Finding Santa - A Christmas Story

Chapter 1: A decision

It was the 18th of December. Everyone in Santa's workshop village was preparing for Christmas. There was only one problem. Santa had gone missing. It was already very close to Christmas and he had not returned from his daily walk he did with some presents yesterday. There was only one present left from him in the snow.

Santa liked to take the presents for the walks since then he thought there’d be a chance of him getting fit for Christmas.

Mrs Claus was worried about Santa. She thought Santa had been kidnapped, as he had received an angry letter threatening him a couple of weeks earlier. It wasn’t the first time Santa had received one of these, so nobody took it seriously. But that might have been a mistake.

 Mrs Claus started to think of ways, Santa could be found. Only one possibility came to her mind. An elf should find him. The problem with this was that nearly all the elves were preparing for Christmas. Her last hope was an elf, who was different from the others. One who had never been far away from the village. This elf was, indeed, very special as his appearance differed from all the other elves to ever have existed. He was tall. Fortunately, he had been very good at tracking practises the elves do regularly nearby the workshop village and so Mrs Claus didn’t have another choice than to approach the elf.

She gave the elf the mission to find Santa no matter what. When the elf heard that Santa was gone and he’d have to go and find him, he got very anxious. Mrs Claus tried to explain to him that if he wouldn't go and found Santa, the people around the world would not receive any presents this year. But the elf still wasn't convinced to go, especially not alone. As the other elves were super busy preparing for Christmas, and the elderly Mrs Claus had to have an eye on them, nobody could come with him. The elf knew that outside, in the wild, it would be very cold and even dangerous, especially if there was no possibility to return to the safe and warm workshop village. Mrs Claus kept demanding the elf to go but the two couldn’t come to an agreement. 

Most elves would’ve taken the mission to find Santa, already for the sake of forever being seen as a hero, if they'd be successful. But this elf was too sure he could not do it and would just get lost. He told himself that he wasn't an elf for this kind of stuff and doubted his abilities a lot. He just wanted to help prepare for Christmas like many others, and not go to the dangerous, cold and unpredictable wilderness alone. 

The elf left Mrs Claus and went on a walk with his journal. He went to the journaling fell, where all the other elves would also go to journal. He sat down on one of the journaling benches, facing a beautiful view. The elf sighed a few times, admired the view and the beautiful, golden light from the sun as well as its breathtaking way of hitting the trees. 

After a while, he took his pencil out and started noting pros and cons of whether to go on the mission or not.

He couldn’t believe that he was even considering going. The elf wrote down that if he went, then he might never return, he added that if didn’t go, there wouldn’t be Christmas this year and a lot of people would be devastated. He kept writing his thoughts down and compared the pros and cons. It was time to make a decision. Eventually, he decided to do it.

Chapter 2: The adventure begins

The elf went back to Mrs Claus the next morning and told her about his decision and she was absolutely over the moon. She gave the elf some food which she had just made and handed him a small golden bell while telling him: ”Don’t give up, just believe, and you’ll find him. If there come problems, remember what Santa would do in that situation.”

The following day, before sunrise, the elf started getting ready for the trip. He decided to wear the same elf costume as always because he liked it a lot and it was extraordinarily warm. The elf was so focused on his worries, the negatives, that he forgot to take the food Mrs Claus had given him to a bag. 

The elf’s first real adventure had started. He was nervous, anxious, stressed and didn’t believe in himself. He knew he shouldn't just focus on the negatives because that wouldn’t help him at all and just make everything worse.

The elf had to track Santa down from clues he would find since old fashioned Santa hadn’t yet adjusted to the modern world, and didn’t use devices like a mobile phone. The adventurer immediately spotted the footprints in the sparkling white snow. They had to be Santas! But as he came closer, he gasped. Santa hadn't been alone! There was a second pair of traces right next to the original ones, destroying every last piece of hope Santa might have gone somewhere voluntarily. He had been kidnapped. The elf struggled and thought to himself: “This is getting serious! Should I Return home? That Kidnapper might be dangerous!”, he was just about to turn around when he recalled what he had just thought, Santa was in danger! The elf took a deep breath and threw all of his hesitations overboard. He had to help Santa, and there was only one way to do so. And so he stepped into the unknown for the first time in his life. The Adventure had begun.

Chapter 3: Hope

The elf had wandered in the wilderness for around half a day but there was still no sign of Santa. Eventually, the tracks led to a road. The elf got worried he might have lost Santas traces but luckily Santa had walked on the side of the road and not in the middle, thus leaving footprints. After the elf had walked along the road for hours and hours until dark, he still had not found a place to stay for the night and it also seemed like he wouldn't find one. This was when he realized he had forgotten the food as well as the drinks. No food, no water and no warmth, the elf was feeling fairly miserable and only one day had gone by. “How could I forget the food?”, he wondered. Self-doubt kicked again and he crashed down to his knees in the snow. “Why me?'' he shouted towards the setting, dark night, but the night responded with silence, leaving the desperate with his thoughts. He was considering everything. From simply going back, to running away and never returning to the workshop ever again. Just in his most hopeless moment he suddenly noticed a bright light coming towards him. Hope! It was a car!

Even though he hadn't seen any cars during the time he had been on the road, the elf started waving to it in the hopes that the driver would stop. Luckily, he stopped with his black car by the elf to see what was up and why was there an elf on his knees in the snow. The stranger had a big brown beard and short hair, the elf estimated him to be around 50 years old.

The elf slowly got back up and started exchanging some words with the stranger who told him that he had never seen elves before and had thought that they were smaller and not this tall. The elf responded that all the other elves were small, making him a very special one.

As the stranger wondered about an elf being alone in the night, the elf told him the whole story. About Christmas being in danger because Santa had gone missing, Mrs Claus sending him out, and him forgetting food and water. The man was devastated. No Christmas? What a nightmare! He quickly decided to help the elf as good as he could and got food and water from his trunk. He invited the troubled adventurer to sit into his car while eating to recover from the cold

The elf got into the car next to the man. He noticed that the car was quite an old one but still tidy and fortunately the seats were comfortable and the warmth was a blessing for him.

He ate, drank and relaxed for a bit while exchanging more words with his saviour. 

The man gave a good tip to him, it was possible to drink natural water from rivers. The elf took his advice, understanding it might not be the best idea since it might not be safe. But he couldn’t turn back now, otherwise, there’d be no chance of finding Santa in time. 

After an hour the elf started to continue his journey to find Santa. He thanked the man and promised he would be rewarded for his kindness. Now it was time for the elf to continue his unexpected journey.

Chapter 4: Lost?

A couple of days went by, the elf walked a lot, drank from the rivers and saw some reindeer. He had been throwing a lot of snowballs around, reminding himself of all the competitions he had won in the village among the elves. He was one of the best, probably because he always threw snowballs around if he wasn’t in a hurry. He loved it.

It was the 21st of December and the elf had encountered another problem as there was an intersection of paths. There were even more tracks now, from different persons to different directions.

The elf had no clue which was Santa’s and wasn't sure where he had headed. The elf again started to get very desperate. He was so hungry and his self-doubts struck again. He thought that this was it. He wouldn't find Santa and there wouldn't be a Christmas because of his failure. Just when he started wondering about the purpose of his mission, he remembered Mrs Claus’ words ”Don’t give up, just believe, and you’ll find him. If there come problems, remember what Santa would do in that situation.”

In the beginning, the elf had thought that this had just been told to him to inspire him, but at this moment he realized that Santa and he actually had a lot in common. They both had been very good at tracking things down, back when they still used to be kids. So the elf started to think what Santa would’ve done at an intersection like this… After a few minutes, an idea struck him. Looking closer at the footprints. He went a couple of steps back to where he had come from and inspected the footprints of Santa and the kidnapper before sampling them to the ones in the intersection. He was able to make out the direction which Santa and the villain had gone, forward to the wide-open area. “Maybe Santa somehow convinced his perpetrator to go towards the open area in hopes that he’d get spotted,” the elf thought to himself and walked towards the area.

Chapter 5: Doubt

When he came to a forest after hiking for around one day bit by bit huge snowflakes started to rain from the sky, covering the sparkling winter landscape into a thick cover of matte fresh snow. The elf stopped, stunned by the beauty, which nature had gifted to the world. After standing and admiring the snow for a while, he bethought himself and wanted to continue, but as he wanted to take a step, he realized that all the tracks had faded. In less than a second all the joy, which he had felt just a moment earlier, had turned into misery. He began to doubt himself again and sank down to the snow.

It all seemed hopeless. What was he even? Was he ever gonna be more than just a tall elf, tall for an elf, but small for a world, that was so big. His gaze slowly roamed over the landscape. White. White as far as his eyes could see. The snow, whose beauty he had just admired, started to intimidate him, as it continued to bury everything under its merciless, sinister, coat. The lethal cold was starting to creeched up his toes when he suddenly realized a small, red piece in the snow. He jumped up and ran towards it. Santa’s hat and glasses! Just as he put Santas glasses into his pocket and a spark of hope lit up in the elf, he suddenly heard a loud noise. A gun. “SANTAAA?!”, the elf shouted from the top of his lungs.

Chapter 6: Quietly

He started sprinting towards where the sound had come from, as fast as he could.

After a while the elf had to stop, he was completely exhausted. As he was standing in the snow, gasping for air, he realized that it was starting to get darker and darker as the sun had already set. He had to find a place to sleep for himself and possibly for Santa too. “If he is still alive”, the elf thought to himself.

He decided to climb a small fell to get a better overview of the surroundings, and as he arrived on top, he was speechless. Again, he felt so, so small. He would have never dreamed that the world would be that big, but there it was. An endless carpet of white snow.

After speechlessly admiring the scenery for a while, the biting cold reminded him of his mission, and as his elf eyes did their very best to spot something from the endless whiteness, he finally saw a small hut. 

He went back down and started walking towards the direction, where he had seen the hut.

When he arrived to the hut he immediately spotted some fresh footprints. They were Santa’s and the kidnappers. Santa was alive! In absolute relief he decided to sneak to the hut to check, was Santa being held captive there. The elf was close, so close, but still so far.

Chapter 7: Anybody here?

On the way to the hut, he alertly grabbed a piece of wood from the wood stack, in an attempt to protect himself. Even though the situation was so intense, the elf laughed to himself, “What a foolish thought to protect yourself against a gun with nothing more than a stick!” He took off his gloves to have a better grip of the wood and slowly started sneaking towards the hut on his tiptoes. Step after step he got closer and closer to the hut. His fingers were getting cold and he couldn't properly take hold of the wood. Taking off the gloves had been a bad idea. “CREECH” One of the wooden steps was old and made a loud sound when the elf stepped on it. He immediately froze in position, praying for no one to have heard the sound, but he knew well enough that, if anyone was nearby, by now, they knew so was he. When he stood in front of the door he took a deep breath and slammed it open.

On the way to the hut, he alertly grabbed a piece of wood from the wood stack, in an attempt to protect himself. Even though the situation was so intense, the elf laughed to himself, “What a foolish thought to protect yourself against a gun with nothing more than a stick!” He took off his gloves to have a better grip of the wood and slowly started sneaking towards the hut on his tiptoes. Step after step he got closer and closer to the hut. His fingers were getting cold and he couldn't properly take hold of the wood. Taking off the gloves had been a bad idea. “CREECH” One of the wooden steps was old and made a loud sound when the elf stepped on it. He immediately froze in position, praying for no one to have heard the sound, but he knew well enough that, if anyone was nearby, by now, they knew so was he. When he stood in front of the door he took a deep breath and slammed it open.

Chapter 8: Fear

It had been a long and hard day. They had walked many kilometres in the deep snow, but luckily the snowfall had covered all their tracks. That old man he was dragging with him really was such a burden if you had to make progress, and the fact that he wasn't in the best condition anymore, didn't really make things easier. But he was getting what he deserved. Suddenly the man spotted the white tip of a red hat in the window of the hut. He grabbed his victim and pulled him into a nearby forest. “Be silent or otherwise!”, he hissed at him while waving a gun.

He knew he had to follow what his kidnapper said. Lastly, when the man had fired his gun to warn him that day, Santa had known that he was bloody serious about using it. He tried his best to spot what was going on at the hut, but due to losing his glasses in the snow, he didn't have a chance.

The elf decided to continue his search for Santa. Santa had to be nearby, he was so close to succeeding and saving him. He got up from the bench and put his hand on the door handle. He took a last deep breath and stepped outside the hut.

He immediately took a step back again. “Fresh traces”, he thought, “They were not here before!”  From the corner of his eye, he spotted the piece of wood, which he had brought to the hut earlier. Standing at the doorpost. He decided to take the wood with him, even though from a rational point of view he knew that it was absolutely ridiculous to defend himself with a piece of wood, but it just made him feel a lot safer. Carefully he started looking around and inspecting the footsteps. “The forest!” It seemed so clear now. That was where they were hiding. The elf grabbed his gloves from where he had left them and carefully, very carefully, he started following the path into the darkening, dreadful forest.

He was coming. What a stupid creature. Was he really thinking he wouldn´t yet have been spotted? Slowly the man raised his gun, pointing it at the elf. 

The traces were leading deeper and deeper into the forest, slowly it was getting harder to see. Again, the elf started losing hope. 

The kidnapper grabbed the gun tighter and got his fingers in the right position to pull the trigger. From the corner of his eye, he saw the horror in Santa's eyes, and he got an idea. Slowly he took the gun down again, vanishing into the woods while leaving Santa alone at the side of the path…

Chapter 9: Face-off

The elf kept approaching. He got closer and closer. 29 metres, 28, 27, 26…, but suddenly, he spotted something red at the side of the path, Santa! The elf started smiling and laughing in absolute relief, but the joy melted quickly when he spotted someone else appearing next to Santa. “Drop it!”, the kidnapper snarled, “DROP IT AND RAISE YOUR HANDS!” The elf was absolutely terrified, but he knew that if he followed the commands of the man, he was as good as dead. The man who saw the despair in the elf’s eyes laughed evilly “The game is over”. 

In this second the elf made a decision. He had come so far. The game was NOT over, at least not for him. It was never gonna be over. He slowly raised his hands, not dropping the wood. The facial expressions of the man hardened, “Drop it”, he growled, with a dangerously silent voice. 

This was the moment Santa chose to act. He kicked the man's leg, distracting him from the elf, who threw the wood towards the man. The last thing he heard was the sound of the gun’s trigger. 

Chapter 10: Christmas magic

The wood hit the man’s head and knocked him out. The elf looked down on himself and saw

nothing. He was totally fine. The man had used his last bullet to scare Santa earlier. The elf started laughing and ran towards Santa. They both looked at each other and shared a big, relieved hug.

 “Mikko, is that you ho ho ho?!'' laughed Santa, amazed, but in disbelief.

 “Yes, it is me, Santa, Mrs. Claus sent me to find you. “, answered Mikko the elf.

Santa was so overjoyed to see his saviour. The last thing he would’ve expected was that Mikko was going to be the one to find him. After all, he hadn't ever been allowed to go far away into the wilderness and lacked a lot of confidence.

Mikko scanned the place where the kidnapper was lying in the snow. In disbelief, he shook his head. “Why would anyone ever do something like this, Santa ?”, he asked. Santa looked at him and said, “You know Mikko, sometimes I even make mistakes. We lost his wishlist last year and instead of focusing on all the other good things in life, he let the hatred into his heart, and as hate always does, it destroyed him. He attacked me while I was on my daily walk, so big was his desire for revenge. Instead of protecting others from the feeling he had last year, and giving presents to those that I can´t reach, he decided to let everyone suffer and ruin Christmas for them all. “ Mikko looked at him speechlessly. After a while, he whispered: “ So what will we do with him now?”. Santa watched him very thoughtfully. Then, after a while he responded: “ Well, first we have to get home somehow…”. At that moment it hit the elf, the bell! He smirked and said:” I might just have the solution you are searching for”, as he pulled the golden bell, which Mrs Claus had given to him, out of his pocket. Santa chuckled as he carefully rang the tiny bell. “What does it do?” asked Mikko. Santa gave Mikko one of his deep, full laughs again, as he told him to look up…

And there it was. As breathtaking as a shooting star, Santa’s sleigh rushed through the sky spiralling down to the hut with the small bells ringing softly, as Mrs Claus was already waving to them from the sky. Mikko was stunned. As soon as the sleigh had landed Mrs. Claus jumped out of it and gave Santa a huge hug.

They decided to take the man to the workshop with them, to cure his heart from the hatred growing inside it. When Mikko wondered how was that going to work the onliest answer he could get from Mrs. Claus was “Christmas magic”, and a big smile. 

The companions made it back to the workshop village and Santa still gave huge thanks to Mikko for everything he had done as well as promising that something exciting was to be coming his way. Santa went on his way to rest and Mikko was given a hero’s welcome. He felt fantastic.

On the 24th of December, Mikko woke up and saw a huge pile of presents. The first one contained a diploma of huge service for the world, which only Santa can give out, once per a year. This diploma also gives the recipients the permission to go on adventures whenever they wish to do so. This was massive. Mikko was overwhelmed with gratitude. After he had done his morning routine and eaten some gingerbreads, he went to the elves' usual journaling spot in the fells. He wrote down his gratitude and his adventures for a long while with a big smile on his face. This adventure had changed the way he was. He had gone from a scared elf to a brave one… 

This was the last chapter of “Finding Santa - A Christmas Story”. Thank you so much for reading my first ever public story. I hope you enjoyed it. :)