No One Stops Christmas

• Claire Douglas, Grade 4
• Short Story
• 2022

This year, Tom’s Christmas wish was to get a puppy. For as long as he can remember, every year Tom sent Santa a Christmas letter asking for a puppy and every year there was no puppy.
“Tom, you know that getting a pet is a family decision, not something that Santa can decide on.” That was the standard response Tom got when there was no puppy under the tree, on Christmas morning.
This year Tom decided that he wanted to get back at Santa and have a reason for not getting a puppy. If Tom couldn’t get what he asked for then why should all the other kids get what they asked for? Tom thought of a plan. The plan was genius, he would leave stale cookies and carrots to poison Santa and all the reindeers!
On Christmas eve Santa arrived at Tom's house, Santa placed his presents under the tree like usual, ate the cookies and then gave the reindeers their carrots. The night was going according to plan until Dasher started acting strange. Dasher started to steer the sleigh in a different direction and Santa didn’t understand what was going on. The next thing you know, they were no longer in the air and Santa’s sleigh had come crashing down to the ground. Not only was the sleigh ruined but Santa and the reindeers felt weak and sick in the stomach. The clock was ticking, and Santa didn't know what to do. What if all the children didn’t get their presents?
In the distance Santa saw something bright, as it got closer he noticed a woman and by looking at her name tag he realised her name was Sammy. Sammy worked at the local vet shop. Santa asked Sammy to take a look at the reindeers. Straight away she knew that they had food poisoning. “What have you all had to eat tonight?'' Sammy asked Santa. “I ate the cookies left out for me and the reindeers ate carrots.” Santa replied. She suspected that the food had been rotten. Sammy had no cure and she had to get home to her family. They both waved goodbye.
Santa reached into his pocket and felt something that felt like sand, he realised it was Christmas magic, The elves must have packed it for him before he left the North Pole. He threw the Christmas magic into a small hole of the broken sleigh and found some extra carrots to feed the reindeers. Santa checked his clock and he knew it was a Christmas miracle because they had just enough time to give all the children their presents. Santa went as fast as he could and he made Christmas happen.
That morning, Tom woke up with the cutest little puppy licking at his face. Both their faces were filled with joy.