"Hooray! Hey, guys, you have to see this!"

Sophie stirred from her deep slumber, rudely awakened by her friend's yelling. However, she hurriedly got to her feet, for judging by her friend's tone, there was good news. And then she saw it. The snow was still falling, but it wasn't so heavy anymore.

"Isn't this great?" her friend enthused, as the other two students checked their cellphones for reception, got negative results and busied themselves with breakfast. "Now all we have to do is wait for it to stop completely, and the snow to clear, and then we're out of this place!"

Once she was done with breakfast, Sophie got up and exited the classroom, pacing the hallway, just to kill time. There didn't seem to be anything worth doing at that moment. The air was still chilly. Just then, she heard a shout from the classroom. Hurrying back, worried one of the other three might have hurt themselves, she was startled to see her friend looking happier than she had in days. And it wasn't due to the snow.

"Haven't you realised it?" the girl said, a smile lighting up her face. "Don't you know what day is it today?" She glanced around at the other two and at Sophie. "Oh, come on!"

"It's another day of being stuck in a high school in the middle of a snowstorm," said the morbid student. "Very exciting, no?"

The girl rolled her eyes. "I guess you just lost track of the dates," she said. "It's Christmas! It's the 25th of December! Christmas morning!" She was chagrined when none gave her an equally enthusiastic response.

"Big deal it's Christmas," said one of the other two students. "Thinking of it makes me feel sick. I shouldn't be here, I should be at home, sitting in front of my electric fire, decorating, finding presents in my stocking, having turkey for dinner! But here I am, anyway! Please don't remind me of Christmas."

"I'm not surprised if we remain stuck here till Easter," the other student commented.

Sophie gave her friend an encouraging smile but was feeling rather low in spirits herself. She returned to the hallway to continue killing time and boredom, thinking of North. Exactly one year ago, she had had the time of her life in the North Pole with the other guardians. It seemed a million light years away from her current situation. She missed Bunny. She couldn't help wondering if North had been able to deliver presents to the kids of Burgess in this snowstorm. And with the half the town buried, what did he do? Yell at Jack? Was that why the snow wasn't falling as heavy as it did the previous day?

And then she heard it again. That low rumble of thunder. Except that now, as she listened to it, she knew it wasn't thunder. It did sound like it, but it wasn't. Sophie hurried down the hallway, back to the classroom. "Did you hear that?" she asked, as soon as she walked in to find them seated at desks, flipping through books to pass the time.

"Hear what?" one of the other two students asked, not looking up from a book. "What do you expect us to hear in this place?"

"Thunder," Sophie said, despite knowing it could not be thunder. "Or... well, something that sounded like thunder."

The other three merely shrugged and turned back to what they were doing. Sophie felt slightly annoyed. She turned to exit the classroom, but before she could take another step, a loud RRRMMMM! echoed throughout the hallway. She ducked back into the room. "There, did you hear that?" she called, but it had been pretty unnecessary. All three were on their feet, anxiety etched on their faces, exchanging nervous glances. A few moments of silence passed before Sophie's friend spoke up.

"I know what that sound is," she said, quietly. All three pairs of eyes turned to her, expectantly. She looked scared. "It's the snow, Sophie," she whispered. "It's pressing down on the roof. I heard a similar one when I was on holiday in Alaska."

On instinct, they looked up at the ceiling. Everything was still. Silence settled upon them once more.

"I'm going to the cafeteria," said one of the students, finally. "I'll puke if I have to bread with peanut butter for another day." He dashed out of the classroom, the other student following him. No sooner had they stepped out of the classroom when a loud, sharp sound like a cannon shot echoed throughout the whole second-floor.

#

Jamie rejoiced at the light snowfall that greeted him outside his window when he woke the next day. He peered out, surveying the surrounding houses. They were all covered in snow and he was sure his was, too. He hurried downstairs, was greeted by Abbey who was allowed in the house due to the cold and snow, and entered the dark kitchen. He flipped on a switch. No lights came on. He checked all the cellphones in the house, but none had reception. Well, that didn't give much hope. However, he caught sight of the date on the calendar and couldn't help smiling. It was Christmas! He had almost forgotten. A lone under-decorated tree stood in the living room and when Jamie went to inspect it, there were no presents. North hadn't come in the night, then. The boy felt slightly worried; what if the kids stopped believing? He knew it was stupid that kids should stop believing in an entity they had believed in all their lives just because it had not shown up for one day, but hadn't that happened before? But then again, parents would probably tell their kids Santa couldn't make it in all that snow.

So where was North?

"Still snowing, isn't it?" said a voice behind Jamie, which startled him. He turned to see his aunt descending the stairs. She had a sad, weary look on her face. "It's going to be a terrible Christmas. It's already a terrible Christmas." She walked over to the couch in the living room and sat down, staring at the window, which had almost been completely sealed by snow. Jamie closed his eyes for a moment and envisioned the usual merry Christmas dinner the family would have, and imagined it happening that night. It seemed impossible. It was not possible. Not with almost ten feet of snow threatening to grow and bury the whole city of Burgess. And with his sister stuck in her high school. And with no electricity.

Jamie hurried back to his bedroom and flopped onto his bed, unsure what to do. He had not been able to come up with any good plan; one that wouldn't have a possibility of leading him to a hypothermic death. Just then, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye, hovering outside his window. At first, he thought it was nothing but a small, flying insect, but that didn't make sense. He finally looked up and saw Baby Tooth.

Thanks for all the feedback! It was greatly appreciated! I guess I'm not alone; I'm usually too lazy to review any stories I read as well... :-P Feel free to offer constructive criticism at any time! (I seriously need it)

To Maya: You shouldn't have... o.O