Merry (Belated) Christmas

Hey everyone. I hope you're all having a great holiday with family and friends. 

I had hoped to get this done before Christmas, but it has been INCREDIBLY hectic at home so I did not get the chance to finish this like I would have liked to. 

However, here are the first three parts to a commission I had Volkenfox put together for me (and that he once again did amazing work on), and I hope to have the next three parts up either later tonight or tomorrow (I hope). 

Thanks again. 

*

The cold air blew through the streets of New York City, signifying that it was indeed almost Christmas Eve. Furs hustled through the packed city with their gifts, hoping to have them wrapped in time for the big day.

One fur in particular, however, seemed to not care at all what time of year it was. Teresa Snow, a 28-year-old fox from Chicago, was used to the cold weather. She walked without a care in the world, a permanent scowl on her face. She was not a fan of this holiday and could not wait for it to be over. She did not look in any of the done up store fronts, nor did she even bother to wear anything green or red. She just wanted it to get to January 2 so people could return to normal.

Still, the fur did have one thing in common with those hustling around her; she was in dire need of a pick me up. She was planning on going into the office the next day, which was Christmas Eve, well before 8 am. Thus, her plan was to stay up all night, listen to a podcast or two, do some research, hit up the 24 hour gym in her apartment building, then get to the office.

Thus, when she saw the sign for “Santa’s Little Bakery”, she decided to go inside and get a big cup of coffee to stay awake.

*

Inside the bakery, the shelves were virtually empty as it seemed everything was already boxed up and ready to go. A very portly reindeer was behind the counter, humming to himself as he placed another box on the glass counter. He looked up briefly at Teresa and gave her a big hearty smile, before he resumed picking up more cake boxes. Teresa coughed loudly, hoping to get more of his attention.

“Just a sec, only got two more boxes to put up here and we’re all good.”

He groaned as he bent down once more and picked up the last two boxes and put them on the counter top. He then knocked one of the glass ball ornaments that was tied to his antler off his face and smiled, his shiny white teeth almost blinding the smaller fox.

“Sorry about that, just had to get things ready, I got a lot of people coming to get their Christmas orders. How can I help ya?”

“Don’t care. I just need a large cup of coffee, with a little bit of oak milk if you have it.”

“Hmm, I don’t think we have any oat milk. I have cream, half and half, whole milk, and, somewhere I think, some skim milk.”

Teresa rolled her eyes as she looked over at the reindeer’s name tag. It said Blitzen Claus, which made her even more annoyed.

“Look, Blitzen. It’s 2022. There’s no reason you shouldn’t have healthy milk alternatives in your shop. Not everybody wants lard and fat this holiday season.”

The reindeer was not happy with that comment, but he remained calm. Afterall, it was Christmas and he was in good spirits.

“I typically don’t deal with that in this shop, but I understand. I can get the skim milk for you, not a problem. Is that ok?”

“Fine, whatever”, she huffed, folding her arms across her chest.

She watched as the bulky creature waddled his way to the side and grabbed a pot of very dark looking coffee and poured it into a cup before grabbing the milk and adding a dash of that too. He turned to her, checking if she wanted more, but she gave him the stop sign. He then put the lid on it and returned to the counter.

“Anything else? I know most of my stock is sold but I do have some cookies, mostly gingerbread but I have some chocolate chip left and some sugar cookies as well. Maybe a muffin?”

“No.”

“Donut? I may also have a pie if you’re going anywhere for Christmas Eve or Christmas.”

“No.”

“No to the pie, or no to going somewhere for Christmas Eve/Christmas?”

Teresa’s patience was running thin. She already did not like this reindeer for his “Christmas spirit”, then he didn’t have oat milk, now he wouldn’t shut up. She just wanted her coffee and then to get the hell out of there.

“No to both. Can I have my coffee, please?”

The reindeer sadly did not pick up on her tone and continued, even as he handed her the coffee.

“Oh no, that’s no good! Everyone should have somewhere to go for the holidays! It’s important!”

“The holidays suck, okay? I just want to pay for my coffee and get out of here. I don’t think that’s too much to ask, do you?”

“I, well, I guess not.”

“Good. Now how much do I owe you for this probably piss poor coffee?”

He was taken aback by the anger and hostility, not expecting it from someone so much shorter than he.

“Uh, it’s only a buck fifty”, he stammered.

Teresa reached into her pockets and tossed him a five dollar bill and began walking away, but then stopped. Her blood was boiling at this point and she just wanted to vent.

“And you know something, Christmas in general sucks. All these people running around getting presents for people who don’t care about them one way or another. It’s so pointless.”

“No, that’s not true. Plus, Santa cares about everyone!”

“Santa? Did you just fucking say Santa? Are you three years old” she asked, laughing. “Or, because you’re named Blitzen, you think it’s because of Santa Claus?”

“Santa Claus DID name me. Many, many, MANY years ago. He named all his reindeer; my brother Comet, sisters Vixen and Dancer..”

She cut him off at this point, completely losing it.

“Ok, you know what, I’m getting the hell out of here and I’m calling the cops. You need to be locked up if you really think you’re going to be flying around the world in two days with Santa delivering gifts to kids. Seriously. Santa Claus doesn’t exist! He never did and never will!”

Blitzen did not know how to react. He had never met someone so angry, so dejected, and someone so lacking of the Christmas spirit. He figured he could call Krampus, but then, he got another idea.

“Ha-ha. You’re right. I was just teasing you. So-sorry. I do this for kids when they see my name tag so I sometimes forget that I’m not in character. Let, let me make it up to you, one second.”

He disappeared to the back room and immediately grabbed a random chocolate chip cookie and placed it into a box. He then grabbed the top and a bag that was labeled “C.S.” and returned to the front. He was actually a little surprised that this woman was still there, but he was glad. He showed her the cookie and then sprinkled some of the what looked like sugar on the cookie and closed the lid.

“Here you go. One chocolate chip cookie.”

“I told you before I don’t eat or drink shit like this. I’m a size two for a reason. Thanks, but no thanks.”

“Oh no, this is a very special cookie. It’s made with skim milk and has less fat than the other fare in this bakery. It’s called “Santa’s Christmas Spirit”, because it’s said you can experience what Santa does in a night with it. It’s one of my best selling items.”

She laughed again. She was no longer annoyed, she was actually kind of amused with how far he was taking this.

“Ha, is that so? You know what? I’ll take it. I can always give this to the doorman tomorrow as a tip. Thanks, Blitz.”

She turned and walked out the door, her tail swishing from side to side as she exited.

The reindeer just smiled before picking up his cellphone and placing a call.

“Santa? Yeah, it’s Blitzen. I think you’re going to have to make an early stop tonight. I’ll fill you in on the details later.”