I apologize if I didn't spell "Neumatic" right...I can't spell that word...

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: THE LAST PRESENT

The tunnel led us into a building. We went down a flight of tiny metal stairs, trying to be quiet.

"Why can't Lucy and I hear anything?" Dad asked. His voice echoed, and it came out louder than he had intended it to.

"Shh!" Shannon put a finger to her lips to signal everyone to be quiet.

The landing of the stairs led to a walkway overlooking a ton of high-tech equipment. Surrounding it were some elves, and in the center of the room was a huge globe and hundreds of TV monitors displaying kids sleeping in bed.

The elves started to talk about a last-minute present. I guessed they wrapped it wrong or something, cause one elf--who seemed to be in charge--started freaking out. Then they said that it was going to Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Dad gasped. "That's my town!" he said. "I'm from Grand Rapids!"

"That's where I live, too," I wanted to say. But I stopped myself. I couldn't give these guys that much information. What if one of them went looking for me sometime soon? They wouldn't find me, because I didn't, technically, exist yet.

A buzzer sounded, and the elves found a kid whom was apparently labeled "naughty". They let him slide this time, but the head elf said "to put him on the check-twice list next year".

Then they all jumped into something they called the "Neumatic". They said it was "the only way to get to the square on time", which probably meant they were heading the same place we were trying to get to. As soon as they were out of sight, we made our move. We got into one of the cars of the…whatever it was, and off we went. It was pretty fast--so fast, I thought my hair was going to fly backwards.

When we got out, we arrived at a strange site. We were in a room with a conveyor belt going down the middle. On either side were big bolts of wrapping paper.

"I don't hear it," Shannon said, a bit depressed. She turned to the boy. "Do you?"

He shook his head. "No."

Dad looked at the conveyor belt and then at us. "I think we should follow those arrows," he said.

Shannon and the boy looked a bit skeptical.

"Well," I said, realizing Dad needed some support, "why not? It won't hurt trying."

He gave me a grateful smile, and off we went down the path of arrows.

***

When we came to the next room, all we found was more conveyor belt and a bunch of weird devices. Nothing else. No exit. Not one sign.

"I…I thought there'd be a way out," Dad confessed sheepishly, knowing we were lost.

"We're gonna miss everything," Shannon complained.

I looked at her. "Hold it. Now, maybe this didn't get us where we wanted to go. But at least he tried. He's been trying the whole night." I glanced at my dad. "And that's all I could ever hope for."

Shannon seemed a bit taken aback, but before anyone could say anything else, a loud buzzer sounded. We got off on a couple of nearby landings so the conveyor belt wouldn't move us any further. A present wrapped in red-and-white-stripped wrapping paper made its way to the conveyor belt.

"Hey, look! A present!" Dad said. He looked carefully at it as it rode by. "It's going to my town. To someone named Billy."

"My name is Billy!" the boy said.

"It's going to 11344 Edbrook Avenue," Shannon read.

"That's my address!" Billy said. He looked at the present, and then at us. He grabbed onto it, going through a passage to another room.

Well, we weren't going to let the poor kid go off by himself, so we followed him through the passage…and to the hugest indoor slide I've ever been on. It went SUPRE FAST! And I guess I was lucky to be going down on my behind, because Dad and Billy went down on their stomachs, and that must have been scarier, going headfirst.

After the slide, we slid down a big funnel, kinda like the ones at the mall where you drop coins in. However, instead of going into a black hole, we landed on a huge pile of presents.

"Look!" Billy said excitedly, still holding his present.

"It says, 'Merry Christmas Billy…from Mr. C'!" Shannon said.

Billy shook the package. "I think I know what it is! I've wanted one of these my whole life!"

He was about to open it when I noticed something. "Hold up," I said, and pointed to another note on the package. "Look what that says. 'Do not open until Christmas.'"

"But…but…" Billy said, a bit dejected.

"Those are the rules," Dad said.

We started moving suddenly. I noticed for the first time that at the foot of the pile there was a red bag.

And then I knew.

This was Santa's bag full of toys.

And we were right on top.

And if someone discovered us…we'd be in huge trouble.