2 Santa of the 34th street

Thirty fourth street. The snow was raining down so heavily over there that they could barely see anything before them. So, no one seemed to notice a teenage boy crying his heart out in the corner of that street. And even if they did notice, they couldn't care less. Because they had bigger things to worry about.

"Are you kidding me! How could he ditch us like that? He's supposed to be the freaking Santa and he just fucked off when his girlfriend came running back to him? What are we gonna do now? The kids are gonna come with their parents and they're gonna want to sit in Santa's lap and take a photo and stuff." The manager of the X-mall broke down into a frenzy.

"Sir, there are about ten or so elves here. So, why don't you change your costume into the Santa one? Everything would be fine that way, right?" An employee asked.

"Are you kidding me? You know how much effort I put into this elf costume?" The manager asked furiously.

"But, it's just a costume!" The employee replied.

"Just the costume? I had to put a lot of makeup, you know? You just don't have the eye to appreciate art now, do you?" He asked.

"Art, huh?" The employee sighed. "Then how about one of us dawn the Santa costume?" He asked.

"No! Santa with ten elves by his side is a sign of symmetry. I even prepared a lot so that the elves' heights are increasing while they stand beside Santa. Think about it from an artistic point of view!" The manager spoke.

"Sir, now you're being angry for the sake of it. No one's gonna care about symmetry and stuff… except you, of course." He replied.

"Yea, and whose words matter the most?" The manager asked.

"Yours, sir." The employee replied in a small voice.

"That's right. So, you're gonna find a new Santa for me. I don't care whether you put up a poster or call up one of your friends, but I need a Santa as soon as possible!" The manager ordered.

"Yes, sir!" The employee replied in a bleak voice. But as soon as the manager turned his back, he started to mumble profanity until he was satisfied. Then, he grabbed one of the elves by his hand and pulled him aside. "Dude, we gotta find a Santa now! That old geezer needs symmetry or something so we can't be one. F*cker!" He mumbled.

"Shoot, what are we gonna do?" The other elf asked.

"I don't know, man. Make some flyers or some shit. Why should we care? We're gonna get paid even if this goes to the drain." He replied.

#

"Why the hell is it snowing so heavy now?" One of the elf cried.

"It's Christmas. What did you expect?" The other one asked.

"I know that! I mean it could've snowed a bit early or later. Why did it have to be right now, just when we're about to stick this flyer up?" The first elf asked.

"Ah, it doesn't snow on your whims, bruv." The second elf replied.

"Whatever, let's just stick this poster up and let's go in." The first elf walked briskly towards the corner of the street to stick the poster up, but his legs hit something solid. "What the hell?" He cried as he kicked the obstacle another time.

"Ouch, that hurts." A faint voice was heard from where he hit.

"Shoot, what are doing here, kid?" The first elf looked down and asked the crying kid and asked.

"Can't you see? I'm crying." Jimmy replied, as he wiped his tears.

The second elf sighed. "You're gonna die at this rate! Just get off the snow, kid! Don't you have a home to go to?" He asked.

"Not really. I just got kicked out." Jimmy replied.

"So, you have nowhere to go to, huh? What about money? You got something in you?" He asked.

"No." Jimmy shook his head.

"Hmm." Suddenly the elf smiled as if he had a plan in his mind. "If that's the case, why don't you head into the mall with us?" He asked as he extended his hand. Jimmy took upon his offer.

#

Inside the mall. Jimmy felt thankful for the help that the two elves did for him. However, there was something that bugged him. "Excuse me? Why am I wearing this costume?" He asked the elves. Actually, he was wearing a Santa costume.

"Ah, that's because you'll get cold if you were to wear your dress. So, we just gave you the spare costume." The first elf nervously chuckled.

"Even the beard?" Jimmy asked, as he pointed to the ragged white beard that they made him wear.

"Ah, that… Yea! It's there to heat up your face!" The elf replied, as sweat beads poured down his forehead.

Jimmy sighed. "You don't have to lie like that, you know? Just tell me the truth. You guys helped me so much. So unless it's some illegal shite, I'm happy to help you." He spoke.

"Very well. We're missing a Santa. So kid, you've gotta help us. And you'll get a decent pay for it, so don't worry about that. So, are you really in?" He asked.

"I have no reason to reject such a generous offer!" Jimmy gladly agreed.

The elves, upon hearing Jimmy's reply, pranced towards the manager. "Boss, we found a Santa!" They shouted.

However, the boss didn't reply. Instead, he stared towards Jimmy from multiple angles. Finally, he opened his mouth. "Hmm, too slim for being a Santa. He looks as if Santa went on a keto diet or something. And the beard looks more on the ragged side than majestic. However, we'll manage with this. We'll just say that Santa's trying for a new look this year." He laughed like crazy.

Upon hearing a positive reply from the boss, the elf employees were ecstatic. They celebrated this with Jimmy. So, Jimmy jumped around in joy as well, until he noticed someone really familiar. "That guy!" He pointed towards the guy and exclaimed.

The elves looked towards the direction where Jimmy pointed. "Ah, that's Piers. I guess you're shocked about his face, huh? Well, he's a high school student without an awakened power. So, he gets bullied quite often. But, it seems like some bastard in his class went to the limit and beat his face to the pulp. I swear, kids these days…" The first elf was on about something, but Jimmy didn't listen and headed towards Piers instead.

"You! Why are you here? Shouldn't you be in a hospital bed or something?" Jimmy asked.

However, Piers had a hard time recognizing him in the costume. "Oh, my! Jimmy? I barely recognized you! What are you doing here?" Piers asked in a cheerful tone.

"I just asked that to you, didn't I? " He retorted.

"Ah, you don't have to worry about my face! It barely hurts. By the way, you got suspended, didn't you? I'm really sorry! You got into trouble because of me!" Piers bowed before him.

However, Jimmy didn't utter a single word. Instead,he turned his back on Piers. "Idiot! You're not the one who should apologize." He mumbled as he walked away. He then proceeded to sneak a peek at what Piers was doing. He was surprised when he wore an elf mask when others didn't. It made sense though, when he thought about his face.

Anyhow, soon enough, the procession began. Kids came in with their parents and started asking some bizarre wishes to him. While Jimmy had a difficult time comprehending the wishes that the kids asked him, Piers chuckled. Because of the manager's adamancy about symmetry and height order, Piers, who was one of the shortest, was closer to Jimmy.

In the midst of this, a kid asked Jimmy (Santa) to grant him a cool awakened power like his friends have. Jimmy told that he would consider it if he acts like a good boy till the next year. Upon hearing this, the boy jumped up in joy and went back to his mother with a smile on his face. Somehow, it felt nostalgic to Jimmy.

"I feel bad for the kid…" He mumbled.

"Hmm, but why?" Piers, who heard Jimmy's mumbling, asked.

Jimmy didn't think Piers would hear him and was flustered. "Ah, well… The kid seems really earnest. He seems to be yearning for power. But what's gonna happen if he doesn't gain any power. Will he be able to comprehend that? Will he feel betrayed?" Jimmy wondered.

"Like you?" Piers asked.

Jimmy sighed. "Yea, like me."

Piers stayed silent for some moment before he replied. "Well, I sure hope that when something like that happens, someone will tell "the kid" that life's not over yet and as long as you live, there's always a chance that you'll end up with an awesome power. At least that's what I think." Piers smiled.

Jimmy knew that the reply that Piers gave was directed to him. So, he gave out a smile as well. And finally, he mustered up some courage to say something that he wanted to say for the longest time. "Piers?" He called him out.

"Yea?"

Jimmy stood up and bowed deeply. "I just wanna say that I'm sorry!" He spoke with his head still bowed down.

#