Was It Just A Dream?

With only minutes to spare, Santa had delivered the final present. If Thomas and Aurora were going to open their presents, they needed to be getting back home. This was the best night of their entire lives. Helping Santa, saving Phineas, and saving Christmas. This was a once-in-a-lifetime encounter and experience.

To show how grateful he was for their help with delivering the presents, Santa had something very cool in store for them. As his sleigh flew off of the roof of the last house, he handed control of the sleigh over to Lars and Phineas.

"What are you doing Santa?" Thomas asked as he saw Santa grab a book out of his inventory. Santa opened it and began examining the inner pages of his book.

"Checking my list twice," Santa answered, "making sure we didn't forget anybody."

As Santa checked his list, Lars tugged on his coat to get his attention. Santa looked down at Lars. Lars whispered something to Santa. Thomas and Aurora didn't hear what he had said. But they were curious to know what it was.

"Oh yes," Santa said, "they'll like that."

Thomas and Aurora looked at Santa. They were suspicious. What were Lars and Santa talking about?

"Santa?" Thomas said, "what did Lars say to you?"

Santa smiled as he flipped to another page in the book. He looked over at Thomas and Aurora. He shook his head.

"Oh nothing," Santa responded, "but if I were you, I'd keep an eye peeled."

"What does that mean?" Aurora asked.

"You'll see," Santa responded.

Thomas and Aurora both stood up. As the sleigh continued to fly through the air, bright lights in the near distance became visible. As they got closer, it became apparent as to where Santa was taking them….the North Pole.

Dozens of small houses could be seen. Every house was fully decorated with lights and other decorations. They could see the elves below strolling the pathways. Thomas looked back at Santa.

"Is this—?" Thomas said.

"The North Pole?" Santa questioned, "yes. Yes it is."

Towards the end of the massive village, a big brick building was seen. Shadows of those who worked inside could be seen. That must be Santa's workshop. Just as they thought they had seen it all, a very big green spruce tree was seen in the village center. It had a large, bright glowing star at the top of it, with colorful lights wrapped all around it. Colorful, shiny ornaments were hung all over the tree on its branches.

As they sleigh flew around the tree, fireworks shot up into the air. Once they detonated, bright colors filled the clear, night sky. Blue, green, and red fireworks blew up in the air. Another successful Christmas has been completed. Loud cheering elves from below cheered Santa on as his sleigh flew around the tree three times before flying west.

Thomas and Aurora sat back down in the sleigh. They were starstruck. Seeing the North Pole has always been something they've wanted to see for a while now. The way they pictured it was very different from what it actually looked like.

"Oh golly," Santa said, "we forgot a house."

Making sure he read the list correctly, two names towards the end of the list. Thomas and Aurora were confused. How could they have forgotten a house? Good thing Santa checked his list twice.

"Whose house did we forget Santa?" Aurora asked.

"Your house my dear," Santa said as he closed his book and put it back into his inventory. He pulled his black leather glove off of his hand. He checked the countdown timer. "Oh candy canes! We only have five minutes left before everyone starts waking up. We need to hurry."

Lars and Phineas gave Santa back the ropes. Both of them sat back down. Santa whipped the ropes, calling out each of the reindeers names. Before anyone realized it, they were arriving back at Thomas and Aurora's house.

Santa gently brought the sleigh down to the ground. He landed the sleigh smoothly. Once his sleigh came to a stop, everyone jumped off of the sleigh. Lars, Phineas, Moon and Sunshine all stayed back on the sleigh.

Inside their house, the lights were out. Their parents were sound asleep. As the night continued to draw to a close, Thomas and Aurora both looked up at Santa. They didn't want this adventure to end. But every journey must end, right? Even when you don't want it to.

As Santa, Thomas, and Aurora began saying their goodbyes, snowflakes slowly began falling from the sky. Without saying anything, Thomas and Aurora hugged Santa.

Santa leaned over and picked the both of them up. One thing was for sure though. Santa owed them a great debt. He couldn't have saved Christmas without them.

"You two were a big help," Santa said, "I couldn't have done this without you."

"We didn't do all of the heavy lifting Santa," Aurora said, "that wizard helped you too."

Santa set them both back down onto the ground.

"You're right Aurora," Santa said, "he did."

Phineas called out to Santa. The clear night sky began changing.

"Santa!" Phineas shouted, "we need to go. Look."

Santa looked up at the sky. It indeed was transitioning from night to day. Christmas morning was dawning upon the OverWorld.

"You two youngsters need to get back inside now," Santa said, "when you awake later, presents will be under your tree. But only if you go straight to sleep when you go back inside."

Without saying anything back to him, the both of them ran over to their door and quietly opened it. They walked back inside of their house, shutting the door behind them.

Santa walked back over to his sleigh and hoisted himself back up into it. He looked back over at their house. In the window, he could see the both of them waving their hands at him. All he did was smile back.

He whipped the ropes, making the reindeer run as fast as they could. And not a moment later, his sleigh was flying high in the air once more. As Santa flew away, the snow falling got heavier. Another snowstorm was happening.

"Ho, Ho, Ho!" Santa shouted as loud as he could, "Merry Christmas!"

And off he went, bound for the North Pole. Another year down, another year to begin preparing for.

Thomas and Aurora watched Santa's sleigh fly away until they couldn't see it anymore. After he was gone, they both ran back over to their beds. They hopped onto their beds and laid down, covering themselves up with their blankets. They both smiled at each other. They both then closed their eyes and quickly fell back asleep. Morning would be upon them soon.

Juliana and Quintin were standing by their beds smiling. Thomas and Aurora both slowly awoke from their sleep. Once they were awake, they jumped up out of the beds and ran over to the Christmas tree.

Four big boxes sat under the Christmas tree, all wrapped neatly in colorful wrapping paper. Thomas and Aurora looked over at the door. Their shoes and coats were dry, as if they hadn't been outside since the snowball fight last night.

"Did you guys sleep good last night?" Juliana asked.

"You two were really tired after the snowball fight. You both came back inside, and fell asleep soon thereafter," Quintin said.

"We didn't sleep all night. Santa needed our help. His sleigh had crashed. He came here, asking for help," Aurora said.

"You must've been dreaming," Juliana said, "you guys were in your beds all night long."

"Huh," Thomas said, "I could've sworn we helped Santa save Christmas."

"Kids and their active imaginations huh?" Juliana said to Quintin. Quintin smiled and nodded his head. "Now let's open some presents."

As Thomas and Aurora grabbed their first presents, someone outside kept a watchful eye on them. Standing behind a spruce tree, was none other than Phineas himself.

"They'll never suspect a thing Santa," Phineas said.

"Good," Santa responded, "now come on back to the North Pole."

"Yes Santa," Phineas said.

He looked back at Thomas and Aurora's house once more. He smiled. He then turned around and began walking away. Thomas and Aurora will never know that they really did meet and help Santa. Only Santa himself will ever know.

THE END