The Before Clause
Fandom: The Santa Clause
Rating: T
Genre: Romance/Adventure/Spiritual
Full Summary: Who was that Santa Scott scared off the roof? How did he become Santa and was his transformation any easier than Scott's? Follow Samuel Clark through his time and see how he became the new Santa Claus.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Santa Clause or any of it's characters. I do, however, own my characters.
Comment: Just thought I could get into the Christmas holiday and write a story. Though, I might not finish until after Christmas, but, whatever. xD Anyway, this is the Prologue, so, that explains why it's so very, very short. ^^; Normally, they're pretty long, since, I seem to ramble, but, my real chapters will be much longer then this one. :3 Well, hope you like!
And, if I get some facts wrong, please, tell me and I can come back and fix them, but, if it's a problem that's impossible to fix, please just deal with my mistakes. ^^; I've been trying my best to learn as much about this period of time as possible, but, I can only find out as much as Google can give me. :3
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December 23, 1891. Two days 'til Christmas. Which, usually means that it's the second most hectic day of the year in the North Pole. Elves scurried off, trying to get all the toys ready. Others were loading them and some were taking care of the reindeer. The elves in the kitchen were even working their hardest. Everything had to be perfect for Christmas Day.
"Stop shoveling all that coal in the heater, Marten!" yelled the head elf, Bernard. "It's hot enough in here!" He took off in hat and wiped his forehead. Even if it was below degrees outside, he was working so hard and moving back and forth between so many places, he was sweating like crazy. Strangely, this year had gone by smoothly.
Bernard quickly checked off another thing he had to do that day on his clipboard and headed off to the current Santa's office. He needed to make sure that Santa was checking the list a second time and not scarfing down sugar cookies again. As he opened the door and walked in, he had just noticed that he had interpreted a conversation Santa was having with his wife, Holly Claus. He fake coughed slightly, not meaning to butt in on their conversation.
"Sorry to intrude, but, I'm here to check in on you. Do you have the list checked twice?" Bernard asked, looking serious.
"Yes, yes I do. I put it...Oh dear...where did I put it?" Santa scrambled around his office, looking for his list. Bernard didn't know how Santa lost so much stuff; especially a huge scroll with all the children of the world's names on it. Bernard had noticed that these past few years Santa had started to misplace things and forget about important due dates; thankfully, he hadn't forgotten Christmas yet.
"Sorry about this Bernard," Mrs. Claus apologized, helping her husband search. Bernard sighed.
"It's alright, as long as you find the list. And, don't forget, Santa, tomorrow, you have to get fitted, to make sure your suit fits perfectly," Bernard explained, before walking out of the room and shutting the door. He sighed to him self again. Even if Santas didn't age, that didn't mean they couldn't age mentally. Before Bernard could walk away from the door completely, he heard Mrs. Claus and Santa discussing something. He put his head to the door, listening.
"Please, you have to retire some time, Shelton. You've worked as being Santa for so long...And, I miss everyone back in Virginia," Holly whispered, her voice cracking.
"Sh, sh. Don't cry, Holly. I know, I know. But, what can I do?" Mr. Claus asked.
"The Escape Clause! That will bring you back to the day when you put on that red coat," Mrs. Claus said, her voice pleading.
"Holly..." Santa said softly. "I just...I just don't want to do that."
"Why not?" she demanded.
"Because...well, I'll miss this place too much," Shelton explained. "And...I know how much you miss everyone...I do too. But, when the time comes for me to stop being Santa...it'll come. Maybe even sooner then you think."
Bernard stepped away from the door then. Usually, he wasn't an eavesdropper, but, he was curious to why they were discussing such an important matter without him. Bernard considered walking into the room again, but, he quickly pushed it away from his mind. Shelton wasn't going to use the Escape Claus, so, there wasn't anything to worry about at this moment. Now all Bernard had to be stressed over was getting Christmas perfect.
As Bernard walked off from the office door, his thoughts started to wander. Surprisingly, Mrs. Claus was right, Santa had been working here a long time. Longer then most Santas anyway. Bernard could actually barely remember the last Santa they had. His thoughts were interrupted when he tripped over a wooden, blue car. He fell forward and barely caught him self before he face planted into the ground. He got up, dusted him self off, and picked up the toy.
"Why is this on the ground?" Bernard asked, annoyed that it wasn't being put into the sleigh. He held the toy up for everyone to see. All the elves in the workshop stopped working and stared at him, wondering who pissed Bernard off. One of the more smaller elves scurried up to him, a guilty look on his face.
"S-Sorry, Bernard, it fell out of the bag," the elf explained.
"Okay, then, put it back in the bag." His face softened a bit when he saw the elf's expression. "Just...don't let it happen again, okay?" The elf smiled shyly and nodded, grabbing the toy from Bernard's hand and running back outside where the sleigh was. He looked up at the other elves, that were still staring at him.
"Well?! Back to work!" he yelled at all of them, which, jump started them to work even faster then before. Strangely, his thoughts went back to how long Shelton had been at the North Pole. He wasn't complaining or anything; Shelton was a very kind and thoughtful Santa. Bernard just felt like his time was soon and this sadden Bernard. He had grown fond of the current Santa.
Bernard then realized he was detracting him self from his work and tried to push his thoughts to the back of his mind. Still, throughout the day, the thought kept nagging at him. And, no matter how hard Bernard tried, he just couldn't get it out of his head.
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Okay, yeah, so this chapter was EXTREMELY short, but, I promise the next chapter will be MUCH longer. So, yeah, you didn't get to meet Samuel Clark in this chapter, but, you will in the next. :3