Saving Santa, a story by MeganfromMars on behalf of Elite Virtual Assistants

When the silver bells start ringing outside, Santa Claus wakes up and heads downstairs. In the kitchen, perfectly decorated with white and red checkered curtains and vinyl chair covers is Mrs. Claus. She puts an empty plate into the sink and turns to greet Santa with a kiss. 

“On your way home, could you stop by Candy Cane Market and pick up some more sugar and flour?” She asks, giving him a loving smile. With Santa’s appetite, she baked three dozen cookies daily to keep him happy! 

“I’ll see what I can do.” Santa sighs. His to-do list stacks up in his head before he can even take a jolly step outside. 

Today he was responsible for overseeing toy production, feeding the reindeer, catching up on mail, and updating that pesky naughty and nice list. Keeping track of every child was enough work in itself. Then, in December, the letters started pouring in! Thousands each day. 

Santa loved reading from children worldwide, learning about their Christmas wishes, but reading each piece of mail was becoming depressingly cumbersome when he had so much more to do. 

He had attempted to get the elves to help read some of the letters, but that only backed up the toy production line. And there was certainly no time for that. Santa had big problems. Too much work and only a few days until Christmas!

Mrs. Claus accepts his reply – having heard it before – and sets her mind on dishes as Santa heads out the door. 

Shutting the door on his gingerbread house, Santa steps onto the gumdrop sidewalk and heads in the direction of the sugar cookie stables. 

“Good morning Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen….and good morning to you, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen!” Santa calls, pulling carrots and celery from his pockets to place in each reindeer dish. 

“Oh goodness!” Santa exclaims, realizing Rudolph is nowhere to be found.

“Rudolph!” Santa calls, looking around the stable for his most mischievous reindeer. 

He looks in every corner of the stable, outside the front door, and almost makes it around back when after a few more calls, the red glow of Rudolph’s nose pokes through the front door. 

“Rudolph! There you are! For cookie’s sake!” Santa groans, guiding Rudolph toward his breakfast. 

“Now I’m late. Be good and eat your carrots, please!” Santa begs, glancing between each of his reindeer with love. 

With a sip of his milk coffee, Santa walks as fast as possible to the Toy Workshop farther down the gumdrop path. 

“Santa, you’re late!” Patches, the elf in charge, says as Santa comes down the chimney entrance. He lands gracefully and tries to catch his breath. 

“I know. I’m so sorry, Patches.” Santa apologizes, heading straight for the cart filled with letters from children. “How are we doing in the workshop?”

Patches nods; there was only a minor incident this morning where one elf made the teddy bears too stuffed. But with a broom and a little love, all was well. Patches knew better than to bother Santa with it. Instead, he reminds him of the staff meeting later. 

“We have our weekly toy status meeting at 3. Will you be able to make it?” Patches asks, helping Santa push the heavy cart of mail. 

“I’ll try my best,” Santa replies with a laugh. He heads to the chair by the fireplace and, putting his boots up on the hearth, begins his daily reading through letters. He’d update the toy orders and naughty list when he was through. 

A few minutes later, after reading a particularly cheerful letter from a little girl named Laura, a brightly colored piece of paper falls out of the stack. Its bright turquoise color is unforgettable against a sea of red and green envelopes. 

“Are you overworked? Overwhelmed? Need an extra pair of hands around the office?” Santa reads, nodding at each line. “Try one of our virtual assistants on for size! Find out more at www.elitevirtualassist.com” 

Unsure if a virtual assistant could truly help him, Santa keeps reading. But the longer he reads, the less he enjoys it. He knows that if he wants to update that gift list, he has to stop reading now. 

Santa pulls his smartphone out of his pocket, ready to update the toy list, so the elves know what to make next, but instead of opening his inventory, he opens the internet and types in the address from the flyer. 

To his surprise, they had an “elf assistant” perfect for him to work with! 

Quickly, Santa has Eva the Elf on his staff, and she’s such a perfect fit she might as well have been on his office shelf. 

With enough time to make it on his delivery route, Santa lands on the rooftop of a little boy expecting him. He squeezes down the chimney and into the house using his heavy toy sack as an anchor. 

With no one stirring, not even a mouse, Santa creeps into the living room and lays a wrapped gift under the tree for the little boy on his list. But just as he’s about to enjoy the milk and cookies laid out for him, there’s a noise from the hall.

Keeping his identity a secret, he slides into the shadows, watching the young boy from the kitchen.  The innocent smile that spreads across his face tells him all he needs to know. 

If it weren’t for EVA, Santa wouldn’t be able to do what he loves most: make someone smile. 

Happy Holidays from Eva the Elf and all of us at Elite Virtual Assistants!