Hannah opened her eyes and was surprised to find that everything was still black.
JESS?!" She yelled, frightened.
"WHAT?!" Jess's voice sounded muffled.
"WHAT'S HAPPENING?" Hannah got a mouthful of sacking as she spoke and reached up to her head, pulling the sack off.
She saw Jess in front of her and pulled the bag from her head.
"Thank Christ." Jess blinked, unaccustomed to the light. "Where are we?"
Hannah looked around. They were in a shallow pit, filled with boxes wrapped in brightly coloured paper. She reached up to peer over the edge of the pit.
"Oh, GOD."
"What?" Jess ran to see. "ARRGH!"
They were flying high above the ground, and far below them, they could see houses, streets and gardens.
"Blimey."
"We're in a sleigh!!" Hannah said.
"Look!" Jess pointed at what was pulling them along in the air. There were 6, beautifully graceful reindeer galloping along in the air. They watched in awe as the frosty air, whipped past them making the girls turn up the collars of their coats.
They looked out the back of the sleigh and saw whisps of cloud zooming past.
"Do you think these are ours?" Hannah gestured to the presents beside them.
"Let's look…" Jess picked up and shook it. There was a dull thud. "We should open it just to make sure…" Jess pulled the glittery silver wrapping apart to reveal a Barbie doll with 3 handbag accessories.
"Ah…" Hannah helped Jess patch the wrapping back up so that it looked innocent.
"Do you reckon they're going to beat the Christmas spirit into us?" Jess wondered aloud.
"I don't need any more Christmas spirit! I've been excited since October!" Hannah insisted. She thought for a moment. "Maybe your uneagerness has spilled out onto me?"
"Quiet back there!" An elf's face appeared from the front of the sleigh. "We'll be arriving soon."
Slowly Jess and Hannah felt themselves descend and finally the sleigh touched down.
"Get out." One of the elves demanded, pointing a sharpened candy can at them.
They scrambled out of the sleigh and jumped down into the snow.
"BRRR!" Jess yelled. "It's COLD!"
"Well…dur." Hannah rolled her eyes.
"MOVE!" One of the elves poked Jess up the arse with a candy cane.
"OW!"
"MOVE!" He squeaked again. Jess and Hannah ran forward through the snow until they reached an odd looking house – lit with fairy lights and decorated with tinsel and baubles.
One of the elves rang the doorbell, which played the tune of 'Ding Dong Merrily On High'.
"We'll wait for Him here," one of the elves said.
"'Him'? Who's 'Him'?" Hannah asked, worried. Suddenly, as if in answer to her question, the door opened.
A large, stout man dressed in red and white with large black boots stepped out.
"Ho ho WHO have we here?" He asked, looking down at Jess and Hannah.
"These are the two we told you about." One of the elves said.
"Ah," the man grabbed hold of them and dragged them inside. "Follow me."

"This is so TWISTED!" Hannah mouthed at her friend as the man, who they assumed to be Santa Claus himself since all the elves they walked past kept bowing, guided them down several winding corridors. They finally arrived at the end of the corridor where they founded a large lounge with a roaring fire in the corner.
"Sit down." Santa ordered.
The elves who had followed them in proceeded to rearrange the Christmas decorations on a large tree.
"Would you like a drink?" Santa surprisingly offered the shocked, looking Hannah and Jess. "Brandy? Punch?"
Jess and Hannah exchanged a glance.
"Apple juice?" Hannah requested.
"A non-alcoholic punch, please…" Jess said.
Santa looked bemused before sending a nearby elf off to the kitchens.
He sat down in a huge comfy armchair and reflected them thoughtfully.
He picked up a list next to him and donned some glasses to read it.
"Ok…so, you are Hannah and Jess, I presume?"
The two nodded.
"Right, well, we have some things to go through with you." He added, sinisterly.
"Is this about our gas bill?" Hannah asked.
"Er…no…" Santa said, confused. "It's about your lacking Christmas spirit."
"I don't lack Christmas spirit!" Hannah exclaimed.
"Yes, you do." Santa said. "You have forgotten the true meaning of Christmas." He continued.
"Presents?" Hannah asked.
"No."
"Christmas pudding?" Jess asked.
"No."
"Trees?"
"No."
"Candy cane?"
"No."
"The birth of Jesus?"
"HA - no." Santa cleared his throat. "You were asked by one of my representatives to volunteer at the mall in your town. You refused. That was your test." He leant forward and peered at them over his spectacles. "You failed that test."
"Oh, crap." Hannah frowned.
"So now you will work here with my elves until you learn the true meaning of Christmas." He shooed them through a door.
"I could have a SWORN someone once told me that the true meaning of Christmas was the birth of Jesus." Jess muttered to Hannah.
"HA HA HA HA!" A nearby elf who had been eavesdropping, fell into a fit of hysterics.