Santa slid down the chimney at 82 Parkside Lane at approximately 1:52 AM EST December 25th, and walked right into her trap.
Totally unaware of and unprepared for such vile deception, he spent a precious moment lovingly admiring the tree decorated with tiny colored lights and fragile glass ornaments, and then he surveyed the stockings hung off the mantel, stuffed a few goodies in each, and left a package under the tree, settling it in with the others already there so it wouldn't stand out. He loved leaving surprises.
Before the night was over he'd leave more surprises there than he'd expected, and get one or two of his own.
On the dining room table sat a round pewter tray covered in a glass dome. Under the dome sat a tall glass of milk and three cookies decorated in green and red sparkles. Unable to resist the treat, Santa gently lifted the dome off the tray.
Doing so set off an alarm in the bedroom just off the top of the stairs, waking the house's sole occupant, Sara Teasdale. With incredible glee Sara slipped naked out of bed and into her robe and descended the stairs.
Santa stood before the fireplace, looking quite dumbfounded. Lifting the dome had also engaged a lock on the glass doors, sealing the fireplace off.
Sara stood at the bottom of the stairs and grinned as she saw him standing there, trapped.
"I can't believe it worked!" she said.
Santa, hearing her voice, turned around.
He was pretty much as she had imagined he'd be, a bit shorter perhaps. He was round and solid and all dressed in red with white faux fur trim (the real stuff had gotten him in trouble with PETA, who were already upset with his reindeer exploitation), with a wide black belt and heavy black boots. His face was lost in cascades of white beard and hair, like a grossly overweight Arlo Guthrie.
Santa placed a finger across his lips and shushed her. "You mustn't wake the children," he whispered.
Sara smirked. She was twenty-five, pretty, although at the moment a bit tousled from being in bed. Tall and slim, she had dark hair and deep eyes that absolutely shone as she observed her prize.
"There are no children," she told him, suppressing the giggles.
"But I saw the toys in the yard," Santa said. "And these stockings."
"Bait," she said. "I live alone."
Santa sighed. His list had said there were no children at that address, but when he saw evidence of them as he passed overhead he figured it was another glitch. He'd been running into problems like that ever since they computerized.
"Well, this won't stop me," he said, indicating the barricaded fireplace. "I can just as easily go out the door, you know."
Sara shook her head slowly. "I've done my research," she said.
Impatiently, Santa asked her, "How do you suppose I get in and out of all those homes that don't have fireplaces, eh? I'm Santa Claus, not Captain Kirk!"
Sara moved in closer to him, walking across plush carpet on bare feet.
"Those are the houses where you plant the ideas of what to get in the minds of the parents," she told him. "That way the gifts still come from you, although they really don't."
He stared at the locked glass doors and his shoulders slumped.
"You can't keep me here," he said. "I have a very busy night ahead of me."
She smiled and said nothing.
"If you're expecting a ransom I'm afraid you're going to be quite disappointed," he told her. "I'm not a leprechaun. I can't lead you to a pot of gold. What nonsense. We don't even use money. Money is a human contrivance. If you hadn't noticed, I'm an elf."
"Oh, I noticed," she said, coming even closer. "I've studied you all my life. Ever since I was a little girl I've wanted to meet you."
"Well, you've accomplished that," he said, puffing his chest out proudly. "The pleasure is mine. Now, if you don't mind?"
She stopped mere inches from him, and ran a slender hand down the front of his red coat.
"But I'm not a little girl any more," she said.
"As I noticed," he said. "Congratulations."