Waiting for Santa

Tessie Pardel looked out the window at the powdered sugar sheen of refrozen snow in the front yard and remarked, "No sign of Santa…"

Cleaning the table in front of the couch, Tessie's older brother, Simon Pardel, glanced up and asked, "What about mom?"

"No sign of her either", was all Tessie had to say about that. She shut the drapes and pulled on her Santa cap a little tighter. Her long, black hair spilled out of the cap and flowed over onto each shoulder. She still had her holly-adorned red apron tied around her from supper and later baking.

Despite her promises before leaving to go to the party, neither Tessie nor Simon expected their mother back home before sometime in the late afternoon on Christmas Day and probably with a hangover.

In her absence, as always, Tessie took charge. She hung blinking lights in the hallway while Simon hung them over the archway in the living room. The tree had been put up by mom's Boyfriend 3. He was the one who they both liked the best and he would still come over to watch them from time to time. The tree itself was unadorned. Tessie wanted to save that for last.

Beneath the tree, the presents were neither sparse nor cramped. There were mostly gifts from cousins, which were always the biggest with the fanciest paper. Typically clothes.

Finishing up with the table, Simon glanced at a particular, neon-green package at the fringe of the tree. He noted to Tessie, "I think that one is a thousand-piece puzzle."

Crouching next to the tree, Tessie checked the tag and gave the item a little shake. It was labeled from "grandmom" and the sound was not a clear rattling of pieces of cardboard. Instead, Tessie's ear could tell it was more of a "thunk" in a mass followed by a bit of rolling. Another shake produced a similar sound. Tessie shook it once more because she liked the sound it made.

After much thought, she concluded, "It's gotta be one of those tilting ball maze things."

Looking down at the clean table, Simon noted, "Would be our third from grandma."

Tessie stretched and cracked her back a little. "I think that's everything…Vacuuming all done."

Simon chimed in, "Scrubbed the bathroom."

"Did the laundry, folded it, and sorted it."

"Made the beds."

Tessie held back a yawn and continued, "Made ham stew for supper and then the cookies." The scent of the cooling cookies had made it to one side of the living room from the nearby kitchen.

Their back-and-forth went on until they were brought to the present with Simon gesturing to the table and Tessie looking back at the windows she'd just polished.

With all that, Tessie announced, "That's everything but the tree. All chores and potential chores completed. Every last-minute reason for the 'naughty' list has been covered."

Simon smiled. "I'm pretty sure you have it all wrapped up."

Tessie wagged a finger with a frown. "Never get too sure. Besides, I am asking for something really big this year. I need to make the extra effort."

Simon nodded. "You should be fine. And you did so much before too. For mom, for me, and you gave those old coats to those homeless guys."

Tessie grimaced. "But I got yelled at for it."

Simon shrugged. "Only because you probably should've given them to other people to give to them."

Tessie plopped down on the couch. "Do you think Santa will count that as more of a nice or a naughty?"

Simon joined her on the couch. "I think Santa understands your intent."

Pulling her legs up underneath her, Tessie mulled, "I'm kinda worried about that. Santa is a mind-reader and all. And a lot of the stuff…I kinda put it towards the hope he'll get me…what I want. Would that be bad or duplicitous?"

Simon raised an eyebrow at the word "duplicitous" from his eight-year-old sister. "Uh…think of Santa like a superhero, I guess. His mind-reading isn't there to make you worry. It's to comfort you."

Tessie looked at Simon. "I guess…but now I can't get the picture of Santa in spandex tights out of my head." Simon chuckled and assured her, "You have nothing to worry about from Santa. Did you worry last year?"

With her gaze on Simon, Tessie admitted, "I always worry about Santa. Like…he's been around so long. He flies all over the world in a single night. And he works harder than grandpa did. Plus, that unbalanced diet of cookies. What if Santa croaks?!"

Taking a little time in pondering his answer, Simon finally told his sister, "Well…it's clear Santa has many special powers. So, maybe he just looks really out of shape. It's how people see him and maybe he's actually very fit. And then, during the rest of the year, he'll do tons of yoga and exercise and preparation to get himself ready for next year."

Tessie listened to this carefully. "That makes sense. He does need to get down chimneys so…he'll need all sorts of yoga poses to fit. Santa still should take till Valentine's Day off to relax. But what does he really look like then?"

Simon shrugged. "I figure the gut is like if you stuff a pillow under your shirt. So imagine him as a thin, muscular guy."

Tessie turned her head and bit her lip. "So, he'd be like those old surfers down on the beach who wear shades?"

"Something like that. Probably."

Her expression was skeptical, but Tessie accepted this idea and moved onto her next concern. "What about being all over the world? Boyfriend 2 was a fighter pilot, and he blacked out a few times because of speed. With the size of the world, how can Santa make it to every house in the world in a single night?"

Simon's face lit up. "I actually have a few ideas for that. Firstly, what if he's not doing it in a single night? He must have it planned way ahead of time…only the gifts are specially hidden."

Tessie shook her head. "Nope. I've looked everywhere in the house for gifts." Simon raised an eyebrow and proposed, "What about time travel?"

Tessie giggled. "Boyfriend 4. He said that it's not possible. Even if you're moving really really fast, you're just going faster in time and even then…Santa would be flattened by the Gs."

Rubbing his lip, Simon proposed, "How about this. We've established Santa has some measure of mental mind powers, right?"

"Scarily enough…yeah."

"Well, you've heard those rumors in school where kids say that moms and dads are Santa, right?"

Tessie grimaced but gave a little nod. "I glare at them."

Tempted by the smell of cookies, Simon paused a minute to go check on them. They'd cooled enough, so he brought them over and set them on the table. Simon and Tessie each took one. Simon bit into his first. Tessie had made a variety from designs she read in a book. The bells weren't perfect circles, the trees were rather short, and the snowmen were lumpy. Still, Simon loved them and told Tessie so. Tessie nibbled her tree slowly and adjusted her Santa cap.

Simon continued, "Here's my idea. What if those people in class are a little right? Santa, with his vast mental powers to see the children of the world, can project his mind into mothers and fathers everywhere."

Tessie's eyes bulged as she turned to look at Simon. She nearly dropped her cookie as she asked, "Are you serious? Like…Santa could be able to body swap himself with anyone?"

Simon noted the lady Santa they saw at the mall a few days ago. "That's why you see Santa everywhere. They're not just dressing like Santa, they're hoping to channel Santa to help him out."

Tessie's mouth hung open for a moment. "There's a Santa mind-control cult out there?!"

Flashing a bit of his teeth with a laugh, Simon waved his hand. "I don't think it's anything like that…it's just….As you said, Santa needs help and, with his mental magic, for a little bit, he can take over people's bodies…purely for good…to make sure gifts are delivered. So instead of traveling, he just needs to use his mind."

This theory left Tessie sitting still a moment. Eventually, she noted, "I sure hope Santa never decides to become a super-villain…or we're toast….but okay. It makes sense…though creepy…but what about us? Boyfriend 3 wasn't possessed by Santa's soul. Although he was really nice last time. Mom neither. She didn't even ask what I want for Christmas."

Simon was ready with an answer in this case. "Well, when it comes to us…surely…Santa will have to come personally. We are a special case. One of the few he'll visit in person."

Tessie's eyes lit up. "Are you sure? Oh, I hope so. I wouldn't mind if Santa mind-possessed mom sometimes though. Although he'd have to do the stuff mom does with Boyfriend 5 when she thinks I'm not around to see…"

Simon cleared his throat and asked, "So, you wanna open my gift to you tonight?"

Tessie stretched her legs and pondered. "Isn't that against the rules?"

As evidence to the contrary, Simon noted the year they opened all their gifts on Christmas Eve night instead of the morning. Tessie was young when that happened but countered, "Mom was there that time, so we got an official okay to do it."

Simon persisted, "But they're gifts we're giving one another…so it's exempt from that particular rule."

The multi-colored twinkle of the lights played across Tessie's face and cap. "But what if my gift is a pink dress I got you for after Santa delivers the biggie present of a body-transforming blaster gun?"

Simon hung his head a little. He'd known for several weeks that was the key gift Tessie wanted from Santa. He had tried to persuade her with gifts which would work in the real world, but she had been resolute. If she was good enough and Santa was magic, then it would be clearly possible for him to deliver her a transforming blaster gun. She made a vow in her letter to Santa to use it only for fun on her brother. Simon agreed with a sigh that she could use it on him when she received it.

Tessie answered by aiming her hand like the blaster gun she had in mind and made a little "peeyow" noise. In her head, her brother's hair lengthened from its short buzz-cut to past his shoulder and around his neck. It was silkier than the receptionist lady's hair where their mother worked. Tessie could see Simon brushing it back and sighing, but hair was only the beginning.

Still holding the image in her thoughts, Tessie noted, "Actually, it's not a dress. But I'm just saying…can't we wait till we're having fun giving you a foxtail or making you into my little sister and all sorts of other stuff?"

For Tessie alone, Simon brushed at his long, dark hair and used a scrunchie to keep it back in a ponytail. With a grin and another blaster sound, Tessie imagined Simon's face changing towards a more girly shape which combined her own face with her brother's. He always had a pretty face, barely touched by the scariest of things Tessie had ever heard of: Puberty. Among other reasons, she was gonna make sure puberty didn't ever mess with her brother.

Feminine-faced Simon spoke with a high tone close to Tessie's but with less of the squeak which always annoyed her when she tried to sound serious. The girl head on Simon's boy body made Tessie giggle and smile. Simon gave her a look with his girl eyes and asked, "Are you imagining me blastered right now?"