"What do you mean there's a virus going around, and its reached the north pole?"
The line stayed so silent, it was as if the caller had disappeared. Then all at once, as if it were a last ditch effort, the sickly voice spoke again.
"There will be no Christmas this year." The voice took a deep breath," Santa has caught the virus." Then the line went dead and a disappointing dial tone took over.
Justin put the phone down and sighed. No Christmas? Santa didn't catch viruses. He never got sick even when he over-ate Christmas cookies.
Justin sighed. "What to do, what to do, what to do?"
As far as he knew all the elves were still busy making Christmas toys deep in the underground workshop. Mrs. Claus was out shopping for the entire years worth of food, and wasn't expected back until the day just before Christmas Eve.
Justin turned away from the phone and glanced outside. The snow was peppering down like it met business. A break in the weather wasn't expected until New Year's Eve.
"There has to be about six inches now," Justin sighed. So many people around the world had come down with this virus. It was terrifying to see. The hospitals were jam-packed with the sick and dying. The disappointment of no Santa was just too much for the children to bare. Especially, those that had lost loved ones to the illness.
"I'll just have make a trip to the North Pole," Justin decided as he began to pack a small bag of clothing. "I'm getting kinda old for this sort of thing."
Justin walked out to the garage and pulled open the side door. Lucky for him he'd had his sidewalk shoveled by the kids down the block who weren't sick yet. He closed the door behind him and locked it. Just to his side sat an old metal locker. Justin twisted it away from the wall to revival an ancient staircase going downwards.
He held tightly onto the banister and began deceasing. With each step a small light came on by his foot so that he could see the next step that had been hidden in darkness for what felt like a century. He was hoping his old train was still located at the bottom and worked like it had in the olden days.
Just as his foot tapped the bottom step all the lights came on. He had to blink to clear his vision because the light was so bright. Resting quietly on the tracks was the old Christmas train. It's colors were bright red with green trim wrapping around the engine which looked like pine needles. The bell at the top was sprinkled in ages old glitter which still had the pizazz to sparkle brightly in the light.
He sat his bag on the faded old seat of the train and picked up his cleaning cloth, which he always stored in the glove compartment. He needed to clean-up the the old little girl and check her for fuel. This could take sometime. He didn't move as well as he use to. Eighty-five years wasn't a good age to be doing much of anything. But, he sighed, it looked like he was gonna. His retirement years were over, for this Christmas anyway.
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After a good nap, on the old cot he kept in the same room, Justin got up to inspect his old train. The old girl had kept her glamor after sitting in the dark for so long.
She'd purred like a kitten when he'd cranked her up a few hours ago. Time was passin'. Justin climbed in, checked the fuel and started down the track. As the train moved along, slowly, lights in the old mine flashed on overhead. As he continued on more lights further ahead began coming on. He had no idea what the tracks looked like further on down the line. As far as he knew they could have had a cave-in. Anything was possible. The train ride would last a good two days perhaps longer only because he wasn't going top speed.
In the olden days he came across other folks using the track to go to or to leave the north pole. Some rode bikes, some walked and others used the old hand cart, only because it was quicker. Today, the old tracks were empty not even mice could be seen running the rails.
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Days later, Justin pulled on his coat and adjusted the flaps on his hat to cover his ears. The temperature had began dropping.
"I must be near the North Pole." He thought. Cups of hot chocolate lite up like flashing lights in his head. "The elves make such good chocolate milk."
The tracks up ahead began swooping downward. Justin slowed the train down. That was the entrance to the underground workshop. They weren't expecting him and he didn't wanna turn up unexpectantly and surprise them.
