CHPATER THIRTEEN: NORTH POLE ARRIVAL
"Hey! You kids," the conductor said. "We just crossed it: latitude 66 degrees, 33 minutes…the Artic Circle. And do you see those lights in the distance? They look like the lights of a strange ocean liner sailing on a frozen sea. There…is the North Pole.
This is how everyone reacted:
Shannon's smile grew another five inches.
The little kid went back inside, not even wanting to see.
Dad looked up at the conductor with a mixture of surprise and disbelief on his face.
I took one look at those lights and something hit me: it really did exist.
I felt a bit woozy, and then for the second time that night, everything went black.
...
When I started to stir, I heard nothing. I opened one eye and found myself laying on my own seat.
"Aw, I knew she'd be okay," I heard Eddy remark. "Look, she's waking up."
I opened both eyes and found that Dad, Shannon, and Eddy were all crowding my seat. I sat up, confused. "What happened?"
"You fainted," Dad said.
"It's a good thing your head didn't hit the floor hard," Shannon said.
"Or that she didn't fall the other way: off the train," Eddy said. "Or maybe that would have been a good thing…"
I glared at him.
"Well, my work's done here," he said, walking off.
"I hope you're feeling better," Shannon said. She got up, my dad following. He stopped after a few paces and looked back at me.
"Um," he said to Shannon, "I think I'm going to…make sure she's completely fine."
Shannon nodded and went back to her seat.
"Hey," Dad said, sitting next to me. "You feeling better?"
"A little bit."
He put his hand on my forehead. "You seem a bit warm…"
Oh, gee. I wonder why. Maybe it's cause you're making a big idiot out of yourself by doing that, not to mention embarrassing me.
"I'll be fine," I said, carefully putting his arm down. "I just got a bit…surprised, is all."
I made it back to my regular seat no problem. Dad followed me, just to make sure.
"We make it?" I ask.
Dad pointed out the window. "See for yourself."
I looked out and saw little brick streets lined with little brick houses, which were decorated with little Christmas wreaths and holly. It was cute, I suppose…
"Where are the elves?" someone asked.
"Shouldn't there be elves?" another kid inquired.
"They are gathering in the center of the city," the conductor explained. "That's where Santa will give the First Gift of Christmas."
Eddy popped his head up at the mention of this. "Who gets the First Gift?"
"He will choose one of you," the conductor answered in an ominous voice. For some reason, he looked right at my dad. Dad's reaction was frowning. I figured he thought that he was the last person to receive the First Gift of Christmas. He-besides me-didn't really deserve it.
Before further discussion could ensue, a couple other kids pointed out elves walking alongside the train. They were a bit shorter than I'd expected elves to look like, and they all had matching red outfits.
The train stopped, and everyone got off. The conductor rambled on and on about how he wanted us to proceed to the center of the city. I wasn't really listening because it was SOOOO boring.
"It's five minutes to midnight!" he suddenly exclaimed.
"Hey, what gives?" Eddy asked him. "It was five minutes to midnight four minutes ago!"
"Exactly!" the conductor said, going back to his rambling about two straight columns and whatnot.
"Excuse me," Shannon politely interrupted. "What about him?" She pointed to the last car where the little kid still sat.
"No one is required to see Santa," he said, going to the front of the group.
This, I guess, wasn't a good enough answer for her. She ended up dragging me and Dad with her to the car to try and get the kid to come with.
But as soon as my dad set foot on the car, he hit something with his foot, and I knew that something was going to go wrong.
Again.