Page 8 of Santa Daddy, I'm Not the One

A thought struck me, and a chill ran down my spine. If Landon truly didn’t believe, he wouldn’t have been able to cross over into our world. Yet here he was. A part of him must still believe, and I had to find that part.

3

LANDON

“Do you think Santa will dock our pay?”

“Your pay is the last thing you should be worried about. Didn’t you see Santa’s expression? He doesn’t belong here.”

“Then why did he make it through the Crossing?”

The hushed voices ushered me into wakefulness, pulling me farther and farther away from my dream, where I was enveloped in such warmth I felt like I was wrapped up in a cocoon of pure sunshine. I blinked open my eyes, still heavy with sleep, and squinted at the source of the whispers. Two figures stood nearby, small and peculiar, with pointy ears and bright, curious eyes. Their pointy hats bobbed in sync with their murmured exchanges.

What in the world?

I rubbed my eyes and shifted to sit up, but when I opened my eyes again, they were still standing huddled together by the grand fireplace made of ice. My eyes bugged out. A fire was burning in the ice structure, but it wasn’t melting.

“I’m dreaming,” I murmured.

The room was unlike anything I’d ever seen. It felt like something out of a fairy tale or a child’s dream. The walls, glowing a soft midnight blue and dotted with tiny twinkling lights, curved upward to a mesmerizing ceiling that mirrored the night sky outside, complete with shooting stars leaving behind a streak of silver glitter. And right in the middle hung an enormous crystal chandelier, its icy shards capturing fragments of firelight and throwing them around the room.

“You’re awake!” one of the dream elves chirped. “You were out for far longer than we thought.”

“That’s because Pix used too much sleigh dust.”

Everything came back to me in a rush: firing my assistant, walking into my home to be attacked by two little people pretending to be elves.

“You kidnapped me!” I sprang to my feet and gasped. The floor wasn’t covered in soft fur like I’d thought, but snow. Except it wasn’t cold.

“No, we brought you to the happiest place on earth.”

“We’re at Disney World?” I ran over to the single window in the room and stared out. A vast expanse of snow stretched as far as the eye could see. No sign of a city, no buildings, nothing but endless white.

“The North Pole!” Pix cried. “For keeping the magic of Christmas in your heart, we’re here to make your dreams come true by showing you that the world you’ve always wanted to see as a child actually exists. You don’t just have to believe anymore. Now you know.”

“Are you two high?” I asked. “I don’t know how the hell you managed this, but I demand to be brought home right this minute.”

“Umm, I’m sorry, but we won’t be able to do that,” the other elf said.

“And I guess Santa’s helpers are about to demand a ransom?” I laughed. “Well, you’re out of luck. There’s no one for you to ask for a ransom. I have no family. And I’d rather die than give you a dollar.”

Pix shook his head. “You’re mistaken. We don’t want anything. You’re really in Santa’s guest room at the North Pole.”

“This can’t be real,” I muttered.

“It’s as real as it gets!” the other one said. Dix, was it?

I turned to face them, my frustration mounting. “Look, I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but I want to go home. Now.”

“But you can’t leave yet,” Pix said, his voice laced with concern. “The Yuletide Crossing has closed. You’ll have to wait.”

“Yuletide what? No, I’m not waiting for anything. I don’t know how I got here, but I want out. I didn’t agree to take part in this.”

“You should wait to talk to Santa. He’ll fix everything.”

“Talk to Santa?” I laughed, a harsh, disbelieving sound. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Santa isn’t real. This is some kind of hallucination. Maybe I hit my head…”

Yes, that was it. Any minute now, I would wake up from this bizarre dream…nightmare. Of all the dreams to be trapped in, Christmas with elves and Santa was the worst!

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