a child would expect to see Santa Clause wearing. Although Will could tell this was no cheap dime store faux fur hat. The fur looked and felt real although Will knew of no animals that had fur this color of red. Not even the red fox’s fur was this red. Looking closely at the red fur it was not a uniform color, with many hairs of the fur lighter or darker that those around it, there was no way it could have been dyed. The longer white fur of the pompom and the white fur inside and around the rim of the hat was not a uniform white either as it had some light gray hairs mixed in.

Looking up at the two children, “This is real fur, it has to be expensive, I can’t accept it.”

“You have to!” The long haired girl gasped.

“Yes, please take it,” The stunned expression on the other girl’s face quite evident, “It was made just for you.”

“But this must have cost you two a lot of money,” Will argued. “Money you could use to buy yourself things, instead of some old man you don’t know.”

“Don’t know!” The short haired girl squeaked, “You’re like almost a legend where we live. Look how many boys you have taught the right way to play hockey, without all the fighting and cheap shots some players use, some have went on to play in the NHL. The hockey sticks you hand make for the kids to use.”

“The skates you’ve repaired or sharpened,” The long haired girl continued when her friend stopped, “The skates you have given away. All the kids you helped teach to skate better.”

“The baseball bats you make for the little league!”

“The ballerina recitals you’ve sat through because a little girl wanted ‘Grandpa Will’ to see her dance.” The long haired girl took a deep breath, “You’ve made so many wishes come true for children over the years. How could we not know about you!”

“Please, you have to put on the hat,” Will’s heart almost broke at the puppy dog look the short haired girl gave him.

Reaching up Will pulled the old world war two bomber hat off that he had bought at an army surplus store almost forty years ago. Shivering as the bitter cold touched his mostly bald scalp Will quickly put on the stocking hat. Pulling the plush rabbit fur edge down to cover the top of his ears, a smile formed on his lips as he felt how comfortable the cap was.

“We knew you’d like it!” The two girls grinned back at Will before running off giggling toward the frozen pond, turning to look back at Will once they were on the ice. “Merry Christmas Mr. Olsen!” the two yelled before skating off and disappearing behind the small manmade island in the middle of the pond.

Weeks passed and Christmas was only a few days away. The cap so comfortable that Will rarely took it off. As warm as it kept his head outdoors he couldn’t believe how it felt so good when he was inside, always feeling just right, never hot when indoors or cold when outdoors. Will hurried to dress himself and get out to the pond before the children began arriving. The last few days had been unseasonably warm, which would mean even more than the usual number of children and their parents would be outdoors, but also meant that the thickness of the ice had been thinning over the warm spell. Will wanted to make sure someone checked the ice to make sure it was still safe to go out on.

Will arrived at the pond to see a man out on the ice drilling a hole with a battery powered electric drill then sticking a tape measure into the small hole. “How’s the ice Matt?” Will called out to the man.

The man stood up from where he had squatted down and turned to face Will, “Hey Poppa Will!” Matt smiled over at Will, using the name almost every adult in town called him, “I’ve only drilled 5 test holes so far but the thinnest I measured so far is four and a half inches.”

“Good,” Will responded, “I worry with how warm it’s been lately.”

“You and me both, last thing any of us want is someone going through the ice.” Matt began walking across the ice toward Will, “Got a few more test holes to drill, but looks like we’re going to be okay for skating today, tomorrow might be a different story.”

Will watched as the middle aged man drilled two more test holes in the ice as he made his way across the pond toward Will. Stopping almost thirty feet from the last test hole he drilled Matt stopped to drill another hole. As he dropped to one knee there was a loud popping noise that sounded very similar to thunder that both men could hear. Only Matt heard the smaller cracking noises as the ice beneath him grew spider web like cracks all around him moments before it gave way.

Will watched as Matt’s head appeared out of the water and his gloved hands dug at the now wet ice sheet unable to find purchase to pull himself out of the water, “Your cleats!” Will yelled from where his wheelchair sat at the edge of the pond, “Use your cleats!”

Using his teeth Will ripped the glove off his right hand then fished his cell phone out of his coat pocket with his now bare hand, quickly dialing 9-1-1 on the older style flip phone.

“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?”

“Aimee? This is Will Olsen, Matt fell through the ice out here at the pond, he needs help.”

Will could hear her dispatching the call on the police stations radio over his phone. “Alright Jerry’s on patrol and on his way, I also alerted the fire department and first responders.”

“Let them know he’s still in the water!”

Aimee, like almost everyone in town had grown up under the old man’s caring shadow, thought of him as family and knew the old man all too well, “You stay off the ice.” When he didn’t reply she spoke into the phone again, “Do you hear me Poppa Will? Don’t you dare go out on the ice after him!”

Had will still been there he may have heard the muffled voice of Amiee from where he had dropped the phone on the packed snow before using that hand to push the small joystick forward on the motorized wheelchair propelling it and himself out onto the ice. Will was more than half way out to where Matt fought for his life, the ice crunching, crackling and popping under the weight of the heavy wheelchair’s rubber tires, before Matt spotted the old man. Stopping his struggle long enough to yell at Will, “What the hell are you doing? That chair weighs a ton, get off the ice!”

“Where’s your cleats?” Will shouted back at him.

“Get off the ice before you…” Matt slid back under the water as he made a sweeping motion with one arm trying to get Will to turn back. Matt broke the surface, both arms flying out onto the ice to hold him from going under again just in time to see Will throw himself forward out of the wheelchair as it lurched to the left, the ice breaking through under the wheel. Landing on its side with a loud thump that vibrated the surrounding ice, the heavy motorized wheelchair broke through and sank into the icy water under the ice.

Gasping to regain his breath after being knocked out of him when he hit the hard ice, Will turned on his side while reaching into his left coat pocket, fighting to get something out with his remaining gloved hand. Unable to do so with the heavy glove on, Will took his empty hand out of his coat pocket, frantically removing the glove before shoving his hand back in his pocket to pull out two short wooden handles that had three short curved rods in each. Holding the two items, one in each hand, the metal rods stuck out between his fingers like claws allowing Will to drag himself across the ice toward the struggling man in the water.

Struggling across the ice until he was within arm’s reach of Matt, Will pushed one then the other of his homemade claws toward Matt. “Take the cleats, pull yourself out!”

Taking the homemade claws into his own hands, Matt struggled to pull himself out of the water but even with his now better grip on the ice with the claws, struggling in the cold water had drained too much of his strength. Pulling himself forward on the ice, Will grabbed onto the back of Matt’s waterlogged coat and began pulling, helping Matt to pull himself out of what he knew would become an icy grave for the man before more help could arrive.

The water that had splashed across the top of the ice from Matt’s struggles hampered them by making the surface even more slippery than normal causing Will to inch closer to the hole in the ice every time he pulled against the weight of the larger man. Slowly inch by inch he managed to help Matt up onto the ice out of the hole.

Rolling over onto his back Matt began coughing as he fought to catch his breath. Through chattering teeth, “T—thanks,” he rolled over in the direction of Will to find no one there. “WILL!” Matt screamed, twisting his body around so he could see the hole in the ice he had fallen through. Finding the only sign that the old man had been there, one of the pac boots Will always slipped on his feet without lacing up, in the hole in the ice, floating in the water.

“WILL!” Matt screamed once again while twisting himself all the way around facing the hole. Reaching out he grabbed the lone boot tossing it behind him out on to the ice before reaching down into the icy water trying to find and purchase on the elderly man so he could pull him up.

Matt was soon pulled back by the volunteer firemen that had laid out one of their ladders across the ice and used it as a safety bridge to crawl out and grab Matt. Matt frantically fought them off until one of the men realized his frantic screaming was because Will had fallen in trying to rescue him.

An hour later the small hole had been widened to over thirty feet across as three men with large grappling hooks tossed them over and over into the water, allowing them to sink to the bottom before pulling them back in, in hopes of snagging part of the elderly man’s clothing and pulling his body out of the pond. They continued expanding the hole as they drug the bottom for a body. The following morning a diver was brought in who scoured every inch of the pond in an attempt to locate the old man’s body but it was never found.

Matt was questioned heavily many hoping in his panic to get out of the ice, he only imagined that Will has saved him, but when a tow truck wrenched the motorized wheelchair out of the pond and officers finding no one at home when they went to check on Will, no one doubted Matt’s story. They even found his walker, his only other means of getting around, in his house right where he always left it beside the spot he always charged his motorized wheelchair.

~o~O~o~

As Will started to regain consciousness the first thing he noticed was the noise of what sounded like tiny bells, ‘Not noise, music,’ as he recognized the tune they played was, ‘It came upon a midnight clear’ a Christmas song. Will laid there with his eyes closed enjoying the music. When that song ended the same bells began playing, ‘Joy to the World.’ Will opened his eyes after hearing a child’s voice whisper, “I think she’s awake.”

Turning his head toward the sound of the voice, Will brushed some light colors something out of the way that had fallen over his eyes before seeing the two your girls from the pond that had given him the new fur cap. Behind the two children the wall looked to be made out of roughhewn pine boards. A fireplace in the middle of the wall with a roaring fire warmed the room its mantle adorned with various Christmas decorations. While a fur tree stood decorated for Christmas in one corner. Will’s eyes widen as he realized just what he thought the two children really were, as this looked like what always envisioned Heaven to be like, “Where, where am I?” Will reached up to his throat as his voice sounded too high pitched for some reason. Finding nothing there, including the whiskers he hadn’t bothered to shave off that morning Will thought back to the last think he could remember.

He was pulling Matt out of the ice hole he had fallen into. Problem was the icy water on top the ice made the ice so slippery, when he gave that final pull that had helped Matt life himself out of the hole, Will has slipped forward too far on the ice and fell into the hole himself. Looking back at the two children, “You, you’re angels?”

Both children began giggling and snickering, “Elves.” One finally answered between giggle fits.

“Noel, Fizzy, why don’t you two make yourselves useful and bring our guest a cup of cocoa and some cookies?” A large man at least six feet in height and almost as big around walked in through a wide arched doorway. His white hair and long white beard along with the red undershirt and red pants with suspenders make it impossible to mistake who is was supposed to be. Will gasped at the sight of the man, his eyes wide as possible, “You, you… no you can’t be!”

“Friad I can be, and I am him,” The white bearded fat man even chuckled the famous ‘Ho, ho, ho.’ “I’d tell you to go ahead and pinch yourself but be careful with those nails I think you could draw blood quite easily.”

Will raised his hand up to see a hand he didn’t recognize. His hands were old and calloused with large knuckles and liver spots. The hand he saw was slender with a healthy but pale complexion. Will would have guessed these to be the hands of a young woman even without the long manicured nails painted in bright green with tiny glittery snowflakes that seemed to magically move across the polished nails, “I’m, I’m a girl?”

Grinning Santa touched a finger to his nose, “It’s been your wish for as long as you can remember.”

“But I never spoke of it, not even when I was alone, no one knew.”

“It’s sort of my job to know what people really want, even when they keep it a secret,” Will couldn’t help but noticed how the man’s belly shook as the man insisting that he was Santa chuckled.

“So if you knew of my wish, why grant it now?” Will puzzled, “Why not last year or ten years ago or forty years ago?”

Santa tilted his head smiling down at Will form where he stood, “If I you had got your wish forty years ago, who would have taught little Joey how to play hockey and eventually make it to the NHL? Who would have pulled the Horton boy out of the water when he ignored the thin ice signs and ran out onto the pond with those bullies chasing him? Would Tina have worked so hard in her dance lessons if Grandpa Will had not been around? How many other lives have you affected over the years?”

“Still that doesn’t explain why now and not a year from now.”

Santa sighed deeply, “Will Olsen was at the end of his time. Between the exertion of trying to save his friend and the shock of the cold water when he slipped into the water, his heart stopped. If we had left you there, they would not have been able to revive you.”

“So I died.”

“No, we pulled you out before that happened,” Santa walked over and sat on the edge of the bed Will was in, “Now about that job…”

~o~O~o~

The bell rang causing the teens sitting behind the desks to jump up and race toward the door to the classroom. The young blond teacher stood up from her desk yelling to be heard above the roar, “Don’t forget, those of you that signed up for caroling be at the park by the skating pond no later than five P.M.” She could only hope the students remembered, although in defense of their excitement to leave, this was the last class on the last day of school before the Christmas holidays.

One dark haired girl lagged behind the other students leaving, walked up to the teacher’s desk, “Miss Maas, I just wanted to say I thought your outfit was gorgeous.”

The teacher looked down at the green velvet dress she wore, the hem of the dress falling halfway to her knees and ending in long white fur trim exactly like the fur trim around the end of the sleeves and the neck opening. “It’s one of my favorite dresses,” Miss Maas smiled at the young teen.”

“I wish I had a dress like yours, its beautiful.”

“Funny that you mention that,” Miss Mass walked over to the door to the storeroom for her classroom, opened the door, then without looking reached in to the side and brought her hand back out holding an identical dress but in a smaller size that would fit the teen on a hangar inside a clear garment bag. “I’ve been hoping to find someone that could use this one as it was too small for me.”

“Oh my god!’ the girl squealed, “You can’t be serious!”

“I’m very serious Lisa,” handing the dress to the girl, “Merry Christmas.”

“Om my god,” Clutching the dress to her breasts, “Thank you, thank you, thank you, this is so awesome! You are like the greatest ever Miss Maas.”

After the student scurried out of the room, Miss Maas looked up to find one of her fellow teachers leaning against the door frame. “Hi Mr. Harris.”

“Schools out Meri, we can use first names now.”

“What can I do for you Steve?”

“I was wondering if you had any plans for Christmas eve?” Standing up away from the doorframe he had been leaning against. “I know you’re single and have no family close by, I thought I would invite you over to my parents for dinner?”

“I’m sorry Steve, Christmas eve is a really busy time for my adopted family, I’ll be flying home to help them with the preparations.” She walked over by him to the coat rack, pulling the bright red hooded coat with white fur trim off the hook. Once she had her coat on she grabbed the fur stocking cap off the coat rack and put it on, quickly pulling it down to cover to top of her ever so slightly pointed ears as the cap forced them to stick out from under her hair. “You can walk me over to the park if you like?” Meri suggested as she went back over to the storeroom and retrieved a large bag.

“I can drive you there?”

“It’s too nice outside, I’d much rather walk.”

“Nice?” Steve shivered, “It’s something like ten degrees out there!”

“Yes, isn’t it wonderful!” Meri smiled, “And since I walk right by there to go home I can check on the kids out skating. I’ve heard some of the boys playing hockey have been getting a bit too aggressive when no one is watching them.”

~o~O~o~

Meri watched the boys playing hockey as she put on her skates. Meri saw so many things going on that the boys would have never tried back when Will kept an eye on them. “Yelling over to the boys, Sticks on the ice where the puck is boys! And you!” pointing at one of the older boys, “If I see you trip anyone again with your stick, you’ll be playing without a stick for the rest of the game!”

The boy turned to Meri, “Who are you to tells us how to play! You’re just a music teacher, you don’t know anything about hockey!”

Meri skated over to the teen looking up at the taller boy, “Okay how about a little one on one, you and me.” Meri grinned up at the taller boy, “And to make it fair I’ll have an open net behind me and you get to keep your goalie. First to five goals wins.”

“Just shows how much you know about hockey, that’s a fools bet!”

“Then show me how foolish I am,” Meri smiled, “But if I win you listen and you follow my rules.”

To say the one on one game was one sided would be an understatement. Meri did aim a few well-placed shots on goal directly at the goalies blade to give him a few saves. When she was up four goals to none Meri stopped in front of the other boys, “Are all you boys going to sit there and watch your teammate lose or are you going to help him?”

One of the boys spoke up, “But I thought it was one on one?”

“Rule one, never leave a teammate out in the cold, always be there for the assist!” Meri shouted, “Now get out there and help your teammate!”

The one on one game turned into Meri teaching the boys about sportsmanship and playing as a team. Finally walking back to the bench where she had left her things she saw Steve sitting on the bench clapping. “That was some of the best skating I believe I’ve ever seen. And you intentionally passing the puck back to the one kid who had ran out of steam by your goal. The surprise on his face when he realized he had the puck and could make a goal. Now that was a Kodiak moment. And the rules you gave them, which reminded me so much of back when I first started playing hockey on this pond and the rules Papa Will would give everyone. But your skating, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone skate like that. It’s was, it was, just wow!”

Meri sat down and began taking off her skates, “I’m really not that good, you should see some of my family on skates, some of them are simply magical on a pair of skates.” Beginning to wonder about his motives for following her out to the park, “So what brought you out here, I thought you said it was too cold.”

“I know you said you have plans to go visit your family,” Steve began, “Where did you say they lived again?”

“Up north.”

“Um yes, you said that, but I can’t remember you mentioning the town you are from?”

“It’s a little place, not even a town really just a small village.” Quickly diverting the subject, “Was there something else on your mind?”

“Oh yes, well I was hoping since you would be flying out of town for the holidays soon, you would let me take you for dinner tonight?”

Meri smiled warmly at the man shaking her head, “I’m sorry Steve, I really do wish I could, but I can’t.”

“But if you want to like you say, what’s the problem?”

“I’m sorry it’s really complicated. It’s just I can’t get involved with anyone right now.”

“Okay, I think I know what the issue is.” Steve held up his hand when he saw Meri ready to interrupt. “You are cryptic about where you are from, you don’t talk much about your past and you’re afraid of getting into a relationship with a man.” Steve reached out to take one of Meri’s hands, “Lots of women have fled from an abusive husband. I’m not him and I swear my intentions are honorable. My only goal is to get to know you better, nothing more, at least for now.”

Meri looked down at their hands as Steve spoke, trying her best not to laugh since he was being so sincere. Looking back up she tried stifling the snickering. “I’m sorry,” Meri took a few deeps breaths between giggles, “I don’t mean to laugh at you, really.” Taking a few moments to finally compose herself, “My adoptive parents are the most wonderful two people you could ever hope meet as are all my cousins. And I have never had a husband, abusive or otherwise.”

“Okay then there is no reason we can’t walk over as two friends and split a pizza.”

Meri sighed, knowing it would be easier to give in than to continue saying no. Anyway she was getting hungry and if she paid for half it wouldn’t be like a real date. “Okay you win, pizza does sound pretty good.”

“Great!” Steve stood up, “My treat!”

~o~O~o~

Two days later Steve stood on the front porch of Meri’s house holding a pair of hockey skates. It had taken him half the day yesterday to dig out all his and his father’s old skating gear. While his father’s old stuff was unnecessary for him to go skating, changing the blades on his own skates for the old crusty ones from his father’s old skates was the only means he could think of as an excuse to come see Meri. Since she had bought Papa Will’s place as is, and Steve had learned that Will’s old skate sharpening machine was still in the garage. Steve had no idea if Meri knew how to use the equipment but as he had spent a lot of time helping Will in the garage during his teen years, although it had been awhile Steve had firsthand experience with the equipment. Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves Steve knocked on the door.

When the door opened Steve quickly began, “Hi Meri, sorry for dropping by unannounced but after watching you and those kids on the ice, I dug out my old skates and was wondering if you still had Will’s old sharpener?” spitting out his rehearsed greeting Steve’s eyes went wide when he saw Meri now had red hair. “You, you dyed you hair.”

Meri smiled warmly at him before turning her head back behind the partially open door, “Meri you have a visitor.” Turning back to Steve, holding out her hand, “Hi I’m Holly, Meri’s cousin.”

“Cousins?” Steve choked out, “You, you’re like her identical twin.”

“Oh heaven’s no, I wish I was as young as Meri, but thank you for thinking I was,” Holly’s chuckle sounded almost like a teenager’s giggle. “Knock the snow off your shoes and come on in, Meri was just making some hot cocoa. Would you care for a cup?”

“Um, yeah, I mean yes that would be great,” Steve answered while kicking the snow off his shoes before entering.

Sitting there in Meri’s Livingroom with her and her cousin, Steve could not believe how much the two women resembled each other, “Sorry if I’m staring but Meri told me she was adopted and I just can’t get over how much you two look alike. You look like sisters.”

Taking a sip of her cocoa Holly smiled, “Yes Meri does share a lot of our family’s characteristics, so we really happy to bring her into the family when we did.”

After finishing their cocoa Meri led Steve out into the garage where she sat up and sharpened his blades with the old machine Will had built so many years ago. Steve was amazed at how well she seemed to know the cobbled together homemade device so well, reshaping and sharpening the blades on his skates faster than he thought that old Will could have.

Finishing his skates Meri turned to find Steve looking at the old wooden work bench on a side wall, “Everything okay Steve?”

“Oh,” Steve turned to face Meri, “Yes, I was just remembering how Will helped me to make my first baseball bat right on this work bench. After my mom passed away we had it rough for a few years, my dad couldn’t afford a lot. I was envious of the boys with all their sports equipment. Will brought me in here and showed me how to make my own.” Pointing under the work bench at a long wooden stepstool, “He made that so I could reach the work bench. He helped me make a bat, then he showed me how to clean and recondition the leather of an old glove then relace it giving me a glove that was better than you could buy at the store.” Steve continued after a big sigh, “I spend most afternoons here after school until my dad got off work. Will said it was to pay for the things like the baseball and hockey equipment he helped me make, but I knew he was doing it so my dad could work extra hours without worrying about me.”

“I have a feeling that wasn’t his only reason.”

Looking over Steve found Meri’s warm smile impelling causing his cheeks to feel warm, “I know most everyone called him grandpa, but to me he really was like a grandfather to me even after my father remarried I still hung out here as much as I could.”

Holding up his freshly sharpened skates, “What do you say we go give these a try?”

“Really, you want to go skating with me?” Steve felt elated that she would ask.

“Sure, why wouldn’t I?” Meri shook the skates at him as if she was tempting a young toddler.

With a big grin on his face, Steve took the skates so they could go back in the house and grab their coats to go skating.

Hours later after Meri had returned home, she sat with Holly in the kitchen, “He’s quite handsome.”

“Steve?” Meri questioned, “You know I can’t.”

“And why not?”

“What about when he gets older and I still look like this?” Meri motioned with her hands at herself. “And I’m so much older than he is, I remember when his mother used to push him around the pond in a baby carriage!”

“Sounds to me someone is afraid of things they have no control over.”

“Holly, he’s already been asking about our family and where we live!”

“So?”

“What do I tell him?”

“If you two become serious, tell him the truth.”

“He’ll think I’m insane!” Meri gasped, “I can’t tell him I used to be old man Will and that Santa’s elves saved me and gave me the body I always dreamed of.”

“I’d start with something simple like, ‘Oh by the way my father is Santa Clause,’ then work your way from there to the really impossible to believe stuff,” Holly laughed.

“Yeah like that would work,” Meri glared at her red haired twin.

“Don’t worry little sister, you have plenty of time to figure it out.”

---

 
This is a continuation of, “The Story of Meri Kris Mass”, so if you haven’t read that one it’s best to go do that first.

Steve had hoped to have the chance to spend more time with Meri before Christmas but when he arrived at Meri’s house he found a note pinned to the door that read, ‘Gone to visit family for Christmas, will be back on Dec 26.’ With a heavy sigh Steve adjusted the gift wrapped present under his arm before turning to walk back toward his own home. Passing through the park Steve stopped and sat on one of the benches that sounded the pond to watch the children and teens out skating that morning.

As he sat there watching the children skate around on the ice, Steve couldn’t help but wonder about Meri. She had only moved into the small town no more than two weeks before the school year had begun. Bought and moved into Will’s old place, before anyone saw go up for sale. Then seemed to have had the job lined up as the new high school music teacher before anyone knew Mrs. Horton was even going to retire and open the position.

While Steve was only in his fifth year as the science teacher, he had made enough friends among the other teachers to be included in any gossip and he was not the only one that had been surprised about Mrs. Horton’s retirement or her replacement. Many of the teachers resented the way she had been hired as no one had been allowed to bid into the position like normally should have occurred when a position opened like that. Current employees always had first rights to the new position before the school board hired from outside.

Meri had to deal with quite a bit of animosity for the way she was hired. Steve even had to admit it bothered him at first, but Meri shed the hostilities and animosity of the other teachers like water off a duck’s back. And she was so friendly and helpful to everyone it was impossible not to like her. She was the most friendly, giving person Steve had ever had the pleasure to meet. He had to admit to himself that he was originally attracted to her due to her looks. What man wouldn’t be attracted to such a beautiful woman? What Steve found most charming was her attitude, they say people can be put into two categories, those that see the glass half full and those that see it half empty. Meri always seems like her glass was overflowing.

Steve thought that was what he liked best about Meri, her positive attitude and her love of children. It was obvious for anyone that looked that their own mother’s couldn’t have loved the students in her classes more than Meri did. Steve loved children himself and truly wished to find the right women to settle down with and raise a family. His heart told him that Meri was that woman, she was everything he had ever dreamed of, the perfect women in his mind. He could tell she was interested in him, but whatever secret or secrets from her past kept her from letting herself get close to anyone. There was only one thing he could do, and that was be patient and whenever she finally did let him in on her deep dark secret he would have to show her whatever it was didn’t matter to him. He would show her he loved her for the way she was here and now and whatever happened or she did in her past or family secret she kept hidden made no difference to him.

~o~O~o~

“Hi mom!” Meri waved as she threaded her way over past the dozens of elves rushing about in the enormous kitchen over to the much taller heavyset woman carrying a large sheet of freshly baked cookies.

“Hi Merilyn,” The woman sat the sheet of cookies down on a counter then picked up a spatula that she used to begin transferring the cookies to a cooling rack, “Have you settled into your old home okay?”

Walking over Meri picked up one of the cookies taking a bite from it before answering, “Everything was just as you and daddy said it would be when I got there. Everything was exactly like I left it. The school had all my paperwork ready for me and the kids are so adorable at the school.”

“What about your list?” The white haired woman asked.

“Already gave it to daddy!” Meri grinned, taking another bite from the cookie she was holding, “There were a few that came close to going on the naughty list but I was able to help them become better.”

“Good girl,” The woman smiled lovingly while reaching over with a free hand to gently touch Meri’s cheek, “That’s exactly what we wanted you to do in those cases. The list has nothing to do with judging them, it’s about helping them to grow up giving and receiving the love that all children need.” Going back to removing the hot cookies from the cookie sheet to the cooling rack, “You want to help me with this?”

“That’s what I thought I was doing,” Meri grinned mischievously as she grabbed another cookie and shoved part of it in her mouth. Taking with her mouth full of cookie, “I’m making more room on the cooling rack for your cookies.”

The older woman chuckled, “I think papa may have used a bit too much of the elf magic with you! You’ve got a bit too much of their playful antics. Now grab a spatula and help me with these, I have another pan of them that should be almost ready to come out of the oven I need to check.”

Taking the spatula from her mother Meri shooed her toward the oven as she took her place placing cookies on the cooling rack.

Many hours later Meri plopped down into an overstuffed chair across from a man that bore a striking resemblance to Santa Claus, “Daddy I don’t remember there being this much to do last Christmas.”

The older man chuckled a reverberating, “Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho.” Holding his large belly as it jiggled with his laugh. “We didn’t want to overwhelm you last year as you were still getting used to the new you. There is still much for you to learn, but there is no rush and we’ll only give you as much as you feel comfortable doing. One thing I think you are ready for is driving a full team of reindeer.”

“What?” Meri’s eyes shot wide, “Why would I need to have a team of eight?”

“Well you were really comfortable with six on your sleigh before you went back to that town you’re so fond of, what’s two more?”

“But eight?” Meri gaped, “You told me six was more than enough to pull a sleigh.”

“Quite correct if you want to stay on the ground, “he laughed again. “You don’t want to stay on the ground do you?”

“You’re serious?” Meri couldn’t believe what she was hearing, “You’re really going to let me learn to fly?”

“I have always had intentions of you learning that,” Smiling at Meri, “You have no idea how helpful you can be once you’re comfortable flying a full team. So tomorrow I want you to go find two more that are willing to work with the six you already have and start letting them get used to being a team.”

Mrs. Claus came walking in through an open arched doorway carrying a tray that held three steaming mugs and a plate piled high with cookies. Sitting the tray down on a table near the two, Mrs. Claus sat down in a plush chair beside Santa.

“Are these new?” Santa grinned reaching out to pick up one of the chocolate covered delights as he looked over at his wife to see her nod. Holding the cookie up in front of his eyes, he turned it several times, inspecting the new treat, “Oh I so love the job of taste testing your new recipes momma.”

“As I know you are dear,” Mrs. Claus smiled while patting her hand gently on his thigh, “but these were Meri’s invention.”

Smiling over at Meri, “So my daughter what kind of a new delight have you created.”

Meri grinned, “Peanut butter cookies with a double dipped milk chocolate coating.”

After taking a bite of the cookie, “Mmmm, the have to go on my favorite kinds of cookies list!”

“Papa,” Mrs. Claus chuckled, “every cookie you’ve ever eaten is on that list!”

“That’s because they’re all my favorites!” Santa laughed.

“Now that we are all here together with a nice warm cup of cocoa in our hands,” Mrs. Claus smiled over at Meri. “I wanted to ask you about this new man in your life?”

Man in my life?” Meri almost spat out the hot cocoa she had just taken a sip of, “Momma there is no man in my life.”

“What about Steven?”

“Who’s Steven?” Santa looked back and forth between his wife and Meri.

“He’s just a coworker,” Meri stated. “He teaches science at the same school I teach at.”

Jerking his head over to look back at Mrs. Claus, “Are you saying that our Meri has a boyfriend already?”

Patting Santa’s arm with her hand, “Well dear she is an adult and her maternal clock is ticking.”

“Whoa! Wait a minute!” Meri jumped up from the chair she was in, “I do not have any clock ticking and I don’t have a boyfriend! It wouldn’t do me any good if I did since you said we can’t have children and I’m not human anymore.”

“Who said you couldn’t have children?” Santa asked.

“You did!”

Santa held out his hand while shrugging his shoulders and shaking his head.

“Yes you did, you told me we couldn’t have children,” Meri huffed.

“What I think your father meant was that ‘we’ as in he and I couldn’t have children dear,” Mrs. Claus explained. “You can give us as many grandchildren as you want.”

“I, what?” Meri all but collapsed back into her chair, “But I’m an elf?”

‘You’re only half elf, which means you’re still half human,” Mrs. Claus stated.

“Well, probably closer to thirty, thirty five percent human, “Santa chuckled. “Needed to put a little bit more elf into the magic to get your change to go just right.”

“She can still have children can’t she poppa?” Mrs. Claus looked alarmed.

“Well of course she can dear! Do you think I would have left that out?” Santa boasted.

Mrs. Claus let out the breath that she was holding, “Good, good.”

“Mom, dad, I’m sitting right here?” Meri couldn’t believe the two were having such an animated conversation about her having children. “And do you think I may need a little time to get used to the idea of being changed into an elf girl before we begin naming my children?”

“What he is saying is true poppa,” Mrs. Claus took Meri’s side. “Why we haven’t even met her suitor yet, nor has he asked permission to court Meri yet.”

“Good idea dear,” Santa turned and yelled out through the open doorway, “Harness my team boys, Mother and I are going on an outing!”

“WHAT!” Meri jumped up out of her chair, “No! Daddy you can’t!”

“Why not?” Santa tilted his head giving Meri his full attention.

Searching her thoughts for a reason good enough to stop any arguments Meri realized Christmas Eve was two days away and if anything could keep him from leaving right now that would be it, “Christmas, that’s why! You can’t go flying off to who knows where right now, you’re needed here. And what would happen to Christmas if something happened to you right now? No you have to stay here, there’s too much at stake for you to go anywhere this close to Christmas.”

“She does have a point poppa,” Mrs. Claus agreed.

“Oh alright,” Santa sighed, then looked over at his wife, “I was looking forward to a midnight ride, just you, me alone in the sleigh with the Aurora Borealis to light our way.”

“Okay with that mental vision that I did not want, I’m going to bed,” Meri snickered getting up from the chair and leaving the room.

Entering her room the first thing Meri saw was the pulsing glow of a snow globe that sat on small round table just big enough to hold the eighteen inch clear ball and its base. With a heavy sigh Meri closed the door and walked over to the crystal globe. “Okay what’s got you all glowy?” Meri asked as she peered into the wintry scene it contained. In the snow globe she saw several boys frozen in various positions on a sheet of ice playing hockey. Meri cringed when she noticed two boys off to the side. The larger boy was dressed completely in hockey gear, pants, jersey, even a regulation helmet, while the smaller boy appeared to have put on multiple layers of old clothes to protect him from the cold and accidental flying puck, he also had longer hair that came out from under a cheap plastic football helmet and his skates, they were white figure skating skates. Reaching down where the crystal globe met its base Meri touched a ring that seemed to join the two together. The ring began to slowly rotate to the right.

Meri watched the scene unfold inside the snow globe as the boys became animated and took on realistic qualities.

“Get lost you little fag!” The larger boy yelled at the smaller boy, “Nobody wants you on their team.”

“I, I just wanted to play hockey,” The smaller boy cringed.

“We don’t allow girls to play, they could get hurt,” The larger boy smirked.

“I’m not a girl!” The smaller boy’s voice raised in anger.

“Really?” the larger boy goaded, “You’re wearing girl’s skates and you got long hair. Why don’t you take off your gloves so we can see what color you painted your fingernails?” The larger boy grinned at the smaller, “You know if you were to stop pretending to be a boy, put on a nice dress and a little make up I’d be tempted to ask you to the movies.”

Seeing the opportunity to really get under the larger boy’s skin the smaller boy yelled, “You call me a fag, then try to ask me out? Sounds like we know which one of us really likes boys.”

“YOU LITTLE SHIT!” the larger boy swung his hockey stick up from the ice at the smaller boy’s head.” Meri tapped the ring to stop it from rotating further, freezing the scene in place.

Meri’s eyes went wide as she saw the arc the stick would take, which would cause it to catch the smaller boy in the neck on its edge doing some serious damage if not killing the smaller boy. Standing up straight Meri began to pace back and forth across her room trying to think of anything she could do to stop the boy from being hurt badly. After ten minutes of pacing Meri went back to the snow globe to stare at the scene for several minutes.

Reaching out to the ring once again, Meri pulled it slowly to the left causing the scene to reverse as if she was rewinding a video. Freezing it once again at the point where the larger boy’s stick was on the ice held close to the larger boy’s right foot. Putting her finger on the clear orb, some of the glittery fake snowflakes inside picked up from the floor of the snow globe and began to flow around as if they had magically came to life. Swirling around at the boy’s foot and hockey stick obscuring both from view for a few moments before suddenly drifting down to the white floor of the snow globe although leaving one change to the frozen scene. The laces of the larger boy’s skate was wrapped around his hockey stick and appeared to be frozen in place. Meri then pushed the ring to the right and allowed it to finish playing out the scene, only this time with the laces of his skate frozen to his stick, trying to swing the stick at the other boy caused him to jerk his own foot up off the ice which caused him to fall back on his butt on the ice.

The smaller boy giggled quite girlishly at the fallen boy, “If I did date boys, I would never go on a date with a loser like you.”

~o~O~o~

Sitting on the park bench holding the present he had bought for Meri, Steve sat the present down and got up when he saw the two boys out on the ice yelling at each other and began walking quickly toward them. He hadn’t taken more than five steps out onto the ice when he saw the larger boy apparently trip and fall down on his backside. Seeing the larger boy struggling on the ice Steve continued out and helped him up as he asked, “Are you okay Carl?”

“Yes, god damn stick is stuck to my laces!” The boy spat.

“Language Carl,” Steve cautioned the boy. “We might not be in class but I’m still one of your teachers.”

“Yes sir Mr. Harris,” the boy’s tone became much more subdued. “Sorry, but I can’t get my stick loose.”

Steve knelt down to look at the problem. Seeing the ice buildup on the laces and stick he stood back up, “Looks like your laces are iced up on your stick. You should take them off and go home to let the ice melt or you might ruin your laces.” Glancing around the pond, “Where’d you leave your boots? I’ll help you over so you can get these skates off.”

Motioning toward the opposite side of the pond, “I can do it by myself.”

“I won’t have you falling and getting hurt, I’d never hear the end of it from your mother,” Steve held onto the boy’s arm. As the two made their way across the ice Steve looked back over his shoulder at the smaller boy, “Shawn why don’t you take Carl’s place so the game doesn’t have to end.” Carl cringed and began mumbling under his breath when he heard his teacher.

After making sure the boy got his skates off and was on his way home, Steve walked around the edge of the pond so he wouldn’t interfere with any of the kids skating, picked up the present he had left on the park bench and began walking to his own home.

Dropping the gift wrapped present beside the 42 inch flat screen sitting on the wide entertainment center to the left of the door after entering the house, Steve sat down on a bench took off his boots and then slipped his feet into some slippers that had been sitting beside the bench. Walking through the room into the kitchen, Steve made himself a sandwich which he carried back out on a paper plate along with a can of soda from the fridge. Sitting the plate and can down on the coffee table as he sat down, Steve picked up the TV remote and began surfing through the channels for something to watch as he ate his sandwich.

The contrast of the brightly wrapped gift sitting on the drab brown wood of the entertainment center and the bare cream color of the wall behind it kept drawing Steve’s eye. Eventually causing Steve to look around to see just how plain his undecorated living room was. Steve had always celebrated Christmas at his parent’s home and had always neglected to decorate his own home during the holidays. Even when he was in college it was his roommate that prodded Steve into helping decorate, even the year their sole Christmas decoration was a tree shaped pyramid of various colored beer cans, emptied of course by Steve and his roommate, before being glued together into the form and a Small strand of lights wrapped around the shape. Looking back at the gift wrapped package it looked so out of place lying there.

Finishing his sandwich and soda, Steve deposited his trash in the kitchen bin, pulled his boots and coat back on and was out the door once again. Jumping in the small pickup truck he owned, Steve found himself at the center of town where a small parking lot had been roped off and was selling Christmas trees. Steve had planned on finding a small tree but after seeing the seven foot tall Douglas fir, he knew it was the one he had to have. The tree reminded him of Meri, it just seemed to scream Christmas spirit just like she did in the way she dressed and treated people so compassionately. After loading the tree into the back of his truck, Steve proceeded out of their small town to the closest Walmart located about fifteen miles away in the next town over. There he bought a tree stand, ornaments, tinsel, lights and garland. It was close to midnight when Steve finally climbed into bed, Meri’s present now lying under the multi-colored twinkling lights of the tree that stood in the corner of his living room brightly decorated.

~o~O~o~

Even before Meri sat up in bed the following morning she glanced over at the large two foot diameter snow globe sitting on its pedestal. Meri thought back to the day she had met Jinglebauble, or ‘JB’ as she tended to call him rather than the nickname other elves had given him of ‘Tinker’ that he didn’t care for. That was the day he had given her the snow globe and the smaller six inch one she had in her house back in her small home town that was linked to it. JB like all the elves had magical abilities although unlike most the other elves JB’s magical ability dealt with time or to be more precise space/time itself. JB had tried to explain it to her several times over the days he spent teaching her how to use her set of snow globes but his explanations went over her head so quickly Meri thought she needed someone like Albert Einstein to understand everything JB tried to tell her. Meri understood that her snow globes held the same clockwork magic to a smaller extent that the large clock in the village center and Santa’s sleigh.

The large three story clock in the center of the village was the heart of the system that allowed Santa to perform his amazing one night miracle of delivering toys to children all over the world. His sleigh, and all the snow globes used, all magically linked to the large clock’s magic. The least powerful but so useful snow globes picked up on events when it was possible for Meri or anyone that had one of the magical snow globes, to intervene in a situation to hopefully create a better outcome.

Sliding her feet out from under the thick comforter and over the side of the bed, Meri slipped her feet into the slippers she had left there on the floor. Standing up out of bed, Meri pulled on the thick red fleece robe trimmed in white fur then proceeded to the fireplace in the corner of her room, where she stirred up the hot coals before dropping a couple small logs on to the fire. Looking over at the French doors that led out to a balcony, frost had settled on the glass obscuring her from looking outside, the reflection of the Borealis coloring the cobwebs of frost in multicolored hues of reds, greens, blues, purple and yellows that seemed to twinkle like Christmas lights as she moved around the room to her snow globe.

Looking into the crystal globe, Meri could see the scene was centered on a street she recognized not far from the park but she found it confusing that it showed nothing more than the late night deserted street. Moving the scene forward or in reverse had no affect either. Having never seen this happen before she decided to ask Holly who was in the next room over. Wrapping her robe tight around her body then securing it with the red sash attached to it Meri walked over to Holly’s room and knocked. After hearing, “Come in.” Meri did so, closing the door behind her to find Holly buried under several blankets and comforters curled up in the fetal position shivering.

“Holly are you sick?”

“No, fr, freez, ing,” Meri heard come out from under the pile of bed covers.

Giggling, Meri walked over to the fireplace in the room and used the poker to stir up the coals and partially burnt logs until she had the fire going well again and placed several more small logs into it. Walking over to Holly’s bed Meri picked up Holly’s green robe and took it over to the fireplace. “Hey I need that!” she heard Holly’s complaint from behind her.

“This is trick my mother used to do for me when I was small,” Meri held the robe open in front of the fireplace to let it begin absorbing the heat. Giving the robe several minutes to get toasty warm Meri looked back over her shoulder at Holly, “Get ready to jump out of bed and put this on.”

Doing as she was told, Holly jumped out of bed and quickly slipped on the robe that Meri held up and helped her into. Holly smiled as she wrapped the warm robe around her body, “Oh my god, thank you, you’re an angel!” Holly smiled over at Meri, “I know being from Minnesota you’re used to cold, but in San Antonio this room would be considered a deep freeze.”

Meri laughed, “Well now that I have you dug out of that pile of blankets, I was wondering if you’ve even had your globe show nothing,” Meri thumbed toward Holly’s own snow globe, sitting on its pedestal.

Holly cocked her head to one side squinting a bit, “You mean after it does the glowy stuff right?”

“Yeah.”

Holly shook her head, “Not really, but I remember tinker saying that they can pick up distortions. But if there was some weird distortion in your area it would have shown up on my globe too as mine is still attuned to all of North America.” Both women looked over at Holly’s snow globe which sat perfectly benign. Walking over to her snow globe, Holly used her hands to turn and twist the scene inside to an aerial view of Meri’s home town, “Where exactly was it showing?”

Having followed Holly over to the snow globe, Meri touched the globe with her thumb and first finger then spread them out causing the scene to zoom in on one street. “There!” Meri pointed.

Holly stared at Meri with her mouth agape, “How, how did you do that?”

“Do what?” Meri’s voice trailed off.

Her hand covering her mouth, Holly replied, “You used my snow globe. You can’t use someone else’s globe.”

“I’m sorry,” Meri gasped, jerking her hand away from the globe, “I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to?”

“No,” Holly quickly explained, “You don’t understand, it shouldn’t have worked for you at all. They’re only supposed to work for the one who they were made for.”

“Then how was I able to make yours work for me?”

“I don’t have a clue.” Holly then grinned at Meri, “But we both know who would know.”

“Jinglebauble,” Meri smiled back, “He made them.”

“He will also be able to tell us why your globe acted so weird,” Holly added. “Let’s get dressed and go see him.”

Once dressed the two headed downstairs only to be caught by Mrs. Claus with two steaming mugs of hot cocoa she handed to them before they could get out the door. “Where are you two heading is such a hurry? And before you’ve even had a cup of cocoa. Come girls, let’s go find some food to go with that cocoa. Whatever it is cannot be as important as a good breakfast.”

The two followed Mrs. Claus into a dining room that could have sat at least twenty people. Looking up form where he sat Santa greeted the girls, “Good morning girls.” Noticing how they were already dressed to go outside his gaze focused on Meri, “Going to practice with your team this morning?”

“Hi daddy,” Meri smiled at the large bearded man, “I was actually going to go see J.B. My snow globe was acting funning this morning and thought he might have an idea why?”

“Your globe was acting funny?” One of his bushy white eyebrows rose as he sat straight up, “Nothing serious I hope?”

Meri shook her head, “No, it was strange though. It alerted me to nothing, only showing me an empty street and some houses.”

“Sounds like a minor glitch,” Santa’s posture relaxed, “I wouldn’t worry Jinglebauble with it right now as he should be starting the countdown and doesn’t like to be disturbed once he goes in the clock tower.”

Before Meri had a change to rebuke her father’s glossing over the unusual way her snow globe has acted and elf came running into the room and began whispering into Santa’s ear. Meri watched as his eyes widened at the information the elf relayed to him, which concerned Meri greatly as tonight was Christmas Eve, “Everything alright daddy?”

Looking from the Elf over to Meri, “Oh, mmm… Yes, yes everything is fine, why don’t you and Holly go ahead and go find Jinglebauble like you had planned, while I take care of something that came up.”

Meri looked inquisitively over at the man who she now called father, “I thought you didn’t want us bothering him? Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes, everything is fine, but you two should hurry so you catch him before he goes into the clock tower,” waving his hands in a shooing motion for them to leave.

“This isn’t funny. Where are all the adults? I demand you children tell me where the adults are!” Meri eyes widened in shock as she recognized the voice coming from the hallway the elf had entered.

Running around the table and through the doorway, Meri stopped when she saw a group of maybe a dozen elves surrounding a much taller human man, “Steve what are you doing here?”

“Meri?” Steve stopped when he saw the woman standing in the hallway ahead of him. “What the hell is going on?” All the elves around him stopped and gasped, some placing their hand over their mouths while others froze in place at Steve’s outburst. “Why are all these kids dressed up like Christmas elves? Is this some kind of bad joke?”

Turing to look back into the room she had been in to see her father already out of his chair and halfway to Meri, “Daddy you promised!”

Walking out into the hallway Santa put both hands up on Meri’s shoulders, “I would never break a promise to you honey, I haven’t left the village.”

Pointing toward Steve, “Then how is he here?”

“No, no, no, no, no!” Steve shouted. His eyes glued to the large bearded man wearing a red undershirt and red trousers held up with black suspenders he saw walk out to Meri. His hand shaking as he pointed at the two ahead of him, “You, you’re…” Then looking around at the crowd of what he thought were children, “These are elves, real elves!”

Many of the elves began snickering and giggling, one finally coming forward, “Santa didn’t break his promise Meri, Twinkleleaves and Brandysnap brought him here.”

“Why would they do something like that?” Meri gasped.

“Because we all love you and want you to be happy,” anther elf answered

“And we heard Santa say that he and Mrs. Claus had to talk to him before they would allow him to court you,’ the first elf finished.

“Sa, Santa, elves,” Steve gulped as he looked over at Meri with eyes wide, “He’s your father!”

“Meri, maybe you should bring your boyfriend in here so he can sit down, “the voice of Mrs. Claus came from the dining room most had been in, “I’ll fix him a cup of cocoa.”

“Okay momma,” Meri looked through the doorway at Mrs. Claus then holding her hand out in Steve’s direction, “My mom is right, come on Steve, I know this is a lot to take in.”

“A lot to take in? This, This is impossible!” Steve’s eyes couldn’t open wider in shock, pointing at Santa, “He’s real! Santa Claus and elves are real! And you, you’re his daughter!”

Meri merely nodded as she motioned for him to take her hand, leading him into the dining room where she sat Steve down at the table.

The rest of Steve’s day was filled with wonder and surprise as he helped Meri and the elves ready presents to go all over the world. Working throughout the day with breaks where elves would bring out trays filled with steaming mugs of hot cocoa and other full of cookies, before Steve knew it the whole day had passed and elves were finishing up and filing out of the workshop.

Looking over at Meri for an explanation, “Where’s everyone going?”

“The clock tower. It’s almost midnight.” Meri grinned, “Ever wonder how Daddy can deliver all these presents in one night?”

“Well yeah, who hasn’t?”

Giggling she took Steve’s hand and began pulling him toward the door, “You’re about to find the answer. Although you can’t tell anyone.”

“If I was to tell anyone about today they would lock me up!” Steve laughed.

Outside everyone had gathered around the front of the clock tower. Looking up Steve could see the small hand on the clock face pointing up at the numeral twelve, the longer minute hand pointing three tick marks to the left of twelve as the longer but thinner second hand moved from one tick mark to the next on its circuit around the clock face. Glancing around the crowd he could see that most everyone was also looking up at the clock face. The antique faced clock continued ticking it way toward midnight, when only seconds remained Steve noticed the elves around Meri and himself holding their breath until the second hand lined up with both the hour and minute hands all pointing straight up at the numeral twelve and stopped.

As a collective sigh of relief came over the crowd, Steve looked over at Meri, “Was it supposed to stop like that?”

Meri grinned, “Check your watch.”

Pushing his sleeve up to see his wrist watch Steve noticed its digital display which was still set to their home town’s time had stopped at 7:58:34 PM, “Something stopped all the clocks?”

“Actually the clocks are still working,” Meri’s grin widened as she pondered whether his background in science would help him come to the truth or make it impossible for him to figure out.

~o~O~o~

Hours later as Steve rode in the sleigh Meri drove to bring Santa fresh reindeer and another sleigh loaded with gifts, Meri couldn’t stop herself from giggling when she saw the revelation on Steve’s face as they flew past an airliner that appeared frozen in the air above them. “You, you can stop time!” Steve gasped.

Meri grinned over at him in the sleigh beside her, “No, not really but it looks that way to us. JB explained it to me, of course most of it went over my head but what I got out of his explanation was that we move faster in time than everything around us. It all has to do with the clock tower and he told me the sleighs are tied to it magically so they run on the same time as the village.”

Steve’s eyes grew wide at the realization of what Meri was saying, “You’re telling me you can manipulate the fourth dimension? That’s, that’s imp…” Steve sat there slack jawed staring at Meri.

“That’s what?”

Shaking his head, “I was going to say impossible, but I’ve seen so much today that should be impossible that nothing should surprise me now.”

“Mind if I ask a question?” Meri grin faded into an impish almost sky look.

“Sure although I can’t see me knowing anything you don’t about all this?”

“What’s a fourth dimension?”

“Time.” Steve continued, “We exist in three dimensions, length, height and depth, three dimensional space. But we all travel through time which is considered the fourth dimension and why scientists now uses the term space-time to relate to all four dimensions. As far as science knows there is no way to manipulate time, I can’t even imagine what kind of apparatus it would take to duplicate this effect.”

“The clock tower does it.”

“Yes, but how, what kind of technology is built into your clock tower?”

Meri giggled, “Can’t you just believe it's magic?”

“Two hundred years ago a flashlight would be considered magic.”

“What’s that got to do with the clock tower?”

“Clarke’s law,” Steve grinned knowing he had won their little debate. “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

“Well the only elf that might be able to explain how it works is JB and he won’t leave the clock tower until Daddy has delivered all the presents and Christmas is over.”

“Great, I can ask him about it tomorrow,’ Steve smiled.

Meri pointed down at the city frozen in time below them, “Tomorrow for them, not us.”

~o~O~o~

Steve stood outside in the village square looking at the clock tower while he waited on Meri, they were at end of the twelfth day of ferrying sleighs and fresh reindeer to Santa and returning with the ones he had been using to let the elves restock the sleigh and give the reindeer a rest. Steve had left the cottage early this morning so he could observe the clock tower and hopefully catch the reclusive elf that operated it. The only things he knew for certain was that time here ran at different scale in relation to the outside world. From the movement of the hands on the large clock face above him in the tower one day here roughly equaled two hours in the outside world meaning twelve days would pass here while only one would pass to everyone else in the world. This allowed Santa to quite literally chase midnight around the globe as he delivered presents.

From what Steve gathered from talking with Meri’s mother and some of the elves time would resume here or resynchronize with the rest of the world once the clock tower’s hands made a full sweep around and returned to twelve o’clock. Which was why as more and more elves finished with their work began gathering around the clock just like Steve? Although Steve’s motives were slightly different, while the elves anticipated the clock returning to normal, Steve wanted to talk with Jinglebauble about the clock itself, most notably how it worked.

The one thing above all the craziness over the past days Steve appreciated was all the time he got to spend with Meri and how close they had already become. If not for the elves abducting him in his sleep he would still be trying to talk Meri into a date. Instead he had the pleasure of her company every day for the past twelve days, most of that time he spent alone with her in the front seat of the most magical sleigh ride imaginable. Something had attracted him to Meri the first time he saw her and no it wasn’t her looks, it was something else about her. Yes she was quite beautiful, Steve thought that with her looks she could have easily become a model instead of a teacher. Steve thought it was how kind and generous she was with everyone. How she always seemed to be there to say or do just the right thing to help a student or fellow teacher. How just being in her presence made you want to be your best for her.

While Meri had not actually told Steve that she would be inclined to date him the way she now held his hand at times and had begun to sit closer, almost snuggling up against him over the past few days in the sleighs gave him the encouragement that it was a definite possibility in their future.

Meri walked up beside Steve, “Can’t wait for this to be over and get home where things are much calmer?”

“What? No,” Steve‘s cheeks felt suddenly warm when he realized he answered so quickly. Looking down he reached over taking Meri’s hand before looking back up at her, “I’ve loved every moment we’ve been able to spend together here.”

“I’m glad,” Meri stood up on her toes kissing Steve on the cheek. “Because I’ve really enjoyed spending time with you too.”

“Does this mean you’ll go out with me?”

A wide smile spread across Meri’s face as she nodded.

Looking down into her eyes, Steve slowly leaned down to kiss her. At the same instant the second hand of the clock in the tower lined back up signifying twelve o’clock midnight, the twenty four hours of the clock tower’s magic were up.

~o~O~o~

Rolling over in the bed Steve saw the time on the digital alarm clock on his bedside table read ‘7:48 AM’. Startled at seeing his own alarm Steve quickly sat up in bed glancing around disoriented and confused at finding himself back in his own bedroom. Looking down at himself he had on the sweatshirt and lounge pants he had on prior to his abduction. Picking up his wrist watch from the side table where he had placed it before his twelve days spent helping Meri and her father, he could see the date read, ‘25’ so it was Christmas day. He reasoned the clock tower slowed time so that the twelve days he was gone equaled only one day here so it should be the twenty-fifth, no wait it should be the twenty sixth if I had really been there.

Steve sighed heavily as he came to the logical conclusion, “It was a dream! It was just a dream.” His shoulders slumped as his heart sank, Steve couldn’t believe it had all been a dream. Everything felt so real, the elves were so real, Meri was so beautifully real. It was quite some time later when Steve finally gathered enough pieces of his broken spirit to swing his legs out from under the covers and get out of bed. Wandering into the kitchen he filled the coffee pot with water then reached into the cupboard above it for the box of K-cups that fits the coffee maker. Pulling the 8 inch square blue box from the cupboard. The label read ‘Jamaican Blue Mountain’, normally his favorite coffee but he couldn’t get his mind off Mrs. Claus’ hot cocoa of course it had been the greatest hot drink he had ever tasted, it was a dream after all. Placing the small plastic cup in the receptacle in the machine, Steve closed the lid. Placing the box back in the cupboard he withdrew a coffee mug that he sat under the appropriate spot in the machine and after selecting the cup size on the side of the machine he hit the brew button. Steve thought he would have to stop by the store tomorrow when it reopened and buy some hot chocolate cups for his machine. Walking over to the counter he picked up the pad of paper and pen he always left beside the telephone and wrote down, ‘K-cup, hot chocolate’ then after thinking for a moment he wrote down ‘spiced cider’ beside that. Steve had forgotten how much like loved both drinks as a kid, having a cup at Meri’s house the other day he reasoned was how they had become part of his incredibly pleasant dream.

After a cup of coffee and a quick breakfast of instant oatmeal Steve got showered and dressed for the day as his step mother would be expecting him to be at their house by noon. For the rest of the morning Steve puttered around the house and watched TV. Knowing he would be send home with over half of any leftovers after dinner at his parents and his step mother really laid out the food for Christmas dinner.

Almost ten thirty on the dot the phone rang, knowing who it would be since she made the same phone call every year at the exact same time, Steve picked up the phone, “Hi mom.”

“Hi honey,” Steve heard his stepmother’s voice. “I was just calling to make sure you’re awake and got everything.”

“Yes mom,” Steve held back the chuckle, “Everyone’s presents are sitting by the garage door so I can’t forget them.”

“That’s good honey,” His stepmother paused, “Angie told me she saw you skating with a woman when she was at the park. Chris said it was his new music teacher, should I set another plate for dinner?” Steve could hear the hopefulness in his stepmother’s voice.

Steve sighed wishing he could tell her yes, “Her name is Meri, um Merilyn Mass, and yes she is the new music teacher. But she is out of town spending Christmas with her family, so no you shouldn’t set an extra plate.”

“Well tell me about her? What’s she like?”

It was another fifteen minutes of answering questions, many he really couldn’t answer before he was able to hang up the phone. By then he really needed to gather everything and get ready to leave.

Just after eleven o’clock the phone rang. Believing it was his step mom again Steve picked up the phone and immediately said into it, “Yes mom, Chris’ and Angie’s presents are already in the trunk and I was just getting ready to head out the door.”

“Oh I guess that answers my question,” He heard Meri giggling on the other end of the phone.

“Meri?” Steve’s heart skipped a beat. “Oh shoot, I’m sorry I thought it was my mom.”

“Yes it’s me,” Meri stifled the giggling. “I was able to catch a ride home earlier than expected and was going to ask if you had any plans for this evening, but I guess you do.”

“Uh yeah, my mom would skin me alive if I didn’t make an appearance for Christmas dinner.” Steve remembered how his stepmom had asked about setting another plate, “So what have you got planned? My mom asked me to invite you to Christmas dinner. Apparently my little brother and sister saw us skating together and now she thinks we’re an item. You wouldn’t mind saving me from the Spanish inquisition she’s going to give me would you?”

“Spanish inquisition!” Meri giggled, “She can’t give you the Spanish inquisition. No one expects the Spanish inquisition! Since you know it's coming she’s already lost her chief weapon, surprise, fear and surprise. Their two chief weapons, fear, surprise and ruthless efficiency!” Meri couldn’t finish as they both began laughing too hard to talk.

“Oh god that was funny!” Steve caught his breath, “I never expected you to be a python fan.”

“Now what kind of music teacher would I be if I didn’t know the spam song? And yes I will be happy to go and save your from the Spanish inquisition.”

“You will?” Steve perked up. “I, I thought you told me you couldn’t, you know because of your life being complicated.”

Meri was glad he couldn’t see her blush over the phone, “While I was home something made me realize those complications weren’t as bad as I thought and would like to give us a chance, I mean if you can handle my family that is.”

“Speaking of your family I had the strangest dream.”

“Oh really?”

“Um yeah,” Steve hesitate to tell her about it but his need to be closer to Meri forced him to explain. “Well guess it has a lot to do with it being Christmas and the way you dress, you know kind of like a Christmas elf or something with the hat and coat and such. I know it sounds silly but in my dream Santa was your father.”

“I guess if you can accept that and still want to be with me, then there is very little that could stop us from seeing each other,” Meri giggled.

Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Steve chuckled then realized Meri didn’t call it silly or deny it. “He isn’t your father is he?”

“What a silly question,” Meri giggled. “So what time should I be ready for you to pick me up?”

Spotting their music teacher walking up to the edge of the ice several of the boys looked up from the intense game of hockey to wave at the woman who had quickly become the student’s favorite teacher. It wasn’t due to the boys thinking she was the prettiest teacher either, everyone including her fellow teachers found Miss Maas to be one of the friendliest and helpful teachers in the small school. “Hi Miss Mass!” several of the boys shouted over the frozen pond, including a smaller boy guarding one of the goals dressed in a goalie outfit with a Minnesota Wild jersey, long hair splayed from under the painted goalie helmet across the boy’s shoulders giving the appearance of a young girl tending goal.

Having the puck, one man decided to use the distraction to his advantage and shot the puck at the net the smaller boy was guarding only to watch the boy catch it in his glove. “Score still five zip!” the small boy shouted as he tossed the puck up and down in his glove.

Meri smiled at the young boy tossing the puck triumphantly as her thoughts drifted toward how much things had changed for him since last Christmas. Shawn had woken that Christmas morning to find their Christmas tree surrounded with brightly colored gift wrapped boxes that were not there the night before. Opening his gifts he found new hockey skates, padding, gloves, a goalie stick, several pants and jerseys from various NHL teams that he liked and a goalie helmet, custom painted to resemble the head of a shark, the cage of the helmet’s face protection surrounded by the teeth of the shark’s open maw. With his new gear and his desire to play goalie, a position most the other boys didn’t wish to play, Shawn went from never being picked to play unless the other boys needed to even out the teams, to being argued over which team could have him as their goalie. Shawn had become an incredible goalie, his smaller size and speed working as an advantage for him making it so that whichever team had Shawn in goal usually did not lose, even on the occasions the boys played against adults as they were now.

Mrs. Dyer, Shawn’s grandmother, has been more surprised than her grandson Christmas morning. Living on social security herself, she had been advised to let her grandson go to foster care after his parents had died. Shawn’s widowed grandmother would have nothing to do with, ‘such nonsense,’ as she called it. Immediately taking custody of the orphaned boy and giving him the one thing she had in abundance, her love. She had no idea where the gifts had come from or how they had suddenly appeared in their house. At first Mrs. Dyer had thought it could have been their pastor, but he had denied all knowledge of her, “Christmas miracle.” She had quietly asked around about their benefactor, wanting badly to thank whoever made her grandchild’s Christmas so memorable, but no one seemed to know anything about the gifts or how they had appeared in her home.

One of the men out on the ice skated toward Meri, tucking his gloves under one arm after removing them. Removing his helmet while stopping at the edge of the ice beside Meri, he leaned toward her, “Hello beautiful.”

“Having fun?” Leaning toward him, Meri met him halfway with a quick kiss on the lips.

Chuckling, “The Wall shut us down again, five to zip this time.”

“The wall?”

“Yeah,” Steve chuckled. “That’s the nickname the boys have given him. It’s fitting too, putting him in front of the net is like putting a wall in front of it.”

“I’m glad to see that he’s able to play,” Meri smiled. “Shawn really loves playing the game. And to see him and Carl becoming such good friends too.”

“He the best goalie we have in school,” Steve stated proudly. “If I know Jim at all, he’ll snatch both him and Carl out of JV just as soon as the rules allow.”

“Well I’m glad they have that rule, that way the kids play with others their own age.”

All the boys that had been playing skated over to where Meri and Steve were talking. The largest one of them, wearing a “Chiefs” jersey with the name ‘HANSON’ spelled out across the back spoke up, “Miss Mass are you going to ride on the bus with us to Franklin tonight?”

“As long as no one tries singing bottles of beer on the wall again, I wouldn’t miss it for the world Carl,” Meri smiled at the large boy.

“Nope, we all promised not to sing that anymore!” Carl turned, waving to the other boys to join him as he skated away, “Come on guys, let’s get our stuff for the game tonight!”

~o~O~o~

A few of the parents and kids walking toward the entrance of Franklin’s sports complex could hear the singing coming from the school bus pulling into the parking lot, many grinned, some chuckled and a few even sang along quietly as the bus came to a stop. Inside the bus both kids and adults both sang along to what was quite possibly the most famous song played between periods while the ice was cleaned and resurfaced.

I went down to the local arena
Asked to see the manager man
He came from his office
Said, son can I help you?’
I looked at him and said
Yes you can

I wanna drive the Zamboni
I wanna drive the Zamboni
Yes I do

Ever since I was young
It’s been my dream
That I might drive the Zamboni machine
I’d get that ice just as slick as could be
And all the kids would look up to me

I wanna drive the Zamboni
I wanna drive the Zamboni
Yes I do

The manager said, son
I know it looks keen
But that right there’s one expensive machine
And I’ve got Smokey who’s been driving for years
About that time I broke down in tears

I wanna drive the Zamboni
I wanna drive the Zamboni
Yes I do

I wanna drive the Zamboni
I wanna drive the Zamboni
Yes I do

(I want to drive the Zamboni, 1990, Gear Daddies)

~o~O~o~

The game went well for the boys, their team, the Fairview Flames, won with a score of three to one. Shawn was still angry at the one goal the Franklin team had put past him, not that they had scored but how they had scored. Shawn was sure the Franklin player had intentionally entered the crease hooking Shawn’s skate with his stick, taking Shawn down to the ice so the other player could slap one in over him. It was dirty and Shawn felt the ref should have blown the whistle on the play. Even with laying on his side down on the ice Shawn had almost stopped the puck raising his leg up to block it, although it caught his skate with a glancing blow allowing it to continue on into the net, giving the Franklin Raiders their only goal with only minutes left in the game.

Still angry after the game, Shawn lagged several paces behind the rest of his team as they made their way across the parking lot to their bus. That far behind his celebrating teammates Shawn was able to hear the sounds of a scuffle going on near the back of the building. Looking over he could see several boys in a semi-circle around another, half hidden by a dumpster. One appeared to be holding another as others swung their fists and kicked at the trapped kid. “Hey STOP!” Shawn yelled, dropping the large duffel bag that held his hockey gear, as he ran toward the fight. Seeing something was wrong, the rest of Shawn’s team dropped their duffel bags and followed at a run. Seeing over a dozen teens and several adults running toward them, the assailants dropped the boy they had been using as a punching bag and ran.

Shawn was first to arrive and discover the now unconscious form lying on the ground. The long almost knee length coat the figure had worn had been pulled partially down immobilizing the person’s arms behind and exposing the clothing the figure was wearing, the sight of which made Shawn’s blood boil. Turning his head toward his approaching teammates, “Those bastards beat up a girl!”

Without breaking stride, Carl raced past Shawn in the direction the boys had ran, “We’ll get ‘em!” He yelled back, followed by most of the team.

“Stop!” Rex Stevens, the coach of their JV team yelled. The boys turned and walked back toward their coach, many of them grumbling under their breath.

With the sports complex having a policy of always having paramedics on duty during any large event, paramedics arrived within minutes of the nine-one-one call and began triage of the unconscious girl’s injuries. The police arrived and began taking statements as the paramedics were loading the girl into the ambulance. Looking over at Steve as Meri followed the paramedics into the back of the ambulance, “I’m going with her.”

Knowing it was better to accept what Meri was doing rather than argue with her, Steve looked at the paramedics, “Which hospital are you going to?” Once he received an answer he looked back to Meri, “Once we get back I’ll grab my truck and meet you there.”

~o~O~o~

An older woman wearing a gray business walked in carrying a Brown paper grocery bag, the top folded over and rolled down so she could carry it one handed. Spotting the young man wearing jeans and a knitted sweater sitting in one of the love seats, a very stunning blond woman wearing a long red coat with plush white fur trim appeared to be asleep, her head nestled against his shoulder. “Excuse me, Are you the couple that came in with the child that was attacked at the skating rink?”

“Yes,” Steve nodded while reaching across to give Meri’s arm a gentle shake. “A lady’s here about the girl,” Steve said when he saw Meri look up at him.

Meri looked over to see the older woman with dark hair beginning to gray that was tied up in a bun, “Is she going to be alright?”

“I think there may be a bit of confusion,” The lady began. “You are the ones that came with the child that was beaten at the sports complex, correct?”

“Yes,” Meri nodded, “One of our kids saw it and we ran over.”

“Maybe I should start at the beginning,” the woman sighed. “My name is Blanche Crawford, I’m with the child welfare division of social services here in Franklin. The boy who was attacked, Nathan Dabney, has been living in the Powell home for boys since his grandmother passed away last year.”

“Oh, from the way she, I mean he was dressed…” not knowing what to say Steve stopped talking.

“An easy mistake to make with Nathan as he is a very petite boy,” Mrs. Crawford nodded then added, “Even when he is wearing boys clothes. Which I have been told he wasn’t.”

“Not trying to argue with you, but I find it difficult to believe that she is a boy,” Meri stated. “I mean, yes I know it’s possible but she looks so feminine.”

“I understand how you can imagine that,” Mrs. Crawford continued, “That being neither here nor there, the doctors tell me his genitals have been crushed so badly that the only options they had for him was living life as a eunuch or sexual reassignment surgery, the latter the state of course will not condone.” Mrs. Crawford sighed heavily, “If only we’d been able to find foster parents for him sooner maybe none of this would have happened to the boy. And with what the doctors say need done now, he definitely can’t stay in the boy’s home especially after I found this.” Mrs. Crawford couldn’t understand why she felt so comfortable talking to Meri about this but there was something about the young woman, her heart told her, somehow she could help the poor child. Opening the brown paper bag that held all the clothing and things Nathan had with him when he was brought into the hospital she retrieved an envelope that she handed to Meri.

Meri saw the envelope was addressed to Santa Claus and it appeared to have already been opened. Pulling out the letter she began reading,

Dear Santa,

I really miss mom, dad and grandma, I know you can’t bring them back so I won’t ask for that. Mrs. Crawford, the lady that runs the place I live now, is really nice. She tells me that Mom, Dad and Grandma are in heaven and even though I can’t see them, they can see me and will be watching over me until it’s time for me to meet them there. Mrs. Crawford says that will be a long time away for me and that I should never do anything to try to go before heaven is ready for me to come as that could make me go to the bad place instead.

Mrs. Crawford keeps telling me that as cute as I am she will be able to find me new parents. I know I’m supposed to be patent, but it’s been so long. Mrs. Crawford keeps telling me it takes time to find the perfect parents.

My Christmas wish is for a new Mom and Dad. I don’t care if they are perfect like Mrs. Crawford says they should be as long as they love me. If they would let me be their little girl, I promise to be the very best girl on earth for them.

Love, Nikki

A tear rolled down Meri’s cheek and landed on the letter. Where they tear drop landed on the hand written words, they began to glow gold. The golden glow spread out until all the words were glowing, then suddenly the glow vanished. Sitting beside Meri, Steve’s eyebrows went up when he saw the letters take on the magical glow but he was able to hide any further surprise from showing. Mrs. Crawford either couldn’t see the letters glow from where she sat or was interrupted too quickly as a doctor appeared asking to speak with her privately. Several more tears fell to the handwritten letter to Santa Clause, each one sparkled when it hit the paper and a tiny snowflake floated up a few inches off the paper before they faded into nothingness. Steve was about to ask Meri about what he saw when Mrs. Crawford walked back in and sat down across from the couple.

Taking the open letter and envelope that Meri held out for her, Mrs. Crawford sat silently for several minutes staring at the letter. “This is a terrible situation,” Mrs. Crawford broke the silence. “To leave the poor child in-between, neither a boy nor a girl now and so close to Christmas, it… it breaks my heart that he will be left mutilated for the rest of his life.”

“As you said, it is almost Christmas.” Meri smiled, “Some say more miracles happen around Christmas than any other time of the year.”

“I’ll be praying for one for him.” Mrs. Crawford added, “They are going to be taking him into surgery soon.”

Sitting in silence once again, Meri closed her eyes as she snuggled against Steve’s arm.

~o~O~o~

Nathan had woken very confused at his surroundings, everything looked blurry and it was really bright, there were also a lot of people moving around. Nathan tried to remember how he got there, but the last thing he could remember was watching the hockey game. While Nathan loved to skate and was quite good for his age, he would never consider playing hockey. To Nathan hockey was a boy’s game and he had never thought of himself as a boy. Nathan’s grandmother was once a figure skater and had taught Nathan how to skate. He could sit with her for hours watching figure skating on TV with his grandmother, who would explain the moves to him as they watched. Nathan was fascinated with figure skating and dreamed of one day wearing the sparkling skater’s dresses and skating on TV.

Nathan was pulled out of his thoughts by a tugging feeling on his arm. Turning his head he could make out a nurse putting a syringe into the IV in his arm. ‘I’m in the hospital?’ He thought to himself as he began to find it very hard to stay awake and drifted back to sleep.

~o~O~o~

Nathan saw a pretty blond woman skating toward him across the ice. He marveled at how beautiful the Christmas themed white fur trimmed, red sequined skaters dress she was wearing looked on her. The green tights she wore under them made him think she looked like one of Santa’s elves, although she was too tall to be one, she even had a Santa hat on. Looking around Nathan noticed he wasn’t in the skating rink where he normally went skating, he was on the natural ice of a frozen pond, a pond he had never seen before. Nathan had a shallow pond behind the house he grew up in. He had been told his great grandfather had built it for his grandmother when she was small. Too shallow to even teach a toddler how to swim, Nathan had found it fun to play in during the hot summer and even more so once it froze over and his grandmother began teaching him how to skate.

“What’s your name?” The elf dressed woman asked as she stopped in front of Nathan on the ice.

Looking up at her, Nathan wished he could wear a dress like the one the woman had on, “Um, Nathan.”

“You don’t look very much like a Nathan to me,” The woman giggled. “Nathan is a boy’s name and a boy would never wear that on the ice.”

Nathan’s eyes grew wide as he looked down at himself to see he was wearing an identical skaters dress as the woman had on. What surprised him further was the small bumps, the tell-tell signs of a girl’s breasts starting to develop.

Raising one hand to her cheek the woman tapped a finger against her cheek several times while looking like she was contemplating something. “I’d say you look more like a Nikki to me,” she beamed a warm smile at Nathan.

Nathan gasped, ‘How could she know my secret name? The name I wish I had if I had been born a girl,’ Nathan could only think of one explanation. Looking up to the woman, “You, you’re Mrs. Claus?”

The woman giggled, shaking her head, “No, but she does make some of the best cookies you’ve ever tasted. Want to try one?”

Nathan watched as she reached toward him, a cookie magically appearing in her hand as she did. Taking the cookie he saw it looked just like the ones his grandmother used to make for him, Chocolate chip with several M&M’s pressed into the top. Looking back at the woman, “Who, who are you? Are you an Angel?”

“Angels have wings silly!” The woman giggled, “I just wanted you to know that Santa got your letter.”

“But I never had a chance to mail it?” Nathan tried to say with a mouthful of cookie.

~o~O~o~

Scrubbing for the procedure, Dr. Kincade was surprised to see Dr. McAllister walk in and begin scrubbing up beside him. Looking over at Dr. McAllister, “I’m surprised to see you down here Sandy?”

Her smile was hidden by the surgical mask, “I’m covering for Ted so he could fly home for the holidays and I like to assist in normal surgeries when I can, it reminds me of where I started.”

“I should feel honored, big time cosmetic surgeon like you in the OR with me,” Dr. Kincade joked.

“Not today I’m not, today I’m your assistant.”

Seeing the doctors walk in the anesthesiologist spoke without looking away from his monitors, “The patient is ready Doctor.” Noticing something out of the corner of his eye, the anesthesiologist looked away from the monitor back to the small child to see what appeared to be a small glistening snowflake land on the child’s forehead. Looking closely, he could find no tell-tell wet spot where it had landed. Looking around to see if anyone else noticed it, he shook his head and went back to watching the monitors.

~o~O~o~

The first thing Nathan noticed when he woke was a dull throbbing sensation between his legs. He could hear a man’s voice talking, “… at that point I asked Dr. McAllister to take over the procedure.”

Nathan then heard a woman, “Once we had determined the best course of action, I repositioned the urethra, retraced the clitoris from its extended position back to a normal positioning and used the tissue that would have been discarded in the original procedure to create a vulva.”

“Does that mean I’m a girl now?” Nathan asked hoarsely, opening his eyes to see Mrs., Crawford and two doctors standing by his bed.

The lady doctor knelt down to Nathan, patting him on the hand, “You always were a girl, you just had a slight birth defect that we fixed sweetie.”

Dr. Kincade continued speaking with Mrs. Crawford, “It was a good thing we discovered her condition when we did, much further into puberty it would have caused serious health issues for her.

“I just hope the state insurance pays for this,” Mrs. Crawford stated her worry. “If they see this as sexual reassignment…”

“It isn’t,” Dr. McAllister stood and turned toward Mrs. Crawford. “For one, medically speaking she is and always was female, we only corrected a birth defect that if had not been found and corrected before she began menstruating, would have posed a serious threat to her life. Two, the only bill they will be receiving is the one the hospital sends for their services, she’s already paid for my services with that lovely smile she has right now.” Everyone looked over to the bed to see the largest smile possible plastered across Nathan’s face. Turning back to Nathan Dr. McAllister bent over and kissed his forehead then whispered, “Merry Christmas.”

The next several hours were spent with Mrs. Crawford and nurses come in and out of her room. Later that night after Nathan, now Nikki as she begged everyone to call her told Mrs. Crawford about the dream she had during the surgery and how she was sure the lady in her dream was an angel.

“It was just a dream dear,” Mrs. Crawford brushed a stray lock of hair out of Nikki’s face. “And as you said, Angels have wings.”

“I think she was hiding hers Mrs. Crawford.” Nikki continued, “Or maybe Christmas angels don’t have wings like regular ones do?”

“Maybe you’re right?” Mrs. Crawford mused, ‘Maybe it was a Christmas miracle and God did answer her prayers.’

The next morning Nikki was sitting up in bed picking at the leftovers of her breakfast when several people stepped into her room. Nikki’s eyes went wide when she saw the blond lady wearing the thigh length ‘Santa’ coat. Grabbing Mrs. Crawford wrist s she leaned over, Nikki whispered, “It’s the angel, it’s her!”

Stifling a chuckle, Mrs. Crawford explained, “Nikki that is Meri, um Miss Maas. She is the one that rode with you in the ambulance when you were hurt. She stayed until we knew you were going to be alright.”

“Anne?” A dark brunette woman gasped when she saw Nikki lying in the bed. “Sorry honey,” The woman apologized, “You just look like someone I grew up with. We sort of lost touch several years ago, her husband’s job had then out of the country so much.”

Looking up from where she sat beside Nikki, Mrs. Crawford spoke, “Nikki lost her parents several years ago. She lived with her grandmother, Lucille Dabney, until cancer took her grandmother.”

“Dabney?” the brunette asked, “Was your mom’s name Annette Nichole?” She watched the young girl nod as tears formed in the girl’s eyes, before rushing over to sit on the bed and gently pull the girl into an embrace. Looking back up to her husband Mike standing in the doorway, her own eyes glistening with the beginnings of tears.

Hearing the small girl’s story and seeing the look in his wife’s eyes, Mike knew what he needed to do. Looking at Mrs. Crawford, “Um, ma’am could I have a word with you, in private?”

~o~O~o~

Meri sat at her usually bench at the pond, Steve’s arm wrapped around her shoulder, watching the children and some of their parents out on the ice while sipping on mugs of hot coco Meri had poured the both of them from a thermos. Many of the kids wearing new skates and coats they found wrapped under their Christmas trees that morning. As normal a group of boys were off to one side playing hockey, Meri could easily see new helmets and sticks some of the boys did not have the last time she saw them on the ice.

After taking the first sip from his steaming mug, “Mmmm, This tastes like your mother’s recipe?”

Holding her own mug up to her face with her mitten covered hands, to cover her grin, “It is Mom’s, she remembered how much you like it and sent a thermos of it back with me last night.”

“This was one of the main reasons I wanted to go with you again,” Steve grinned after taking another drink of the hot liquid. “This and of course driving a sleigh again.”

“And here I thought it was because you wanted to spend time with me,” Meri giggled.

“Well that’s a given,” Steve smiled, pulling Meri tighter into his embrace, “I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Several feet away a preteen girl in a long pink coat that came down past her knees, cupped her mitten covered hands around her mouth and yelled out onto the ice, “Carl, mom wants you home!”

Leaning forward so she could see the girl better, “Hi Nikki, did you have a good Christmas?” Meri asked.

“It was the bestest Christmas ever!” Nikki raced over giving Meri a hug, “I got a new Mom and Dad and a big brother!” Then lowering her voice to a whisper, “And an angel made me a girl.”

“Nikki, you heard the doctors, you were born a girl.”

Nikki giggled, “You used your Angel magic to make the doctors think that, but I know it was you. Don’t worry It’ll be our secret.”

The End

~o~O~o~
Ross Moore thought of himself an honest and reputable person, although he would be the first to tell you he had not always been so. Ross’s teen and early adult life was anything but honest, drinking and drug use, petty theft which grew into armed robbery to support his drug habit. But all that was in his past, in the past ten years Ross hadn’t so much as picked up a dime off the sidewalk without handing it back to the person who dropped it. That is why he went straight to his boss when he overheard two coworkers discussing how they had been making good money having specific items, ‘fall off their truck,’ on their deliveries. Working as a forklift driver in a warehouse loading and unloading pallets of TVs, computers and stereo systems for the big name electronics chain of stores was not a prestigious job but with his past, he was grateful to have it.

‘If I had only kept my mouth shut,’ Ross thought to himself as he climbed down the bank onto the ice covered water. Warning signs of thin ice were never needed along the banks of the river, everyone that lived in the area knew the current was too swift to allow more than a thin layer of ice to form and further out in the channel the barge traffic, which would not stop until early January, kept the water in the channel relatively clear of ice. This never stopped the ice fishing, although there always seemed to be one every year that broke through thin ice and drowned. Pilfered fishing pole in hand, Ross continued further out onto the ice hoping that the borrowed fishing pole wasn’t someone’s ‘lucky’ pole and that it would somehow find its way back to is owner.

Ross thought about his situation and how he had come to this point in his life. How if he hadn’t stopped by his father’s and his little sister Suzie’s graves after the mandatory overtime his boss forced on him today, he would have been home when the police showed up. Ross had thought it strange to be told the night before that he had to come in today, but then he realized that if someone had to work on Christmas Eve his boss knew he had no family and no plans, so it made sense to have Ross do it. As it was he arrived in time to see the crowd of people gathered watching the police carrying out the evidence, boxes of ‘stolen’ electronics clearly labeled with the company’s name he worked for. While Ross had made some bad decisions in his past, no one could have ever called him stupid, it was obvious that his boss was in on the theft going on at the warehouse and had the items placed in his apartment while Ross was at work, before the police received an anonymous tip. It wouldn’t matter that Ross was innocent, no one would believe him with his past.

Turning away from his apartment, Ross slipped away before anyone noticed him in the crowd. Hours later Ross found himself walking along the bicycle path that paralleled the river. The last time Ross had appeared in court Judge Myers had told him to clean up his act or the next time Ross appeared in front of him in his court would be the last time Ross would look out a window that didn’t have bars on it until Ross was old and gray. Ross had taken that to heart and cleaned himself up, staying that way for the past ten years. Although Ross knew that wouldn’t make a bit of difference in Judge Myer’s court. Even Ross had to admit that it would look like he had not changed at all. Ross knew Judge Myers would lock him up and throw away the key this time. It wasn’t so much the thought of prison that Ross feared, it was that there was a couple of men already there that had a grudge against Ross. It wouldn’t matter if all the judge gave him was six months in prison, that would be five and a half months longer than those men needed. Spotting the forgotten ice fishing pole on the park bench gave Ross an idea.

The first sign of the thinning ice came to Ross as a loud popping sound as a crack appeared under his left foot that off into the distance in front of him, sounding so much like thunder Ross almost stopped to look up into the sky. Dropping the fishing pole into the ice, Ross continued walking, each step causing the sound of ice cracking under him. Knowing his next step could be his last, Ross wished with all his heart that he could have thought of another way but Ross knew nothing short of going back and changing the past could change how things had turned out for him today. Less than a handful of steps later the ice under his right foot gave way. Falling forward Ross’s left knee hit and broke through the ice moments before his chest hit, knocking the air out of his lungs and bouncing his forehead off the ice.

~o~O~o~
Ross sucked in a quick breath the sight of the woman standing in front of him. Long wavy golden blond hair framed the most beautiful face and striking blue eyes he had ever seen before. Behind the vision of beauty Ross noticed shelves lined with shoes, “what the hell…” Ross whispered.

“No Mr. Moore, I doubt they have need for ice skates there,” The blond giggled.

Looking closer at the shelves behind her, Ross could see that that what he first thought were shoes and boots were in fact ice skates. Glancing around he also spotted a long rack with dozens of hockey sticks lined up in it. Other racks appeared to have what Ross thought of as those tiny dresses girls wore for figure skating while other racks held hockey jerseys. “I’m dying out on the ice and hallucinating,” quietly shaking his head.

“Yes and no Mr. Moore,” the woman stated, “You are dying slowly on the ice but I am not a hallucination.”

“Then what, how…” Ross gulped, “Are you an angel?”

Shaking her head, “No, I doubt this is how an angel would dress do you?”

Looking at the short red dress and hat, both trimmed in white fur, her legs were covered in green stockings that had white snowflake patterns Ross shook his head, “No, you look more like one of those sexy Santa’s helpers at the mall.”

“Close,” while holding out her hand toward Ross, “My name’s Meri Kris Mass and I guess you could say that I am one of Santa’s helpers.”

Reaching up to take her hand, “Meri Kris Mass?” Drawing back his hand while stifling a chuckle, “You can’t be serious.”

Nodding with a smile, “How else could I hear the wish of a dying man made on Christmas Eve? A Christmas wish you might say.”

“Wish? What wish?”

“The one you made right before you fell.” Reaching out to take his hand, Meri’s smile widened, “How you wished you could change something in your past.”

“But, but that’s impossible.”

“What?” Meri’s smile unwavering, “To hear your wish or to grant it?”

“Um, both!” Ross’s voice cracked.

Gently pulling Ross to his right, Meri led him by the hand over to a large snow globe sat on a countertop. “Now you’ll only be able to change one thing in your past and the only change things you have done. You can’t change what others have done or said.” Nodding toward the snow globe, “Think about something you wish you could do differently and place your hand on the snow globe.”

Looking at the snow globe, Ross thought it must be at least two feet across, one of the largest he had ever seen. The overabundance of fake snow inside it was swirling around on its own making it impossible to make out the scene contained within. Looking back to Meri, “But how will I know if it is the right thing, what if I make things worse?”

“The snow globe will give you a vision of what the changes will do before you have to wish for that change to become real.”

‘What the hell,’ Ross thought to himself, ‘I may as well play along. Either I’m dying and this is how I get to see my life passing before my eyes, or I’m already dead and I’ll spend eternity doing this as punishment for suicide.’

“You’re not dead, not yet at least,” Meri tried to still Ross’s fears. “This is a gift, not a punishment, as you will see.”

Thinking back to the day he overheard the two talking about stealing Ross placed his hand on the snow globe.

~o~O~o~
This time Ross didn’t go to his boss about what he had overheard, he went to the police. His life ran past in fast forward until two days after speaking to the police Ross was killed when some heavy crates fell onto him. While the police determined it was a freak accident, the vision Ross saw showed him how the crates had been rigged to fall by those he reported to the police. Ross tried several more times to change the recent event, every one ended with his death or imprisonment. Sighing as he pulled his hand away, “Nothing works, no matter what I do, they get me killed or arrested!”

Placing her hand on his shoulder, “Maybe you should look at something further in your past? Something that would make it so you were never in that situation in the first place?”

Nodding to the beautiful woman, “You’re right, there are a lot of things I wish I had done differently in my past, but do I have time to try each and every one of them?”

“Not all of them, I’m afraid we are limited in time.” Meri’s eyes seemed to sparkle, “Look for something that would make the biggest impact on your life. Something that changed you from the happy child you once were into what you became later?”

“My childhood wasn’t all that happy, not after my sister died,” Ross gazed beyond the snow globe at nothing in particular as the memories of his 4 year old sister running out into the street trying to follow her older brother, who in his haste had not closed the door all the way which allowed the little girl to slip out of the house. If he had only made sure the door was closed Susie wouldn’t have gotten hit by the car and their dad would not have started drinking and died driving drunk. Their mom wouldn’t have had to work two jobs. ‘Yes that was the answer to change everything that ever went wrong in my life!’ More determined than ever Ross reached for the snow globe.

~o~O~o~
Releasing his hand from the snow globe Ross fell to his knees sobbing, “I, I can’t save her. Susie still gets out and gets hit by a car, only its a few days later. How can I save her when I can only make one change? I am in hell and this is my punishment!”

“Mr. Moore, Ross,” Meri knelt down cupping his cheeks in her hands, “You are not in hell, purgatory and any other place like that where you are punished. Sometimes, somethings are not meant to be changed, it’s possible this is something her big brother cannot save her from?”

“NO!” Ross shouted, “It is! I know it in my heart!” Ross’s sobbing continued, “I just need to find a way.”

“Then go back further and try something different.”

“But I don’t know of anything I can change further back!” Ross screamed.

“Ross, you can change any one thing you wish, any choice you have made in your life clear back to the choices all the way back to your conception.”

“How much time?”

“Not much, the current has dragged your body off the ice and under it while you were in the globe.”

Ross’s shoulders fell, “So it’s over, I’m out of time, dead.”

“No the hypothermia gives you a little more time.”

Struggling to his feet, “then please help me up, I’ll find a way even if it kills me.” Reaching for the snow globe even before he was fully to his feet.

~o~O~o~

“Woah!” Rose staggered a few steps backward from the snow globe.

Grabbing her by the arm to help steady her, Meri helped Rose so she was leaning up against the counter, “Hold on the dizziness will pass in a moment, all those new memories can be a bit overwhelming.”

“Mom, Mom!” A small boy of around five years old ran in through an open doorway from another part of the small store. “AuntSusissaidshewouldbuymeandPennyskatesandteachushowtoiceskateatgranpa’s!” Latching onto her leg, “Pleasepleasemompleasecanwehaveskates?”

“This is real?” Looking over to see a bright smile on Meri’s face.

“Yes, you decided on the one thing you wished to change.”

“But I still remember Ross and…” Rose’s eyes grew wide, “You, Oh my god, you, your name, you really are some kind of Christmas spirit, aren't you?”

Shaking her head while grinning, “Let’s just say it’s the most magical time of the year and my favorite holiday.”