SMC He Messed Up

Carrie closed her eyes and felt his hands meet her left hand. She jumped for a second, feeling static electricity shock her. For a moment, she wanted to release her fingers, but it faded almost as quickly as it came. As his hands left hers, she opened her eyes. His nose was as red as a cherry, and his cheeks were almost as rosy as hers. He didn’t say anything as he jiggled the reins and they took off. “You won’t regret this, Carrie. There is no place as wonderful as my world.”

“I suppose.” Carrie sniffled, dealing with her decision. “I will have to get used to not having others around except you when I'm there, I guess. I suppose living here on Earth is out of the question.”

“What do you mean?” Kris looked over toward her. “Usually Mrs. Claus' don't live on Earth, but you could take a little while. It's not lonely either, the elves are there, and so are my parents, for now.”

Carrie felt her body go numb for several seconds. “Could you repeat that?”

“My parents?” Kris asked. “That part?”

“But, wait, but―“ she stammered. “Hold on, you said Santa Claus was dead. You said that Mrs. Claus passed away.”

“They did,” Kris said, “but not my parents. They could have, but they made it through. At least for now.” He looked at her, starting to realize his own twisted lie. “Oh, I didn’t explain the Claus magic connection?”

“What Claus magic connection? There is a huge difference between dead and alive!” Carrie was beyond furious. She didn’t often get angry, but he was asking for a big favor while he hid some important details. What else was he hiding? What else was he lying about? “Take me back.”

“Take you back?” he asked. “You consented to being―“

“I thought you lost your parents. You said they were dead.” She crossed her arms in a mighty huff. “On my roof, that night, you said they were dead. If you lied about that, I can’t believe that my world is sinking into utter darkness if I don’t take the position. Are you sure everything is doomed if I don’t become Mrs. Claus? Please, tell me the truth.”

“Well, it won’t. I didn’t s-say it would. I would just be Mr. Claus without a Mrs. But, I would be the last one,” he tried to explain. “After me, there would be no more.”

“You can stop the darkness? And your parents are alive?” Fool, such a fool. “How could you do this? I thought you were different.” Even the Son of Saint Nick couldn’t be trusted.

“Well, um. That night with the…I didn’t know if they'd…I still won't get very long. . .”

There was no way she’d even pay attention to the mumbling. “I’ve met my share of conniving low lives, but this takes the cake. This is…this is…so wrong! I am always a bad judge of character. Jenny’s right: I should never trust my instincts.”

Oh, oh no. He never meant to trick her. That night, he’d been worried his parents could die, and Mr. and Mrs. Claus were dead. They had lost their magic. Mr. and Mrs. Kringle remained though, and he was afraid he’d lose them. His dad lost his father upon the exchange, and now he looked so weak on the bed. It was an emotional time, but he should have explained it better. Even now, they were extremely weak. He would be lucky if they lasted until next Christmas.

Backfire. She didn’t understand. He’d just brought Carrie into the position without her proper consent. Taking her back to his home was out of the question now. Oh, his father was going to poop a Christmas stocking when he found out. He’d given someone the power of Mrs. Claus when they didn’t want to be her yet. “I’m sorry that you were confused. Sometimes I forget the rules between my dimension and here.” He didn’t think that worked. She still didn’t look him in the eye. In fact, she was getting watery eyed. “I never meant to deceive you. I swear it upon every elf! Why would I do that, and then take you directly to them? That would be an obvious lie.”

“Take me home,” she said softly again. He could hear the whimper in her voice. She was so disappointed in him.

Kris couldn’t take her being mad at him. “You don’t have to do it. I, well, there is a way to back out. I’ll take you home, but on Christmas you must deliver gifts with me. After one Christmas, if you don’t think you want to be Mrs. Claus . . .then I will leave you there. I will never bother you again, and you’ll never remember me again. It will be like we never even met.” To her. He would have to live with the memories between them and the endless regrets. “One Christmas.”

She clung closer to her coat. “One. No commitment?”

“Just one, no commitment. Just help me deliver gifts for one Christmas.” Kris couldn’t even look her in the eye, but he glanced back and watched her nod. His mission to make her his partner just turned almost impossible.

As soon as they landed, he offered to come back as much as possible for her, and he said they could do anything she wanted to at any time.

She couldn’t look him in the eye. “I’ll see you on Christmas,” she said.

“But, your merriness? I didn’t lie. The world is becoming darker. I don’t want you to―”

“Don’t. Just, don’t.” If she were any normal person that belonged in that dimension, he would be getting an earful. Instead, he watched her wipe away a tear. Oh, he wished she would have yelled at him instead of him having to witness that.

He’d lost his Mrs. Claus, and he knew it. Kris whisked her back down into her house and took off with Dougie.

One Christmas. He would have one simple Christmas to make her see reason. Or, he would never see her again.

***

DIMENSION: THE NORTH POLE

Kris's mom bellowed it out first from her bed. She was weak and unable to leave it, but the fire in her still burned. “Kris Kringle the 24th, honestly! You didn’t explain the magic at all?”

“Bad move.” His father crossed his arms, also still in bed, but thriving well. “You don’t want to upset your partner like this without proper explanation. She will be mad at you for a whole century.”

“I couldn’t hold her to that. I won’t keep her angry at me for a century. I will release her at Christmas, before she has to take the position for good, if she can’t forgive me.” Glancing back toward his father, he saw his eyes burning like a roaring fireplace. “I’m sorry, Dad. I had a lot of difficult things to try and explain all at once. It slipped my mind.”

“You gave her the power of Mrs. Claus, yet you are ready to turn her away. Someone out there has the power of Christmas with no loyalty to it!” He shouted at Kris. “How can you be my son? How can you give gifts to children on the nice list, when you are on the naughty list?”

He deserved that and more.

“What’s done is done,” his mother broke in. She grabbed her husband's hand and patted it, urging him to calm down. “She doesn’t want to see him, but he has Christmas. We must believe in a miracle. Otherwise―“

“Otherwise half the power of Christmas is missing, and he’ll be the last Santa Claus.” His father looked back toward Kris with such shame. “Why?”

“I didn’t know. I forgot! I was emotional that night, and I…there was so much, I. . .” There was no excuse. Kris was going to turn into a lousy, acne faced, skinny little Santa Claus with no beard…and no Mrs.

“Maybe it’s a good thing that you gave her the power before she understood the truth,” his mother said. “Imagine if she didn’t want to see you, and she had no power. The joy and positive energy flowing through her will keep her safe while she’s out in her darkening world. I only hope it’s enough for that poor girl.”

“I know,” Kris said, “and I want to save her.” He sighed. “Just in case.”

“It's such a large, heavy darkness. I've never seen the elves so absolutely concerned about it.” Mrs. Kringle laid her hand on Kris's. “Do whatever you can. You have one Christmas, and that's still a chance to save her.”

“It's still risky. I have to be prepared.” Kris looked at both his parents before revealing his final plan to ensure she would be okay.