Santa's Evil Twin

* This story was written for the children in my class a few years ago and is inspired by the film The Santa Clause 2. As it's Christmas time, I thought it would be fun to share. Please enjoy! *

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It was business as usual at the workshop. With three days until Christmas, Santa's elves were working at top speed to get every gift ready for the big day. Mrs Claus could usually be found outside, collecting snow for the world’s winter flurries. Santa himself spent hours staring at his list for the second check, his brow furrowed.

Every half hour or so, he would get to his feet, stretch his arms wide (straining the buttons on his already-fitted jacket) and wander around the workshop. He waved at his busy elves and told them all they were doing a fantastic job. Everyone was cheerful and determined to get their work done.

Unfortunately, it didn't stay that way. All of a sudden, the golden doors to the workshop burst open and a severe-looking man sauntered in. On very close inspection, his face was identical to Santa's, but he was thin with narrow cheeks and a dark, unnaturally smooth beard. He glared at the elves and marched towards Santa.

"Hello Atnas, brother of mine," announced Santa. He smiled as he spoke, but he eyed the man warily. He thought how glad he was that Mrs Claus wasn’t home.

At first, Atnas said nothing. Then, he grinned wickedly.

"Good afternoon, Santa," he drawled, sneering at his twin. The elves scurried behind Santa and peered out from behind his large, black boots.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" asked Santa nervously.

"Well," said Atnas, walking around the workshop, picking up and examining different objects, "I find myself in need of slaves, and your elves are perfect."

The elves squealed in terror. Santa shook his head vigorously, his hat flopping from side to side.

"My elves would never go with you. I think you should leave," he boomed, his voice so loud the window panes shook.

Atnas smirked.

"Oh, I think they will," he replied.

From his pocket, he pulled out a tiny, red Christmas cracker. It looked completely ordinary except for the strange buzzing sound emanating from it. As quick as a flash, Atnas threw the cracker high into the air. It exploded into thousands of blinding red sparks which rained down on the elves, whizzing around their ears. Santa watched in horror as each elf’s eyes glowed red, and their anxious pouts turned into angry scowls.

“They won’t be able to follow you when you’re dead!” yelled Atnas, “and then they’ll work for me!”

Santa ran out of the workshop, the bewitched elves following. As he rounded the corner towards the kitchen, he heard an enormous bang behind him. The elves were throwing huge, exploding baubles. Santa ducked and dived and dodged as the baubles soared through the air. They narrowly missed his head and crashed into the walls, causing tiny, sharp pieces of plaster to rain down on him.

Darting round a corner and hiding behind a large, sparkling Christmas tree, Santa stopped to catch his breath. He leaned against the wall heavily, his face pink, his heart pounding. Santa was not made for running. The elves dashed past the tree without seeing him, holding the baubles high in the air, ready to strike. There was hatred in their eyes and rage in their voices.

Santa thought hard about what to do. He didn’t want to hurt the elves; even though they were trying to kill him, he knew they were being controlled by Atnas and would never really want to harm him. He remembered that Mrs Claus has recently been brewing different types of antidotes to evil spells. Perhaps she had hidden some in the kitchen!

Peeking down the corridor, Santa searched for any sign of the elves. Everywhere was still. He tiptoed down the hall until he reached the kitchen door, carefully closing it behind him once he’d slipped inside. He checked the entrance on the other side of the room; all was silent. Creeping to the cupboards over the stove, he searched through the bottles and jars as quietly as he could, hardly daring to breathe. When he failed to find it, Santa moved over to the fridge and gently pulled the handle. At first, it stayed firmly shut, so he pulled a bit harder. The door flew open.

He watched in slow motion as a bottle of milk crashed to the floor.

Before he could even blink, he was surrounded. Dozens of angry faces glared at Santa and moved closer to him, trapping him in the corner of the kitchen. He looked around desperately for a way out, but it was useless. He was trapped. Behind the elves stood Atnas, grinning.

“Goodbye, Santa,” he laughed, “Thanks for the slaves!” The elves lifted up their baubles and Santa closed his eyes helplessly.

Suddenly, Mrs Claus burst into the kitchen. For a moment, everyone was frozen, staring at each other. Atnas’s mouth dropped open in surprise at the sight of her and most of the elves looked extremely confused. Then, Mrs Claus plunged her hand into her bag, pulled out a tiny tube of glitter and flung it over the elves. The glitter flew into the air and twirled down around the elves’ ears. It was more than just glitter; it was the antidote! Blinking and shaking their heads, the elves’ eyes went back to normal. The spell was broken.

All the elves hugged Santa and squeaked their apologies. They ran to Mrs Claus and thanked her for saving them. She smiled and kissed each and every one of them on the cheek.

Meanwhile, Atnas began to creep out of the kitchen. Luckily, Santa realised what he was doing and grabbed him before he could escape.

“Not so fast, Atnas!” shouted Santa. The elves rushed forward and grabbed Atnas by the arms and legs so he couldn’t move.

“How could you do this, Atnas?” Mrs Claus asked sadly.

Atnas scowled.

“You think you’re so perfect with your workshop and your elves, but being on the nice list is boring,” he snarled. Before he could say anything more, one of the elves stuffed a pair of Christmas socks into his mouth. The rest of the elves cheered and Santa laughed loudly.

“Atnas, you are banished to the South Pole,” Santa announced, “The penguins will keep an eye on you and keep you out of trouble.”

Atnas’s eyes widened in alarm but the socks stopped his protests. With a magical click of Santa’s fingers, Atnas disappeared. The elves clapped and sang in excitement. Mrs Claus gave Santa an enormous hug.

“Thank you, Mrs Claus. You saved the day!” Santa said.

Mrs Claus blushed.

“I always carry around the special antidote just in case,” she replied, “I guess I got back just in time!”

That afternoon, Santa closed the workshop for an hour and the whole of the North Pole celebrated Mrs Claus’s defeat of Santa’s evil twin. Everyone had a delicious cup of steaming hot chocolate and there were so many cookies that all the elves could have three.

After they’d finished, everyone was feeling bright and cheerful, and so Santa reopened the workshop. He promised the elves that they would have a proper party once the holidays were over, but now they needed to get back to work.

It was only three days until Christmas after all!

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