Kylee Meets Santa

Kylee opened her eyes. It was Christmas Eve and she was supposed to be sleeping so Santa could deliver presents. But she heard something. A thud and a thump. She heard it again. What was going on?

She climbed out of bed. She bet that Jacob was up to something and she was going to catch him. The pesky elf had been doing naughty things ever since he came to stay with them. He was their shelf elf, but he never stayed on the shelf and was always getting into trouble. He even toilet papered her closet!

She looked in on her brother, just to make sure Jacob wasn’t bothering him. Corbin was sleeping peacefully. She heard another thud. It was coming from the living room.

“Jacob had better not be messing with the tree,” she thought. She tiptoed towards the living room, determined that she would catch him in the act. When she peaked around the corner, she couldn’t believe her eyes. It wasn’t Jacob, but  Santa Claus. He was pulling presents from a big red bag and placing them under the tree.

Suddenly he stopped and he turned around, looking towards the hallway. Kylee clamped her hand over her mouth to keep from making any noise and pressed her back against the wall. Did he know she was there?

“Kylee,” Santa called, “Why don’t you come out here and see me. You don’t have to hide.”

That answered that. Kylee stepped into the living room.

“What are you doing sneaking around in the middle of the night?” Santa asked.

“I heard a noise and I thought it was Jacob. He’s really a very naughty elf.”

“Ho ho ho,” Santa laughed, “he is quite the mischief maker. But he’s not all bad. He told me you have been a very good girl this year.”

Kylee’s face lit up.

“As for the noise, I tripped when I stepped out of the chimney.”

“We don’t have a chimney,” Kylee said, but then her eyes widened when she looked behind Santa and saw that there was indeed a chimney.

“Christmas magic,” Santa said. “There has to be a chimney for me to come in.”

“I never thought about it,” Kylee said. “What happens to the chimney after you leave?”

“It disappears until next Christmas.”

Kylee was a curious girl, so she went over and stuck her head up the chimney.

“Ho, ho, be careful,” Santa started to say, but Kylee didn’t hear the rest of what he said because a gust of wind came along and pulled her up into the chimney. Before she knew it, she was standing on her own roof.

“Wow,” she said. Santa’s sleigh was there… and his reindeer. “Rudolph!” She took a careful step and then seeing that she wasn’t going to fall, she reached out and petted the reindeer with the shiny nose. He sniffed her hand and then nuzzled her palm.

“He’s looking for a carrot,” Santa said and he pulled one out of his pocket and handed it to her. Kylee held it out to Rudolph.

“Come on,” Santa said, “we have to get you back inside. I don’t think your mom would like it if she woke up and you were on the roof.”

Kylee agreed. She turned to go back in and then stopped. Jacob was sitting on top of the chimney. He waved to her and then jumped into Santa’s sleigh.

“He’ll be coming with me,” Santa said. “but he’ll be back next year, so he can tell me if you’ve been bad or good.”

“Someone needs to tell him to be good,” Kylee said. “Did you know he likes to swing from the dining room light?”

Santa chuckled and then helped Kylee back into the chimney. “Be careful when you step out,” Santa warned. And then she found herself sliding down.

When she stepped out of the fireplace, it disappeared behind her. “Mom,” she yelled, “come quick!”

“Kylee,” her mother said, rubbing her eyes, “what are you doing up?”

“Santa was here. Look, he left presents, and I got to go up a chimney and meet Rudolph and I fed him a carrot.”

Her mother smiled. “We don’t have a chimney.”

“I know that. Santa has his own. He has to get into our house somehow.”

“I always thought he used the front door.”

“Can we get Corbin up?” Kylee asked. She was jumping up and down, excited.

“I suppose,” her mother said and she started to head to Corbin’s room but then she heard a noise outside. She looked out the window and rubbed her eyes. It couldn’t be…

Kylee ran to the window and looked out. She saw Santa’s sleigh flying through the air. Rudolph’s nose was lit up and it looked like Jacob was sitting on his back. She shook her head… he really was going to be a handful for Santa this year.”