“Santa. Are you looking at that thing again?”

“Oh Jingle, when did you get here?” asked Santa

“Sir, these days you’re always cooped up in your office looking at that thing.”

“It’s called the internet and I was just looking for a moment,” replied Santa. “Did you know they have a thing called Online Shopping where one can buy whatever their heart desires? It’s like Christmas whenever you want!”

“No sir. Christmas is more than just presents and you are what makes Christmas not this Online,” snarked Jingle.

“Oh, but they have their own Santa. His name is Amazon!” exclaimed Santa. “I don’t know how he does it all three hundred and sixty-five days. I barely manage one night a year,” he mumbled to himself.

 “No, not possible. There can only be one Santa! This Amazon is a fraud who probably doesn’t even have magic. Pathetic. Besides, the North Pole monopolized the elves and there are no traitors amongst elf kind, unlike those who shall not be named.”

“You mean the dwarves?” 

“Santa don’t dirty your mouth with their disgusting name. Someone get some hot chocolate stat!” exclaimed Jingle. “Anyway the point is without elves how good can this Amazon guy’s toys be? He just sounds like a loser wasting your time when right now, Christmas needs you.”

 “HoHoHo,” Santa chuckled. Then turned to face the vast window behind his desk, where all the magic of the North Pole was displayed. He stared blankly out to the glistening snow covering the little elf village, and all the elves sang their songs as they passed, bringing toys and joy along with them. A slight smile showed upon his plump face, his rosy cheeks squished, and his white beard shined just like the snow. 

But the smile was brief and only lasted a moment before sorrow took it over. “You don’t need me,” he said. “I’ve seen the world and how Christmas fills it. That is undeniable, but no one believes in me.” 

Santa took one last look out the grand window, put on the best smile he could muster and turned to face Jingle again. “Think, if no one believes in me and yet the Christmas spirit and decorations are still strong as ever then doesn’t that mean that Christmas doesn’t need me?”

Jingle’s eyes filled with tears, and her lips trembled in an attempt to hold back the tears that threatened to ruin her makeup.

“We are a family and to make Christmas a success, we need all of us. The elves and you, Santa. Christmas is timeless and it fills the world with a kindness and magic that the world can’t live without. That no Online can replace,” she said shakily. 

“You haven’t seen what I’ve seen, Jingle.” 

“No, sir. You haven’t seen what we have. And maybe the world doesn’t believe in you because you don’t believe in yourself!” she exclaimed. 

Her stream of tears turned into a tsunami. She turned to run out of the room but missed the door, slamming into the door frame. “I’m fine I just can’t see because of all the tears and my mascara is burning my eyes but I’m fine,” she said, leaving the room.

With that the room was left in an empty, uncomfortable silence. 

Tears. Santa thought. I made her cry. Maybe she had a point. Maybe if I… 

A knock came from the door and whatever deep reflecting and enlightenment Santa might have felt was gone.

“Santa, it’s Bell, may I come in?”

“Sure,” replied Santa. “How can I help you?”

“I have your hot cocoa. And…” Bell leaned close and whispered, “I heard you said, you know what, so I added some extra chocolate and peppermint just in case.”

“Ho Ho,” Santa laughed. “Thank you, Bell.” As the smell of rich chocolate, and peppermint pierced his nose, he felt calm and happy.  The warmth radiating from the cup warmed his soul and all seemed right.

Months passed, and with it Santa’s happiness and confidence. 

“Listen everyone, I know that we’ve all noticed the change in Santa and it’s only getting worse. Recently he has no joy, in fact, he seems to seep the joy out of wherever he is. He doesn’t enjoy hot cocoa as much, he thinks that we don’t need him, and he has been pushing all his duties on to us thinking we will do them better because he’s not good enough!” Jingle paused, holding back tears, cleared her throat and continued. “Now elves, brace yourselves for what I am about to say.” 

Standing atop the grand staircase above the workshop, Jingle stared into the endless sea of sorrowful elves. A feeling which should not even exist. Elves should be joyful and happy and singing and… and Santa should be here too, she thought then braced herself for the words that were about to come out of her mouth. 

“Santa,” she said cautiously, “has lost weight!”

The crowd erupted in screams and cries, now a sea of chaos. “No Santa has ever lost weight!” cried an elf.

 “What do we do?” yelled another.

“Calm down everyone! There is still time to fix this. Plenty of Santa’s have had slumps like this. Just maybe not for so long. Anyhow, are there any ideas on how to cheer Santa up?”

The grand room filled with chattering as all the elves began to speak out at once.

“Stop! One at a time please, I can’t even hear myself think!” yelled Jingle. Her words echoed against the tall machinery and the crowd was instantly silent.

Many elves raised their hands and one by one Jingle called on them. There were many ideas but they were all very bad. 

“How about more hot cocoa and cookies?” offered one.

“No, haven’t you noticed Santa hasn’t been eating or drinking as much?” replied Jingle.

“Then we should force him to eat it and he will enjoy it,” said another elf.

There was a long silence as all the elves were too stunned to speak. Mouths hung open, eyes wide, and minds full of confusion. They all came to a silent agreement to ignore what was just said.

“Are there any other ideas?” The room that was once bustling with ideas was now dead. No one spoke and there was no sign of even a flinch. Then slowly at the very back corner of the room rose a shaking hand in a dark brown work glove.

Jingle’s face lit up like a Christmas tree as she exclaimed, “Yes! You in the back.”

A small faint voice began to speak. “Hi, I’m Tinsel from the Mechanical Science Engineering Sect.”

 Jingle turned to Bell and asked, “We have a Mechanical Science Engineering Sect?” 

Bell just shrugged, shaking her head. “Do you mean the Magical Engineering Sect?” offered Jingle.

Tinsel sighed. “No, Magical Engineering takes care of the magic of instruments and Santa’s sleigh but there is some limit to magic.” The crowd gasped in disbelief. “Yes, who do you think built Santa’s sleigh? Anyways, if Santa’s got his tinsel in a tie because he doesn’t see the impact he has on Christmas, then why don’t we just show him he does?”

“And how do you suppose we do that?” inquired Jingle.

“We can have him go out in the sleigh saying that it is just a safety test to make sure there are no problems on the big day with the sleigh. While he’s out he can get some fresh air and see the towns and all their Christmas cheer.”

“Hmmm. . . that’s brilliant Tinsel!” exclaimed Jingle.

Just at that moment the grand doors decked in candy dots and golden designs wrapped around clear candy melt glass swung open. 

“Oh,” Santa said in surprise. “What are you all doing gathered here?”

“Santa! How can we help you? Are you here to work? Are you feeling better?” asked Jingle in stifled anticipation.

“I was just wondering if we have any coffee?” 

“What’s coffee?” asked a younger elf.

 “It’s bitter and sour and the opposite of cocoa!” answered an older elf. “It is the drink of sadness, depression, exhaustion, and….” The older elf was cut off by the crowd screaming.

“It’s over!” yelled one elf in the jumbled crowd.

“Tinsel!” Jingle yelled.

“Yes,” Tinsel replied. “Santa!” Tinsel’s once soft, quiet voice now boomed and echoed through the vast rooms. All the elves went silent, and Santa’s full attention was on the single elf.

“The Mechanical Science Engineering Sect has a need for you.”

“We have one of those?” asked Santa.

Tinsel sighed and continued, “Yes sir, we do. We have been doing some calculations and have found that there is a .001% chance that a problem may occur on the big night. Though not statistically significant, we do not accept failure, so we have found that the best way to lower this possibility is to have you take the sleigh for a test drive. Today. Like, now.”

“Can’t you elves take it out?” asked Santa.

“No!” yelled Tinsel. “Only you. Do you want me to get into the math of it, sir?”

“Is that a threat?” inquired Santa.

“Ok, off we go, Santa,” Jingle said, pushing Santa out the door.

A few moments later Santa was in the sleigh preparing for reindeer launch.

“Ok Santa we have to go in T minus three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree. Launch!” sang Tinsel.

Within seconds, Santa and his sleigh disappeared into the snowy night, only leaving the snowflakes that looked like stars slowly drifting down from the sparkling sky behind. 

Though Santa couldn’t be seen anymore the elves could hear a faint, “Now on Dasher, and Dancer, Prancer, and Vixen. On Comet and Cupid, now Donner and Blitzen. Dash away, dash away, dash away all,” that faded the farther Santa got.

Up in the sleigh, Santa talked to his reindeer. “Nice night, isn’t it?” He took a deep breath, and as he exhaled all the negative feelings he once felt vanished. “I really needed this, Dasher, and I think the elves knew that. What would I do without them, huh? Hey, speaking of the elves, did you know we had a Mechanical Science Engineering Sect?”

 “Oh, there’s New York! Prancer, isn’t it gorgeous? All the hustle and bustle really brings life to the city.” Santa sat staring down at the glistening lights and people hurrying on their way. All the Christmas lights illuminated the city even more, filling it with festive color. A tall building reached to the sky like a bridge to the heavens. It was outstanding. 

“New York is filled with Christmas spirit. . . but not because of me. They don’t need to believe in me to have Christmas spirit,” Santa sighed.

Just then the sleigh shuttered and bounced. It fell, glided, then fell again. “Blitzen! Hey, what’s going on?” 

The sleigh was in free fall. The wind violently blew past the sleigh and Santa was holding on for dear life so as not to fly out of the sled. “Brace for impact!” he exclaimed.

BANG! Santa groaned and slowly opened his eyes. He put his hand down to get up but he instead sank into the snow drift. Finally, he managed to mangle his way out and stood up. 

He spotted his sleigh and reindeer a few meters away and ran towards their direction. “Boys, are you ok?” he exclaimed. Rushing, Santa pulled his sleigh back to the upright position and undid each of the reigns.

 “.001% chance, huh?” he scoffed. “Well, we have gone 50 years without a problem so I guess it was about time that came about. Now, let’s see what’s wrong.” 

Santa began to examine the sleigh, but nothing appeared to be wrong. The Sprinklator was fine, the Spirit-O-Meter was as full as possible in these times, and everything was still intact. 

So, why? he thought. Frustrated, Santa slumped in the snow and tried to think. Dasher came up and began to nudge him. “Not now, Dasher,” Santa said but Dasher continued.

“Not now, I said.” He opened his eyes and tried to push him away. “What’s wrong?” he asked. Though the reindeer couldn’t talk, Santa understood. They were all hungry. 

“Didn’t you just eat?” Santa asked. 

The reindeer shook their heads.

“What? But to fly you must eat first. If you don’t, it’s like trying to drive a car with no gas. I’m sorry guys, I guess the elves were distracted. When. . . wait is that why we crashed?” 

The reindeer nodded in agreement. “Well, all right then, that is an easy problem to fix. Can you guys stay here while I go find you some food?” Santa asked. All the deer immediately laid down as a reply to Santa.

They were in the middle of a dense forest with no sign of a trail but that didn’t stop Santa. He chose a direction and began to walk and walk and walk and walk. Until finally, he came across a small park. It was quiet and dark. Santa stood amongst the dark trees in the night, but his red suit set him apart. His hat jingled and his eyes glistened. 

“Santa?” a little girl suddenly asked from behind. 

Santa jumped in surprise. Stuttering, he uttered a quiet, “Yes?”

“Are you the real Santa?” she asked.

“You know me?” said Santa, unable to hide his disbelief. 

“Of course,” she laughed, “Everyone knows you. You’re Santa Clause, the big man of Christmas.” She stared so intently with admiration sparkling in her eyes, although the excitement that lit up her face slowly disappeared. 

“Santa, are you ok?” 

The question caught him off guard and for a moment he didn’t know what to say.

“What do you mean?” 

“It’s just, you look so sad. Santa is supposed to be jolly and full of Christmas joy. Are you really Santa Clause?” the little girl asked.

“Of course I am, and you are little Susie who wants her own personal elf for Christmas,” he replied. “Speaking of which, you know there are rules in the North Pole and the elves really like it there so I don’t think I can get you that elf.”

“That’s ok, Real Santa. Besides, I don’t think I have enough sugar to pay them,” Susie replied.

“HOHOHO,” Santa laughed a deep and joyful laugh. His belly jiggled and his beard shook, and his eyes sparkled to life once more. “Yes, well they do eat a lot of candy and cocoa. Say, why do you keep calling me Real Santa?” he asked.

“Well Santa, I hate to tell you but,” she leaned in close to whisper and continued, “there are many who try to steal your identity.”

“They want to be me?” he asked.

“Yeah, after all there is no Christmas without Santa. They try to be you and trick others into believing. Those scum! But don’t worry Santa, they never fool me. I can tell that they’re all fake.”

“How so?” he asked.

“Well, they just don’t feel like Christmas, I guess? You on the other hand smell of cookies and chocolate and you just feel like Christmas, if that makes sense,” Susie replied.

“There’s no Christmas without Santa, huh?” he mumbled to himself. 

Susie’s eyes pierced through him, analyzing the sadness in his face. Then she carefully asked, “Santa, did you eat too many cookies?”

“What?” he replied

“Well, you don’t look good so I thought maybe you had one too many cookies and your belly might be hurting. You can tell me what’s wrong”

“First off, thanks and second, it’s just that– do you know what an internet is and of a man named Amazon?” he asked.

“Of course, and Amazon isn’t a man,” she replied.

“Oh, sorry, then of a woman named Amazon,” Santa said.

“No that’s not …. Oh, never mind you old people are hopeless.”

“Did you just call me old?” Santa asked in an offended tone.

“Never mind that. Are you thinking that online shopping is making it Christmas every day and that you are no longer needed? Have you been reading mean comments about yourself?” 

Santa was too stunned to speak and a little frightened of this strange little girl.

“How? Can you….” He began

“Read your mind? No, I can’t. It’s just that everyone these days seems to be having very similar problems.”

“Sure,” Santa said, taking a step away from the girl.  He stared, careful not to take his eyes off the little girl. 

She can definitely read my mind, he thought.

“Santa, I really can’t read your mind,” Susie said firmly, meeting Santa’s gaze dead in the eyes.

“Nope,” he said, “not today.” And he turned to flee.

Quickly, the girl ran to catch his sleeve. “Let me show you something,” she said, dragging Santa behind her. Though skeptical, he cautiously followed.

They exited the park through a dark, narrow street in between two towering buildings. The wind whistled through the street and snow flurries fell shining like magic until they dimmed in the dark street.

This made Santa uneasy. There were no dark streets or even hallways at the North Pole. Everything lit up with the help of Christmas magic and the walls were always festive and bright.

“Here,” Susie said. 

Santa was so lost in thought that he hadn’t even realized they had reached the end of the dark trail. His eyes immediately brightened, sparkling and gleaming like the old days as his smile reached from ear to ear.

“What is all this?” he asked.

They were standing at the entrance of a vast stone road. Stores lined each side and it was bustling with people all dressed up like eskimos. There were light poles spread evenly along the sides, dressed with red bows and flags wishing all a merry Christmas. The stores were filled with a warm yellow light, illuminating people laughing with hot cocoa in hand. The windows were filled with toys and gifts and the corners were painted with frost. Snow laid clumped to the side and hidden speakers played the holiday classics. 

Just being there made him feel warm. A warmth so deep that it reached his bones and warmed his soul, encompassing him in a cozy hug.  

At the end of the long shopping road was a grand Christmas tree so bright and tall that Santa thought it could be seen from the North Pole.

“Wow,” Santa said in amazement. 

“This,” said Susie, “is our main shopping center. The rest of the city is just as festive, but this is the best place.”

“There is so much Christmas spirit here,” Santa said.

“Yes, but look,” Susie pointed at a man dressed in red in front of a store. “And there,” she continued to point to more men identical to the first.

“They look like me,” Santa said.

“They dress up like you to collect donations to give to charity,” she explained.

“Why like me?” asked Santa.

“Because you inspire people! When they think of Christmas, it always involves you. Santa puts people in a giving spirit, not just Christmas itself,” Susie grinned, looking on the road with undisguised content. “Think of it like this. You are part of a team that comes together to make Christmas. Every person has their job no matter how insignificant it may be, and without them there would be no Christmas. 

Without you a piece of the puzzle is gone and Christmas wouldn’t be the same. You do more than just deliver presents, you bring joy to children and inspire people to give. This atmosphere here is all thanks to you and what you do. Without you everything would fall apart. What’s more, Christmas is so special because it is once a year and that one day can’t be replicated. If it were every day, then it wouldn’t be special anymore.” 

“You’re right. Thank you, Susie,” Santa said, “By the way, do you know where to get some hay?”

Santa and Susie went to get the hay, and all went well. There were some problems along the way, such as when Santa tried to pay with candy although that was quickly resolved. After eating, the reindeer were as good as new and they made it back to the North Pole with bounds of energy.

“Santa you’re back!” exclaimed Jingle. “How did it go?”

“Wonderful! Now, the world needs us so let’s get back to work. Jingle, you direct the Toy Elves. Bell, tell the Stable Elves to give the deer extra food and the rest of you let’s make the most magnificent toys ever seen. This is going to be the best Christmas ever!” Santa exclaimed with the brightest smile in the history of Santa smiles painted on his face.