Hey everybird! What's up!?

Welcome back to the next chapter of this year's Christmas tale!

Now before we get on with it, yes I know… I am also working on a new short story in the Daring Jewel series and I will get to it! But this takes more priority!

And also a quick thank you to Tomada The Falcon and aaronbric473 for the favs and/or follows!

Chapter 2: A Strange Ocean Liner

As the Polar Express thundered on down the train tracks that shouldn't exist in the first place, through the quiet wilderness, leaving behind the lit towns, it got colder and colder… It got to the point where we were brought blankets to help keep us warm as I could see my breath in the air.

Wiping the window of the train car I was sitting at, I could see the train going up as the Polar Express climbed mountains so high I felt like I could touch the moon if I held out my wing out the window. However the Polar Express never slowed down, seeming to go faster and faster as it made its way up the ever higher peaks and through the valleys.

Soon enough the train made it through the mountains, back out to snow covered plains that hid thick layers of ice underneath, luckily it was thick and strong enough that it held up the Polar Express easily and there was no danger of us sinking through.

Everyone grew excited, our trip up to the North Pole almost coming to its end as everyone chatted about what Santa will be like and if he would be everything they imagined him to be… I thought at the end of this trip, they would still be imagining him as I still didn't believe in this. Quietly getting up, hoping no one would notice I was gone, I walked to the end of the train, going outside at the tail end where there was a small platform.

Once there I felt the cold, but I wasn't too bothered by that at the moment as I had a lot on my mind, staring out all I could see was the barren landscape, nothing but ice and snow for many miles around. I was really questioning how anyone could live in this kind of climate, much less survive. However my thoughts was broken when someone called out to me from behind…

"Aren't you cold?" The girl who was staring at me from the beginning of the trip, asked as she joined me at the back of the train.

"No, I have too much on my mind to be cold…" I answered. "Is this even real?"

"Of course it is, why do you ask?" The girl confused at my question.

"I mean there's no logical way all of this can be real, I mean Santa living at the North Pole, much less this train…" I cleared it up a little.

"It's not logic, it's magic and this isn't a dream we're all in, it's real." The girl smiled. "Why don't you believe?"

"I don't know… It's hard to explain…" I sighed, but my thoughts were taken off that as the sky changed, it wasn't so dark as my gaze drifted upward to see a wonderful display of lights up there, waving like ocean waves, the Northern Lights, otherwise known as the Aurora Borealis…

"Hey, you two!"I heard the conductor's voice call out to us he joined us at the back of the train. We just crossed it. Latitude 66 degrees 33 minutes, the Arctic Circle. And do you see? Those lights in the distance…"

The girl and I looked to see where the conductor was pointing… And there was something I failed to notice before… A huge brightly lit city, like the lights of a strange ocean liner sailing on a frozen sea…

"There…" The conductor pointed as he had a smile on his face. "Is the North Pole."

I couldn't believe it as the girl looked at me with a smile and a face that said… "See, I told you, it's real." I just stood there in disbelief at first as the city got closer and closer as the Polar Express rumbled over a long bridge which led into the North Pole.

Entering into the city as the three of us rejoined the rest of the kids, we looked out the windows to see the factories that produced all the toys for the children of the world. However while there were the factories, we didn't see the workers who worked in them as the streets were empty.

"Where are all the elves?" Some of us asked as there were no sign of them.

"They are gathering at the center of the city." The conductor explained, knowing we would ask that. "That is where Santa will give the first gift of Christmas."

"Who gets the first gift of Christmas!" One of us asked loudly to him.

"He will choose one of you…" The conductor answered, looking at me specifically…

I wondered why the conductor was looking at me specifically, but my thoughts were turned when one of us shouted…

"Look!" The kid shouted. "Elves!" Another shouted while pointing to the outside.

And we all looked to the outside to see the elves, first only a few dozen at a time, but then hundreds of them filling the streets til we couldn't even see the streets beneath them. So crowded that the Polar Express had to slow to walking speed and came at a complete stop as it could go no further in the sea of elves. Luckily we were very close to the center of the North Pole, where Santa was waiting, so we could very easily walk up to him.

If of course, this was real and I still wasn't in a dream…

And I'll leave it there for next time!

Shorter than the last chapter, but I want to save what happens next for well next time!

Until than, see everybird later!