Elsa woke up to the sound of the plate by the air vent rattling. She turned to look at her clock. It was frozen at 11:55 P.M. Elsa pondered if that was the real time or if it was Christmas already. Her attention went to the plate as it started rattling again, only this time it persisted. Suddenly, her whole room started shaking. Elsa sat up in her bed as a cup of pencils and pens on her desk fell over.

"What's happening?" She asked herself.

She looked at her dresser as the documents that made her doubt Santa's existence and a picture fell off. The air vent by her window started blowing steam through the end of it. It then blew like a whistle as bright yellow lights started flashing through her window, passing by as if they were in a row. A powerful, unmissable chugging sound came with the lights. After observing the lights through her window for a few moments, Elsa went to the other side of her bed and put on her slippers as the chugging sounds started slowing down. She made a break for her door, but the pocket on the right side of her nightgown got caught in a splinter on the chair by her desk and slightly tore open. She quickly freed herself and ran out of her room.

She went out the white front door of her house, closing it behind her as the chugging finally came to a stop. Elsa ran through the freshly fallen snow, coming to a stop a few feet away from a massive wall of smoke. The smoke steadily cleared away, revealing a massive black, steam locomotive with several cars attached to it. They all had the words "POLAR EXPRESS" written across their sides in bold, all-capital letters. Elsa slowly walked towards the locomotive, curious as to why it stopped here of all places.

"All aboard!" A voice yelled out. Elsa turned around to see a figure somewhat obscured by smoke coming off of the passenger cars. Elsa pointed to herself.

"All aboard!" The voice called out again.

Realizing that he was in fact referring to her, Elsa started towards the figure as snow continued to fall all around her and the train. Once she was close enough, she was able to get a good look at him. A fully grown man around her parent's age with a thick mustache wearing a suit, half moon glasses, and a hat with the word "CONDUCTOR" written across the front of it in gold, all-capital letters stood in front of her.

"Well? You coming?"

"Where?"

"Why to the North Pole, of course! This is the Polar Express!"

Elsa remained confused.

"The North Pole?"

"I see. Hold this, please." Said the Conductor as he handed a lantern to Elsa. She held it in her left hand. "Thank you."

The Conductor reached into the small set of stairs at the end of the passenger car closest to them and pulled out a clipboard.

"Is this you?"

Elsa looked at what was written on the papers on the clipboard.

NAME: Elsa

AGE: 24

LOCATION: Grand Rapids, Michigan

CHRISTMAS SPIRIT: ALL-TIME LOW

"Yeah?"

"Well it says here, no photo with a department store Santa this year, no letter to Santa, and you made your sister put out the milk and cookies. Mm-mm. It sounds to me like this is your crucial year. If I were you, I would think about climbing on board."

Elsa looked at him confused, she had no idea what he meant by this being her "crucial year". Maybe it was because this was the first time she did and didn't do the things listed on the clipboard?

"Come on. Come on. Come on. I've got a schedule, looky-" The Conductor looked at a pocket watch kept within his suit jacket, opened it, and closed it again.

Elsa slowly backed up.

"I'm sorry, I'm confused."

"Suit yourself." Said the Conductor as he went up the stairs at the edge of the passenger car. He waved the lantern toward the locomotive. The whistle at the top of it blew twice before the whole train started moving.

"This guy does seem pretty serious. Maybe this train really does go to the North Pole? Maybe Santa really is there?"

Elsa looked at the train as it started to pick up speed.

"I'll believe it when I see it." She said as she sped walked toward the passenger car, grabbed a metal rod on either side of the stairs, and pulled herself onto them. She grabbed the other rod on the other side, helping maintain her balance as the train started going faster. She looked at the snowman in her front yard. A gust of wind blew its right arm up and down, making it look like it was waving goodbye. Elsa waved back before putting both hands on one rod as her house disappeared from sight.