Since Christmas is right around the corner I wanted to post a story to get us in the mood. At one of my writers groups I was asked by The Laguna Beach Independent to write a short story for the holiday season and this is what I submitted. Hope you enjoy.
Everyone's A Little Naughty
“Where did you say
she was?”
“Taking a day off
from the workshop. She’s in Laguna Beach, California.”
“Hmmmmm… Her
naughty-to-nice ratio is surprising; are you sure this is accurate?”
“Yes, sir.” I studied
the reports and spreadsheets in my hands again but I knew I wasn’t going to
find anything different. I looked at the information a hundred times before I
even considered presenting my findings to my employer. I had to be absolutely
sure.
My boss furrowed
his white eyebrows in thought, “Frumkin, how many elves have seen this?”
“None, sir. I
imagined a matter this delicate would be better kept a secret and brought to
you.”
He nodded his head
and tugged at his beard like I had seen him do so many times before. But this
time was different -- this time we were talking about his wife.
We sat in silence
for a few minutes. The only sound a crackling fire in the red furnace. My boss
loved red. His office was full of red toys and crimson frames outlining festive
pictures. The only other colors in the room were green and gold, if you didn’t
count the mound of brown cookies that always sat on his desk.
“It seems as
though she would have been on the nice list if it weren’t for these two
columns.” He pointed a large finger at the report he held and leaned over the
desk so I could see.
“Yes, it seems as
though the XA was overdrawn multiple times as well as the PA.”
“In English,
Frumkin.”
“Oh, of course. The
Christmas Account was overdrawn as well as the Personal Account.”
“Have you looked
into what caused the overdrafts?”
“Yes.” I pulled
out another piece of gold-lettered paper, “The Christmas Account was overdrawn
a few times due to added spending for orphans.”
My boss gave a
smile that lit up the room, “Well, there you go Frumkin. That’s why she’s on
the naughty list and we can’t very well blame her for trying to help, now can
we?”
“No, sir.”
“And the other
column? The PA?”
“Your Personal
Account, sir.” I could feel my cheeks redden as I stared at the information I
knew I had to relate. “The Personal Account was overdrawn a few times right
around your birthday… overdrafts from Victoria’s Secret.”
We looked at each
other, both our faces as red as the fireplace.
He stood up and
did his best to fight the embarrassment, “Well, I’m glad we cleared that up. We’ll
move some funds over from Savings to the Christmas Account to balance out the
extra money needed for the orphans and that should put her on the nice list.”
“Yes, sir.” Not
needing more of an invitation to leave his office, I headed to the door.
“Frumkin, let’s
keep this between you and me, OK?”
One foot outside,
in the snow, I looked back to see him making his way to the fireplace, papers
in hand, “Yes, Mr. Claus.”
