The elves dressed in black trod up the stairs and entered the office where mrs Claus sat. Their leather jackets and dark sunglasses made them look very different to the usual elves people were used to.

"Ma'am, we're here to help. What is it you need?"

She took a deep breath to strengthen herself and stood up.

"Its happened. He's gone missing. I need you to find him and make sure he's okay. We cannot have this, especially not this year. Bring him back home. Safe", she almost pleaded with them.

They looked to each other before looking back to her and giving one silent nod before they turned around and walked back the way they came, their feet silent on the wooden floor.

They all follow the leader, his small name tag on the left hand side of his jacket reads 'Red'.

He leads them out into the snow and behind the building where five reindeer in black clothing stand calmly.

They wear matching black vests and buckles around each leg.

Each of the elves walks over and gently climbs on the back of each animal and turn back to their leader Red.

"Okay elves. Father Christmas has gone missing and its up to us to find him so Christmas can continue. He was last seen over a thousand miles away so we'll start there. Lets go".

With a slight pull of the reins, his reindeer made a happy noise and began lifting into the air. The others followed suit, and when they were all floating, he whisked off into the sky and they followed in a perfect line.

***

Alex has lost count on how many houses they've been too. It could be thousands or it could be hundreds of thousands at this point. He has no way to tell.

All he knows is the little screen has kept them moving from house to house and they've followed it without thinking. They got into a good rhythm and the houses started going by faster and faster.

The reindeer enjoy all their carrots and take it in turns to eat one and get a small rub on their backs. They make happy noises and give excited shakes of their backs every time, even after having dozens each.

Alex and Skye munch on cookies as they glide in the sleigh on their way to the next town. Small breaks in the houses like this give them some time to refresh and breath before the chaos starts again.

Skye's eating her chocolate chip cookie when she realises something.

"Have you eaten a cookie from every house?"

"At least one, yea", he shrugs. "Why?"

"Well... aren't you feeling full?"

He thinks about it for a moment and realises he should be. He's eaten thousands of cookies and hasn't felt the affects of any of them.

He looks down at his stomach to see the usual flat and slightly toned muscles. There is no indication whatsoever that he's eaten that much.

"That is a bit odd", he agrees.

"Maybe its magic?" She shrugs.

"Yea probably. That's some very strange magic", he nods.

But before they can think too much about it the next town comes into view and Alex grabs the sac ready and sits with one hand on the side.

The second they touch the roof he jumps and runs to the chimney.

With a well practiced jump, he flings his legs over the edge and disappears into the house.

Even after seeing it this many times Skye still doesn't quite believe her eyes.

He looks around and walks into the other room before finding the colourful tree bathed in a warm light. The homemade ornaments cover it and he grins at a funny coloured angel before bending down and putting his hand in the bag.

Except, theres nothing there.

His face scrunches up as he tries to figure it out. Trying again, he does it slower. But its still empty.

He wonders if it's a naughty house, however they at least get an orange. But theres nothing in the bag at all.

No wait. He's wrong.

He feels around some more before coming across a piece of paper.

He walks closer to the tree and leans in to use the light. The paper looks to be a child's Christmas wish list. A letter to Santa.

'Dear Santa, my mommy says that this Christmas will be extra special because it's the last we will get to spend together in this lifetime. Im sad because I like the lights around all the houses, but she says there will be lights in heaven too.

I was going to ask for a barbie this Christmas, but I've changed my mind. This christmas my only wish is to see you. Merry christmas. -Sarah'.

Alex doesn't know what to do. He wipes a lone tear from his eye and re reads the letter until he cant look at it anymore and puts it down.

"Alex, are you okay?" Skye says through the comms. "You've been a little while?"

He takes a deep breath before answering hoarsely.

"Yea. Yea I'm fine".

"Are you... crying?" She asks tentatively.

He takes a minute before reading out the letter. By the time he's done Skye is crying too.

"What do I do? I'm not meant to let anyone see me".

"I-umm. I don't know".

"What do the others say?"

"We've gone through another black out zone".

That started happening a couple hundred houses back. But they had everything down so it hadn't been a problem. Until now that is.

"What do I do Skye?" He sighs, defeated. "Under no circumstances am I meant to let anyone see me. But this little girl really needs our help".

"Your help", Skye tells him. "Perhaps Santa put the letter in the bag so you could help her?"

Alex wasn't sure what the right call was, but he still found himself walking up the stairs and tip toeing across the hallway.

That was when he came across a small bedroom full of beeping machines and hisses of air. In the middle of the bed lay a girl with messy blonde hair.

He stood in the doorway for a moment, frozen and unsure what to do next when she started to move. His feet wouldn't carry him out so he stayed there until she looked up.

A bright beam filled her tired face and Alex could see the oxygen line under her nose.

"I knew you would come", she croaked. "Mommy said Santa would be too busy, but I knew you would".

Breaking himself out of his trance, Alex managed to walk over to the bed and give her a smile.

"Ho ho ho, merry christmas", he said quietly.

It made her giggle as she turned her head to see him better.

He kept remembering the letter and wanted to ask her something.

"Tell me, why didn't you want any presents this year?"

"Because I can't bring my presents to heaven", she said matter of factly. "But ill remember seeing Santa Claus".

He nodded and held back the tears before changing the subject. She showed him all of her stuffed toys on the bed and told him the names and where she got them from.

He listened intently and asked as many questions as he could before realising he had to go if he wanted to deliver all the presents on time.

"I need to go now".

"To deliver the presents", she nodded.

"Exactly. You stay with tom cat and coco", he moved the toys closer. "I hope you have a nice Christmas sarah".

"I hope you have a nice christmas too Santa".

"Goodnight", he said before walking away and back down the stairs.

He stopped at the tree and put his hand in the bag one last time and felt a small present. He smiled and carefully placed it under the tree.

Nearly every branch was full of small homemade ornaments. He recognised the one he saw barely five minutes ago of the small angel. Scrawled at the bottom it read 'sarah'.

He carefully removed it from the branch and walked over to the fireplace. Before he even processed it, he was back out in the cold.

His whole body felt numb as he climbed into the sleigh where Skye sat looking concerned.

He turned to her and she put a hand on his cheek.

"Are you okay Alex?"

He said nothing and started crying so she pulled him in.

"I don't know how he does this every year", he finally sighed.