Holiday Magick (51 page)

Jack, whom I recognized from the conference, said, “I hope you enjoyed the conference and learned a lot.”

I replied, “Yes, it was very interesting. How is it connected with SWI?”

Jack laughed and said, “Well, we can
now
tell you that the whole weekend was actually an interview! All of the invited attendees were potential candidates for our open positions here at Santa's Workshop. We kept track of everyone's involvement during the weekend, their thoughtfulness and engagement in the roundtable discussions, and their answers to the interview questions. From that pool of about one hundred people, you two were the only ones offered positions.”

I realized that I was holding a forkful of food in mid-air. I was shocked at what I was hearing. That conference was actually a front for interviewing people to work here? Given all that I had seen that day, maybe nothing should surprise me anymore.

Jack continued, “While I'm telling you secrets, I might as well let you know that we didn't really need to do all of those background checks on you. Santa just reviews his past Naughty and Nice Lists and knows whether you are fit to be let in on our secrets.” By now, Jack was laughing uncontrollably and calling attention to our end of the table.

Sarah, a young woman sitting next to him, said sharply, “Jack, stop it!” She turned to us and explained, “He loves to shock our newest members and see their eyes bulge in disbelief. What he is saying is true, but I think it is better for you to learn these things slowly, over time. And the background checks
do
serve some purposes.” Her tone changed from annoyed to very tender as she said, “It is magical and wonderful here; I hope you will be as happy as we all are.”

My head was swimming again. As we finished eating, Santa rose and said, “Anna and Ryan, I would like to welcome you again. Now that you've had a chance to eat, and to digest your new surroundings a bit, I'd like to tell you our story. Then, while we have dessert, you may ask your questions and we will fully answer them all.

“Initially, Mrs. Claus and I made all of our toys for Christmas, and delivered them on Christmas Eve with the reindeer. After a while, we wanted to share joy with more and more children across the world, and it became too much work for us to make everything.

“We discovered that the North Pole possesses a special magic of its own, and we chose to move here, though it is so far from the rest of the world. We tried to use that magic to create the toys, but alas, this magic only works to move things from place to place, not create them out of thin air.

“We had to find a way to make more toys to give to the children. During one of my travels, I saw an exquisite doll and met its creator. We had great conversations together and, since he had no children of his own, he agreed to come live with us at the North Pole and help me design and make toys. Well, that just grew over time, and soon we had a whole team of toymakers here.

“Some people chose to dedicate the rest of their lives to working here, while others would stay for a few years and then return home. That is how we grew our partnership with alumni around the world. They still believed in our mission, and wanted to help us, but from their own homes. A few of them asked permission to mass-produce our toy designs and offered, in exchange, to provide us with toys to give away. That was the solution we had been looking for, in order to have enough toys for all the children! For a while, we still made some toys here, but over time we decided to dedicate ourselves to the design process and let our alumni take care of manufacturing the toys. Now, as I travel around the world on Christmas Eve, I simply fly over the appropriate toy warehouses, and the toys set aside for me magically appear in my sleigh.

“We have expanded how we use that magic and our alumni use some of the profits from selling our toys to fill warehouses with food, art supplies, and basic necessities that we can then magically transport back here when they are needed.

“For the longest time, no one questioned who made the toys that I delivered. But in the 1800s, children started asking questions, and obviously I wasn't going to take credit for making all of the toys myself. I had to find a way to give others credit without giving away their identities, so Mrs. Claus suggested that we simply called the collaborators ‘Santa's Elves.' While having a name helped, it also intrigued the kids even more, and they kept asking more and more questions about the elves.

“One of our alumni decided to write a story about Santa's elves as little people who work for me creating the toys. It was a far stretch of the imagination, but the ‘elves' agreed to go along with it, because it was a nice children's story and so far from the truth that no one would be able to guess who was really working with Santa. Well, the book proved to be very popular and everyone went along with that story. So, our alumni around the world spread the idea through more books and illustrations. I thought the pointy ears and red and green outfits were especially creative! Since then, authors and movie producers have been expanding upon the idea until it has reached its current ridiculous state. I don't like how elves are being portrayed now as unintelligent creatures; that was never our intent. However, it is absurd enough that no one has ever guessed at the truth, and protecting our anonymity is of the upmost importance.”

“Anna and Ryan, we invited you here because we have been extremely impressed by your toy creation abilities, how you work with children, and your personal integrity. If you look around this table, you will see some of the most intelligent, thoughtful, and caring people in the world of toy creation.
These
are the real elves. We invite you to join us as Santa's two newest elves.”

The room erupted with applause as Santa sat down. “Now, Anna and Ryan, what questions do you have for me?”

I couldn't speak. I couldn't think. I thought I must be dreaming. I glanced at Anna and noticed that she was sitting absolutely still, mouth hanging open. I started to believe that Santa was real. I could barely contain my excitement about the possibilities ahead of me.

The next Thanksgiving…

“Eric, I will be home from my new job for about six weeks. Do you think that you could help me with some new toy ideas?”

Eric enthusiastically responded, “Yes, Uncle Ryan! I don't like that you had to move so far away, but being a toy designer is the coolest job ever! You're just like one of Santa's elves! Do you think some of our ideas might be made into real toys again?”

“Yes, Eric, I think there is a very good chance of that,” I responded, barely containing my grin. If Eric only knew just how much “like” one of Santa's elves I really was…

Acknowledgements

First and foremost, we would like to thank all of the wonderful and talented authors who contributed to
Holiday Magick
! Without them, this book would not exist. It has been a pleasure working with them and becoming lost in their creative worlds.

Thank you to everyone at Spencer Hill Press, especially Kate, Vikki, Trish, and Lisa, for all of their help with promoting, writing, and editing this book. To Gary McCluskey, for dealing with us for what felt like dozens of versions of the cover artwork. To Amanda Clark, for her beautiful interior illustrations and numerous artistic consultations. To Lisa Amowitz, for her advice and general artistic sense. To Steve Walvick, for his assistance with Jewish culture and history. To Richard Kardol, for his tips on Australian culture.

Rich would like to thank his mother, Jeanie, and his sister, Leslie, for always being there, and for dealing with constant talk of books and editing.

Jessica would like to thank her parents, Pat and Dave, for listening to countless book-related tales and for babysitting so that she could work on writing and editing.

Finally, thank you to Alex, for sitting through hours and hours of discussions on stories, images, and book covers. We hope this process and book inspires you to work hard on your dreams and to do great things.

True Stories of the Authors

Daniel A. Cohen
(“Planet Pattern Baldness” and “Masking Fear”)

Daniel A. Cohen was just your average business student. Microeconomics, finance, marketing…you name it, he had to do a PowerPoint presentation on it. One dark and stormy night, he was bitten by the radioactive realization that memorizing business jargon could possibly be the most boring activity known to man. After gaining eagle-eye vision, abs that could grate cheese, and a talent for imagining things (including his cheese-grating abs), he wrote his first novel and began his epic battle against the formidable business jargon. He continues to fight the good fight by playing saxophone and writing YA fantasy, forever hoping his Veil trilogy will help inspire others to join his cause.
whyfiction.blogspot.com

Owen Dean
(“Christmas with the Krampus”)

Owen Dean was born and raised in various parts of New Hampshire, where he was homeschooled by his mother for a majority of his education. His father exposed him to the works of Tolkien at a young age, and the effects were irreversible. At the time of this publication, he is a senior undergraduate student at Elmira College.