Some Santa Claus…
It was Christmastime in Tazmily village. They usually didn't get much snow but this year they got an unusual amount, at least a foot. However, that made the Christmas spirit even stronger. Bundled up in a warm winter coat, Hinawa walked through the village square and approached the home of Wess and Duster, the two resident thieves. She knocked on the door and was greeted by the younger of the two.
"Oh, Hinawa. Nice to see you," Duster said to her.
"Hello Duster. I need to talk to your father."
"All right. I was just going to lay down for a bit. Come on in."
"Thank you." She went into the home and Duster headed downstairs to his room.
"Hinawa. What do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" old man Wess asked.
"I want you to be our Santa Claus this year for the Christmas Eve party," Hinawa smiled.
"What!? Why me?"
"I know he usually plays the part himself but I'm afraid that he won't be able to make it down for Christmas this year because of all of the snow we have gotten lately."
"No offence, Hinawa, but I'm just not the right person for the job. Besides, I don't think it will work. Everyone will know who I am."
"Please, mister Wess? The children will be disappointed if Santa doesn't come this year to the gathering."
The old thief gave out a large sigh. "All right. If you insist…"
"Thank you so much! I'll be back here tomorrow with the coat to make sure it fits and take some measurements for the rest of the outfit."
"Make sure to come in the morning. I don't want that moron to see me in that thing."
"Why?"
"It would be so demeaning…"
"He's going to see you in it anyways on Christmas Eve."
"True but I would just feel more comfortable this way."
"All right then. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Okay." She then left the house and headed back to her home, where Claus and Lucas were outside making a snowman. Boney stayed in his doghouse, tired from all ready romping through the snow.
"Hi, mom," Lucas greeted, finishing up the face.
"Taking care of a few things for Christmas?" Claus asked.
"Yep. I bet you two are getting hungry. Let's go into the house and I'll make lunch."
"All right!" the twins shouted. The stopped what they were doing and went into the house with their mother.
Hinawa returned the next morning with the coat, belt, and her sewing tools in a large bag. She had to try to keep it a secret from the twins about her plans so she had to take care of the outfit at night while they were sound asleep. Duster was still fast asleep downstairs so Wess was the one who answered the door.
"Come on in," he said.
"Thank you." Putting the bag on the floor, she pulled out the Santa coat from the bag and gave it to Wess.
"Here, try it on." Wess did as he was told and put it on. Hinawa then pulled out the belt that went along with the coat and he put it on as well.
"What do you know? A perfect fit," she smiled.
The sewing of fur trim of the coat had begun to undo itself and a few loose threads caught her eye. "Looks like I have to sew some of the trim back on." Hinawa pulled out some red thread and a needle from the bag. She fixed the trim around the ends of the coat in a flash and needed to work on the collar.
"I need you to get on a stool or something so that I can fix it properly."
"All right." Grabbing a stool from the corner, the old thief brought it over and stood on it.
"Why am I doing this again?" Wess asked at Hinawa as she fixed the trim around the neckline.
"Come on, it's for the children." Hinawa accidentally poked him with the needle while sewing.
"Ow! Watch it!"
"Sorry about that."
"I still want to know why your father couldn't do it."
"I told you, my father wanted to but he couldn't make it down."
Wess sighed. "Okay, as long as you don't expect me to come down any chimneys."
Hinawa giggled as she finished fixing the trim of the coat. "There we go."
Duster came up the stairs to see his father still in the coat. He struggled to hold in his laughter but Wess just glared at him. "Not a word…"
Duster quickly went outside, trying not to break down in hilarity on the way there. The thought of his serious old father playing the part of jolly old St. Nick made him crack up. His laughter wasn't loud enough for everyone to hear but Wess could tell that his son was in hysterics after seeing him in a Santa coat. Annoyed, he took off the coat and gave it to Hinawa. "Don't mind him, Wess. I think you looked great," she said.
"I'm starting to regret agreeing to this…" he said to himself.
A few days later, Lisa, the town gossip, was chatting it up as usual with Jill and Brenda.
"Did you hear? Hinawa is going to have old man Wess be our Santa Claus this year," she said.
"Why him? I don't really see him as the jolly type." Jill asked.
"I heard it was because her father couldn't come down this year due to all of the snow we've gotten."
"He would have trouble getting through Sunshine Forest…" Brenda added.
"Exactly."
"At least Wess has got the appearance down." Jill stated.
"True. A fake beard and padding would look too cheesy anyways." The three women laughed at this comment.
"Remember, we have to keep this a secret. We don't want to ruin it for the kids."
"Of course." Jill and Brenda said in unison.
Christmas Eve soon arrived and the village was filled with chatter and laughter. Since Tazmily was so close-knit, every year they had a big celebration with food, music, and games. Christmas itself was reserved for spending time with their families. The children were having a snowball fight, except for Alle, who stayed close to her mother. A runaway snowball thrown by Fuel accidentally hit Lighter in the back.
"Oops…" Fuel said as his father turned around. He smirked and grabbed some snow nearby.
"If it's going to be like that, it's going to be like this!" He made a snowball himself and chucked it as his son but not hard enough in which he would get hurt. Fuel was hit in the shoulder by his father's toss.
"Hey!" he called out.
"Attack!" Claus shouted and the rest of the children began to lob snowballs at Lighter.
"Okay! I Surrender!" he shouted, knowing that he couldn't win against five kids. They began to laugh as the rest of the adults conversed with one another.
"Where's Hinawa?" Tessie asked Flint since she hasn't shown up yet.
"She had a few things to take care of before joining us," he responded as he took a drink of some tea.
"Okay. I hope she comes soon."
"You know I haven't seen old man Wess either." Butch said.
"Neither have I." Abbot added.
Flint knew what was going on since his wife had talked about it with him one day while Claus and Lucas were playing out in the snow with Fuel. He didn't want to ruin the surprise, however.
During this time, Hinawa and Wess were in the Yado Inn, getting ready for their performance.
"Are you ready, Santa?" Hinawa asked, giving Wess a red stocking cap. He all ready had on the coat, boots, and pants.
"I suppose," the old thief responded, putting it on.
"You look great," she smiled.
Wess to a good look at himself in the mirror. "I'm actually quite content with my appearance as well."
Hinawa giggled. "Let's go, then." She headed to the party with Santa Wess staying out of sight until she gave the signal.
"Hello everybody! Look who I ran into on the way over here!"
He came out as soon as she finished the sentence. "Merry Christmas everyone!" he greeted to everyone.
"Merry Christmas, Santa Claus!" The group welcomed.
The children stopped what they were doing and came right over. They seemed to be happy to see him even though some of them were a bit confused. Claus just stared, not convinced at all. "That's not Santa, that's…" Flint covered his son's mouth before he could finish the sentence.
"Claus, don't ruin it."
The youngest member of the village, Alle, hid behind her mother, a bit nervous.
"Don't worry, Alle. It's Santa." Nan said to her. Alle peaked passed her mother's dress, still unsure. "He's nice, don't worry."
The little girl slowly went over to his side, stared at "Santa Claus" and smiled. A minute passed in silence as she studied him. "Mister Wess!" she shouted as he pointed at him. The whole group sweat dropped, knowing that even the youngest member of the village wasn't fooled.
I told Hinawa that it wouldn't work Wess thought to himself.
Claus began to laugh. "I knew there was no way he was going to fool anybody!"
"He could have fooled me until Alle said something." Lucas responded. "I don't care if it is Santa Claus or not."
None of the others seem to care either. The stunt that Hinawa and Wess tried to pull off was enough to give the villagers have at least a smile on their faces.
Even with that little incident, the rest of the celebration went off without a hitch. The gift giveaway was probably the best part of the night in which each recipient did not know who they got their present from. Some got fitting gifts while others got ones that were downright hilarious. Luckily, they were willing to trade them with others who didn't want what they got as well. No one was offended by this since the presents were given at random. The fun went on until late into night with Christmas songs filling the air. Little did they know that this would be the last Christmas they could celebrate like this, truly happy…