Page 38 of Santa Daddy, I'm Not the One

“So be it. Please get out of my way.”

“No!” a woman shrieked, her expression wild with terror. “We won’t let you destroy us all!”

I looked down at Landon. His skin was pale as the newly fallen snow, his lips tinged with blue. He was dying, and they were preventing me from saving him. Their words echoed in my head, but I couldn’t comprehend them, couldn’t accept them.

“We must think of the town,” an old man said, his voice trembling. “The tree… its soul is already faltering.”

“Maybe this is his purpose. To die so the tree can live.”

“Nonsense!” I cried. “You have to let me save him.”

Tears stung my eyes, and I blinked them away. Panic clawed at my chest, and I felt as if I were drowning. But even in my desperation, a part of me knew they were right; if the tree died, our home would be plunged into eternal darkness. “Please.”

I clutched Landon’s body to my chest, tears streaming down my face as I pleaded with the people to clear the way. Their faces were a mix of fear, resolve, and sympathy, but they stood firm. The collective belief that the tree’s survival was paramount overrode any compassion for the boy in my arms.

Their refusal fueled a desperation I had never known. With a cry, I summoned the snow around me to create a blizzard, todrive them away, to clear a path to the tree. The wind howled, and snow swirled around us in a fierce dance. The people staggered back, shielding their faces from the biting cold.

“Nils.” Landon stirred. His eyes fluttered open, filled with an unfathomable depth of understanding. “Nils,” he whispered again, his voice barely audible over the storm.

“Landon!” Relief and hope surged through me. “Hang on. I’m going to save you.”

But Landon weakly shook his head, a sad smile gracing his lips. “You didn’t tell me you had powers.”

“Of course I do.” The words came out in a sob. “How do you think I make it around the world in three days?”

He raised a trembling hand to touch my face, his skin ice cold against my tears. “Please don’t do this,” he murmured. “I’m glad I met you. You… you reminded me what life is about. I think I love you.”

“No, Landon, don’t talk like that. You’re going to be okay.” My voice broke.

Amid the blizzard I’d summoned, I heard it. His final intake of breath. Landon’s eyes closed, and his hand fell limply to his side. His chest, which had been rising and falling with shallow breaths, stilled. A profound silence settled over us, and the storm died down as if in respect for the solemn moment.

“No.” I looked down at Landon, his face serene in death, a stark contrast to the turmoil raging inside me. I felt as if my entire world had crumbled, leaving me in an abyss of despair and grief.

The people who had been pushed back by the blizzard now approached cautiously, their expressions somber.

I clutched Landon’s body closer, a bitter cry escaping my lips. The tears wouldn’t stop. I had failed him. Failed to protect him, failed to save him.

I fell to my knees in the snow, racked by grief. Just when I’d thought life was an endless cycle of making toys and catering to others, he’d shown up and made me happier than I’d been in hundreds of years.

And now he was gone.

A shout pierced the thick, cold air. “The tree! The tree’s dead!”

I snapped my head up. The Eternal Tree, once a beacon of hope and joy and the source of life for our little village, now stood barren and lifeless. Its needles cascaded to the ground like tears, and the lights that had once shone so brightly now flickered and faded into darkness. A collective gasp rose from the crowd as the last light went out.

The villagers wept and wailed, a haunting echo of my heart’s despair. I couldn’t help the resentment that filled my heart. They mourned a tree but didn’t care about Landon.

They turned to me, their eyes filled with fear.

“What will we do now?”

I didn’t answer. There were no words to convey the depth of what I was feeling. With a heavy heart, I picked up Landon’s body, cradling him gently in my arms, and walked toward the dead tree. The snow crunched under my boots, the sound muffled by the heavy silence that had fallen over the crowd.

I laid Landon down on a bed of fallen needles at the base of the tree, his pale, peaceful face upturned to the night sky. Bending down, I tried to whisper a final good-bye, but the words got stuck in my throat.

I didn’t want to say good-bye. I wasn’t ready to let him go yet. Never. Pressing my face to his chest, I cried, my tears seeping into his shirt.

A low hum rose from behind me, a chatter that grew. Behind my closed lids, a shimmer of light flickered. I opened my eyes. A warm glow enveloped Landon’s body. The tree had sprung backto life, each needle lush and green with light sparkling brighter than ever.

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