Suddenly, all was dark again. Steve was back in his office which was still illuminated by the single desk light. It took a moment for his eyes to readjust to the darkness. The square was bright, even at night, but the office was dark in comparison, even cold somehow. Steve blinked his eyes trying to readjust to his surroundings. Had he been dreaming? It had all seemed so real. Those had been wonderful times, but that didn't change the present. There was still an important case at hand that he had to attend to. The important things of childhood paled next to his current responsibilities.
He turned back to his desk, eyed his empty coffee cup and went to the outer office for a refill. The coffee was stale and strong but served to awaken his weary senses. He sat back down at his desk and began to straighten out his papers.
A loud noise made him look up to see that there was a bright light streaming underneath his office door. The noise was coming from the outer office and seemed to get louder with each passing moment. He had just come from there, he thought with annoyance, and everything was fine. What was going on now? He rose from the desk quickly, flung open the office door and stopped dead in his tracks. He couldn't believe his eyes. This wasn't the outer office. Gone were the secretaries' desks, the teletype and office equipment. Gone were the cubicles where his men worked. Instead, there were children everywhere. Some were sitting on the floor on mats around a young female which Steve did not recognize. She was telling them a story and they were listening intently. Some older children were gathered around a very sad looking palm tree in a pot which they were attempting to decorate with lights and paper ornaments that yet another group of children were constructing with colored paper and crayons at some small desks. All the children were dressed neatly, if not fashionable or up to date. The room was sparse but functional, though compared to the square in NY it lacked a certain festive air. An attempt had been made to brighten the atmosphere with the presence of a small phonograph on the table in the corner which played Christmas music from scratchy records and a punch bowl nearby with what looked like egg nog inside. The glasses, however, were mostly untouched. Something was missing. The room seemed to have a pensive air punctuated by brief attempts at cheerfulness. The main door opened and Steve watched as the children looked up in hopeful expectation. All saw Duke Lukela come into the room. There seemed to be a moment of hesitation before the children offered cheerful "hellos and merry Christmases", as if they were expecting someone else to come through the door. Duke was a young HPD officer who Steve knew of by reputation and based on his record was inclined to like. After the perfunctory greetings had been exchanged, Duke motioned for the woman reading the book to come talk with him. She handed the book to an older child to continue reading and got up to meet Duke by the door. Steve realizing, that he once again could not be seen by the people in the room, moved toward the door so he could hear the conversation.
The blond woman spoke softly and hurriedly to Duke.
"So where is he?" she whispered to him in hushed agitation.
"He's coming" Duke replied. "He called me before I got off my shift to tell me to come over and let you know he was running late. He had to stop at the Diamond Head home first as they were minus a Santa and there was some sort of delay due to work that he wouldn't tell me much about, but he should be here any minute now. If I had known he would be this late, I could have played Santa myself."
"I hope he gets here soon", the woman sighed. "It would be such a disappointment to the children and especially to…" She did not have a chance to finish the sentence. There was a knock at the door and in popped Santa.
"Ho, ho, ho Mele Kalikimaka, Merry Christmas!" Santa proclaimed to all.
The atmosphere in the room changed immediately. The children all stopped what they were doing and looked toward the door. To their delight, there stood a beautiful Santa Claus. He had a bright red suit and a beautiful silky beard. He was just the right width for his height and as all the stories said had twinkling blue eyes. Steve smirked. He'd know those eyes anywhere. Steve watched as a stool was brought out and Santa Dan sat down with his bag of goodies. One by one, old and young, the children came up to Santa. After a brief conversation and a joke or two each got a great hug and a wrapped package. The Christmas music suddenly sounded less scratchy, the eggnog was being consumed and even the sad Christmas palm looked brighter. Duke and the young woman stood in the back of the room and watched with satisfied delight. When all the packages had been given out and children were playing and comparing presents, Santa made his way to where Duke and the woman were standing.
"You had me worried" the woman said to Santa with a smile.
"You weren't the only one. I don't know how Santa makes it around the whole world in one night, I was having trouble making it from one end of the island to the other", replied Santa. "Oh and before I forget," he continued, "I believe there is one more package left in my bag." With a sly wink, Dan pulled out a small well wrapped box and handed it to her.
"Why, thank you ever so much Mr. Claus" she replied, accepting the package with some ceremony. She then planted a large kiss on Dan's cheek "And Merry Christmas to you too!" she added.
Before Dan could reply, one of the smaller children rushed to the woman and grabbed her legs in a big bear hug. "Miss Janet, Miss Janet, you should see what Santa brought me!" the young child shouted and with that dragged Janet away. Dan watched with amusement and satisfaction. The evening was a success after all.
"So Danny", Duke started, "what happened tonight? "I thought you were going to get Steve to help out?" Steve who had been listening and observing the scene, cringed at the question, and in anticipation of the answer.
"Well," Dan said, "to put it briefly I may need to be looking for a new job tomorrow." "Any openings in HPD?"
Duke looked at Dan in amazement. But before he could reply, Janet rejoined the group with an egg nog in each hand. She handed a glass to Dan and Duke.
"Will you be joining us tomorrow for the traditional turkey soup dinner?" she asked Dan with a smile.
Being always short of money, the orphanage often had to find creative ways to economize and turkey soup went much further and was cheaper than a whole turkey.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Dan replied, "but I think I'll dress more seasonally in an aloha shirt and shorts. I am dying of heat prostration in this outfit."
Dan paused to take a sip of his egg nog, trying not to get too much of his rented beard wet. As he surveyed the room, he noticed one, small red-headed child sitting rather quietly in a corner away from the rest of the children. It was Tommy who had just recently been orphaned and he was having a hard time adjusting to his new situation. Santa Dan excused himself for a moment and approached Tommy. Steve followed him.
"Merry Christmas, Tommy!" Santa said with a chuckle. Tommy looked up from the spot on the floor he had been studying and offered Dan a weak smile.
"Merry Christmas to you, too" Tommy replied politely. It was a half-hearted reply though Tommy was trying his best to be enthusiastic. But the first holiday without one's family was hard.
Dan knelt down in order to be face to face with Tommy. "You haven't opened your present" Dan observed gently.
Tommy looked at the small package on the table beside him. It was too small to have been what he really wanted which was a surf board. He didn't really expect to get such an expensive present, but still, being a child there was a fragment of hope that such a miracle could occur. After all, Christmas was supposed to be full of miracles.
"Go ahead and open the present" Santa coaxed. It was no secret that Tommy wanted a surf board and the gift committee had done their best to come up with a creative, cheaper solution.
Slowly, Tommy reached for the package and unwrapped it. He opened the box to reveal what looked like a bar of soap and a piece of paper fell out and floated to the floor.
"Tommy, I think you dropped an important part of the present," Santa said as he picked up the fallen piece of paper and handed it to Tommy.
Tommy opened the note and his eyes grew wide as he read, "Redeemable for 10 surfing lessons with Dan Williams" written in beautiful gold letters on the paper.
"Alright!" Tommy exclaimed as he jumped out of his chair and without his feet ever touching the floor wrapped his arms around Santa's neck, almost knocking Dan over backwards. Tommy realized that the "bar of soap" was actually surf board wax and he looked at the present in a whole new light. Dan placed Tommy's feet firmly on the floor and Tommy sped off to show some of the other children his present. Santa Dan straightened himself up and headed back to join Janet and Duke who had been watching nearby.
Steve remained behind, thinking. Well, perhaps he had been too quick to dismiss Danno's request. Perhaps, he could have taken an hour or two away from work to help. However, it had all turned out fine without his help and there was still the important drug case pending. That was still where his priorities lay.
The scene slowly blurred and faded. Steve found himself standing in the dark outer office. The office was the same as it normally was, though it now seemed a bit quieter and darker than it ever had before.