"Holy frozen frosticles!" screamed Harry the Elf as he was hurtled out of the sleigh. The ice-biting wind blasted snowflakes onto his face, piercing his skin. He looked down into the void below as he fell.

"Ho ho hold on!" shouted Santa. He dipped the sleigh and brought it around. The reindeer banked hard left and soared under the elf. Harry crashed back into the sleigh.

"Ho ho Harry!" Santa called. "You should ho ho hang on tighter next time!"

Harry took a deep breath and wrapped his tiny elf fingers around a sleigh handle. "It sure is windy tonight!" he shouted. The chill continued to claw at his cheeks. "I hope the kids appreciate what we're doing to get them their presents!"

"Ho ho have some heart, Harry!" Santa replied. "It's Christmas!"

"Bah humbug," Harry thought to himself. "Those nasty little kids don't deserve all this."

The sleigh sailed through the cold winds and towards a row of houses below. "Ho ho here's our first stop!" Santa guided the sleigh deftly onto a snow-covered rooftop. The reindeer stepped precariously on the pointed crest, then settled to a standstill.

Santa leapt over the sleigh and, with a touch of Christmas magic, slid down the narrow chimney. Harry scratched his head. No matter how many times he'd seen that, he still couldn't figure out how a fat bearded man could squeeze down a chimney. Or why he'd want to do that instead of using the front door. "Or at least a window, for frosticles sake!" he muttered to himself.

In about one human second (and several Santa minutes), he was back up and in the sleigh. "Ho ho over to the next house!" he cheered. The sleigh jerked forward and Harry, again, too busy muttering to himself to hold on tight, toppled over the side.

"Holy frozen fro-ugggh!" He rolled down the side of the roof as Santa's sleigh took off without him. Harry plopped into the soft snow and blacked out.

. . .

Tap tap tap.

"Hey."

Tap tap tap.

"Hey," called out a tiny voice.

Harry slowly opened his eyes. Two young boys were staring down at him. He was lying in a bank of snow besides a house. The snow was still falling gently around him. Santa and his sleigh was nowhere in sight.

"Hey kid, what are you doing lying in the snow?"

Harry sat up and shook the flakes from his head. "I'm no kid. I'm an elf," he declared.

"You are?" one of the boys yelped. His eyes lit up. "Wow! Like from the North Pole?"

Harry huffed. "Yes, little boy. Where else?" He stood up and brushed the snow from his garments. "How long have I been lying here?"

"I don't know," one of the boys replied. The stood silent for a moment. Then one boy extended his hand. "I'm Eric. This is my brother Robbie. Are you cold?"

"Cold? Hello. Earth to little boy. I'm an elf from the North Pole. Of course I'm not cold. There's nothing colder than the North Pole."

The boys laughed. "You're funny," Robbie giggled.

"Funny?" Harry grimaced. "Do I amuse you? Do I make you laugh?"

"Ha ha ha!" the boys howled. "You do!"

Harry snorted and turned around. "I hate this time of year," he muttered. He looked up into the dark night. Against the black were white dots falling towards his face. "Oh great, where's the sleigh?"

"What's your name?" Eric asked.

"Harry," he muttered as he scanned the sky. "I can't believe I'm stuck here."

"Want to come in and play with us, Harry?" Eric asked.

After several more minutes of hopeless searching, Harry sighed. He dropped his arms and turned towards the little boys. "Thanks but no thanks. I've got to find my ride."

Harry took a deep breath, looked up at the North Star, and began walking North. "A good direction as any," he thought to himself. The soft snow crunched under his elf shoes as flakes drifted onto his face. He shoved his hands into his pockets.

After a few moments, he heard echoing snow crunching. He stopped. The echoes stopped too. His pointy ear perked for a second. Then he continued on. And so did the echo.

Harry stopped again and spun around. "Ah ha!" he shouted. "Why are you following me?"

Behind him were Eric and Robbie. "It's dark out there. We didn't want you to be alone in the dark."

Harry huffed. "But what about you two then? Once I've found my ride, won't you be alone?"

"No," answered Eric. "We have each other."

Harry snorted. He turned around and kept walking. Eric and Robbie continued after him.

"Are you sad?" Eric asked.

"What? Speak up little boy, I can't hear you."

"Are you sad?" Eric repeated. "I would be sad if I was left alone."

"No, of course I'm not sad. I'm just…" Harry exhaled deeply. "I just want to get back to the North Pole. I hate being out here."

"Why?" Robbie asked.

"Why?" Harry looked back at the brothers. "Because it's Christmas. And I hate Christmas."

"But Christmas is the best holiday of the year!" cheered the boys.

"Bah humbug!" snorted Harry. "Christmas is a spoiled holiday. It's lost all of its meaning. You want to know what Christmas is about? It's about how many presents you'll get and fake Santas in the malls and shoppers pushing each other down to get the last Xbox. And that's what Christmas is about nowadays."

For a few moments, Eric and Robbie followed Harry in silence. Only the soft crunching of their footsteps could be heard.

"But we didn't ask for an Xbox," Robbie said almost inaudibly.

"That doesn't matter, little boy. That was just an analogy. Point is, Christmas isn't about giving and sharing anymore. It's all about me me me. It's about what I want and what I'm going to get." Harry huffed again. His breath puffed in front of his face like dragon smoke. "And moreover—Ahhh!"

Harry slipped on a patch of ice and plunged backwards. The two brothers rushed to his side and grabbed his arms to help him up.

"Get off me! Get off me!" Harry shouted. "Stupid ice!" he scolded. He scrambled back to his feet, brushing off frozen dandruff from his shoulders.

He stared at the North Star again and sauntered off with Eric and Robbie in tow.

"Why are you two following me? Shouldn't you be asleep right now? Don't you want to wake up early tomorrow morning so you can see what presents you got?"

"But you'll be alone," Eric replied.

"So what? I don't care! I hate this holiday and I want to just go home!"

Harry suddenly took off in a dash. Snow flew up from his wake. His lungs burned from the cold icy air. The crunching of the snow was deafening to his ears. He felt himself almost gliding across the snow, on the precipice of falling again.

Out of nowhere, bright lights blazed in his eyes. He gasped and held his arms up. A loud honk pierced his ears. Harry plummeted down into the snow once again just as a car raced by.

Then all was still. Harry watched the tiny specks float into his vision and fall on his face. The soft silence of the night roared at him.

Harry moved his head and looked behind him. The two brothers were not there. He was all alone. "Tsk tsk," Harry told himself. "How foolish of me to actually think those little boys would have come after me."

"Harry!"

Harry bolted upright. He heard the brothers calling his name. The soft pit-pat of their footsteps was getting closer. "Huh!" he huffed. "They probably just came to bother me again." He pushed himself up and began brushing the snow off.

"Harry!" the boys called. "Harry!" They were upon him now. Their breaths billowed into the night like clouds. "You sure run fast! We could hardly catch up with you!"

"Why did you follow me?" Harry asked. He narrowed his eyes.

"We didn't want you to be alone and sad," Eric answered. Robbie nodded. Both clung onto each other as they gathered their breath.

Harry shook his head. "Silly little boys." He faced the North Star again. "I'm trying to get home and you're getting further from yours. Stop following me. You're never going to find your way back to your house."

He marched on. Eric and Robbie continued right behind him.

"Are you going to walk to the North Pole?" Robbie asked.

"Ha! What a foolish thought!" Harry jeered. "The North Pole is much too far to walk. I have to find my ride."

"What did you ride to get out here?" Eric asked.

"Why, Santa's sleigh, of course. What else? It's Christmas Eve, after all."

"Wow! Santa!" the brothers cheered in unison.

"Yes, and that's why you should be home right now, nestled in your warm bed, than out here with a grumpy old elf."

"But then you'll be alone. And you shouldn't be alone on Christmas," Eric stated.

For a moment, Harry's lip trembled. The trio crunched on in silence. Fresh white flakes continued to dance and fall around them as they plowed a trail through the snow.

Ding ding ding!

Their ears collectively stood up.

Ding ding ding!

"That's the sound of the bells from Santa's sleigh!" Harry gasped. He broke off in a run. Three steps into his sprint, he suddenly slowed down. Behind him, Eric and Robbie caught up. Then the three hurried towards the jingle of the bells together.

Up above them, on a snow-covered rooftop, was a set of reindeer and a glorious red sleigh. Eric and Robbie stood with their mouths open and eyes wide. The smiles on their faces lit up the dark night sky.

Santa popped out from the chimney. "Hey, Santa!" Harry called.

Santa looked down. "Ho ho Harry! There you are!" He called out to the reindeer and the sleigh leapt into motion, making an arch across the sky before settling down in front of Harry and the brothers.

"Ho ho ho!" Santa chanted.

"Am I glad to see you!" Harry shouted. He climbed into the sleigh. "This time, I'm putting on my seatbelt!"

"Santa!!" Eric and Robbie exclaimed. Their mouths were practically to the ground.

"Ho ho how are you two doing, Eric and Robbie?"

The brothers looked at each other. "How did you know our names?"

Santa winked. "Ho ho I know every child's name."

"Wow!!"

"Ho ho off to bed you two should go!"

"Oh, um, Santa?" Harry tugged Santa's furry coat. "They kind of, um, followed me out here. And they're a long way from home now. Can we give them a ride back to their house?"

Ho ho of course we can!"

The brothers started jumping up and down. "Wow wow wow wow!!"

"Well, you heard the man. Come on!" Harry shouted. The brothers scrambled into the sleigh. It was a bright and cheerful red with elaborate adornments in white and silver. An enormous sack of presents sat in the back seat. Once inside, it was surprisingly warm—another example of Christmas magic.

"Ho ho off we go!" And with that, the reindeer raced into the sky, pulling the sleigh and all of its occupants with gentle ease. Harry reached over and clipped on their seatbelts.

Eric and Robbie peered over the side in wide-eyed wonder. "Wow!!" they exclaimed as they saw all of the houses in their neighborhood. The snow blasted their faces, but they were too excited to notice or care.

Almost immediately, they were back over their house. Santa dropped the sleigh onto their doorstep. "Ho ho here we go! You're back home now!"

The brothers climbed out of the sleigh. "Thank you Santa!" They turned to Harry. "And thank you Harry!"

Harry stared at them. Then he managed a quivering smile. "No, thank you, Eric and Robbie. Thank you."

Santa caught a gleam in Harry's eye and smiled. His cheeks grew rosy red.

"Ho ho ho!" Santa chanted. "Ho ho off we go!" With a puff of snow, the sleigh took off.

"And Merry Christmas!" Harry shouted to Eric and Robbie. "Merry Christmas!"

. . .

Do you have the Christmas spirit?