One Christmas Eve me and my twin May were flying to California with our parents (we lived in Montana.) I was staring out of the window while May watched Home Alone (I don't like it. It's too scary.)

It was getting dark, and I was tired. Soon I drifted off into a deep sleep. . .

"March!" May shouted, jolting me awake. "Is that Santa?" I peered into the sky. "Just a trick of the light," I told her, not wanting to get her hopes up that Santa was real.

I was startled when the plane jolted downward towards the iceberg-splattered water. "Help!" I cried, waving my arms frantically.

"Tray table up, check for both, our seats are in the right position." May checked, and then we both screamed, "Don't die, don't die!" We braced ourselves for the rocky landing.

But it didn't come. Instead, I found me and May and our parents looking in wonder at a mermaid girl petting what looked like a narwhal mixed with a shark. "Hi!" she said.

"My sister will show you to the shore," the mermaid said, and disappeared into the foggy water behind her. I soon felt dizzy, and could see only spirals. I felt a dropping sensation in my stomach. . .

I woke to the waves lapping at my feet. I looked around and found May lying next to me, and an odd-looking man next to her. I was too tired to stay awake much longer, so I found a comfy spot in the sand and soon drifted off to sleep once again.

I woke to find myself in a forest by snowy mountains. "We're in the Secret Land of the North Pole," the man told me. "By the way, I'm Santa. That's my nickname, at least. You can call me Nick. I'm a very rare Eternal Elf, not the guy you hoped to see, I bet." He laughed his iconic laugh."That's my dad, the original Saint Nick. He's retired. By the way, your parents are with him."

I nodded, still wowed, and soon May woke up. Then we headed through the forest of the mountains. Nick told stories of his adventures around the world, some in the Secret Land of the North Pole, but most of the people who helped Christmas survive, such as Buddy the Elf.