Michael's Christmas Wish

When Michael's two friends live the glamorous life while he is at home for Christmas, he leaves Maria and runs away. After a plane crash, Michael is found by an unexpected person who is ready to grant Michael's wish

Characters

• Michael
• Maria
• Miranda
• Moose
• Pinball
• Bianca
• 7-Up

Story

“7-Up’s new single is going double platinum!” the commercial yelled. “The perfect gift this holiday season!”

Michael was sick of hearing that commercial. Once he changed the channel, he regretted that he did.

“New Vittoria’s Hint model, Bianca, is walking down the runway.” the reporter said.

There she was. His girlfriend walking down the runway for a bunch of other guys to stare at her. He was glad for his girlfriend and his best friend. The problem was he was jealous. He had been on the same show. Where was his fame?

It was December 22nd. Three days until Christmas and there was nothing to do.

Suddenly, Maria walked in. Michael quickly turned off the TV.

“Maria.” Michael said. “What’s up?”

“I wanted to drop off your present.” Maria said.

“You got me something?” Michael asked in disbelief.

“Yeah.” Maria said. “You don’t have to get me something though.”

“No.” Michael said. “Now I have to get you something. I’ll get you the best present you’ve ever gotten.”

“So…” Maria said. “What’s going on with you?”

Michael sighed. “Well, 7-Up has a concert in California and Bianca’s modeling in Barcelona. It just makes me feel like…unimportant. What if I get nowhere in life? I mean, where’s my time in the spotlight?”

“I’m sure it will come soon.” Maria said. “You are a reality show star.”

“Yeah, but people might forget me.” Michael said. “I wish I had a job where everyone knows my name and looks up to me.”

Suddenly, a giant wind blasted the through the window.

“Shut the windows!” Maria yelled. Michael ran to the window and grasped his hands around it. He finally shut it. He sat down in exhaustion.

“That was weird.” Michael said.

“Yeah, but whatever.” Maria said. “We’re still going to hang out this week.”

Michael sat silent for a minute. “Yeah, sure.”

“Just you and me.”

“Of course.”

Later that night, Michael rolled around in his bed. He suddenly woke up, sweating. He picked up the telephone and started dialing.

“Miranda, it’s Michael. Meet me at the airport.” Michael said into the telephone.

A couple of hours later, Michael sat at the airport. Miranda ran up to him.

“Why did you call me in the middle of the night to have me come to the airport?” Miranda asked.

“I’m going to Barcelona to be with Bianca.” Michael said.

“Why did you need me to come with you?” Miranda asked.

“I get lonely.” Michael muttered.

Miranda sighed. “What about Maria?”

“You don’t understand.” Michael said. “I had to leave her. I know she’ll be upset, but I can’t just sit around this Christmas and watch my life drift away.”

“Fine.” Miranda said. “I got the tickets. Let’s go.”

Michael stood up with his bags and followed Miranda onto the airplane.

Later, the flight attendant spoke.

“You are free to use any source of technology.”

Michael took out his laptop. It was about 4:00 in the morning, so he figured Moose would be up.

Moose got on chat with him.

“What’s up, duuuuuuuude?” Moose yelled.

“Hey Moose.” Michael said. “I’m here with Miranda and…”

“You backstabber!” Moose yelled.

“No! Not on a date, on an airplane.” Michael yelled back.

“Oh…” Moose said. “Okay then.”

“I need you to tell Maria that I went to Barcelona and I’ll be back after Christmas break.” Michael explained.

“Wow dude.” Moose said. “You left Maria for Bianca. She’s going to be pissed.”

“Just tell her!” Michael yelled.

“Fine.” Moose said defensively. “I’ll tell her on the way to the Green Day concert.”

“Green Day’s in town?” Michael asked.

“Yeah.” Moose said. “Midnight on Christmas Eve. They’ll even have a Steelyex Amplifier X.”

“What’s that?” Michael asked.

“The greatest amp in the world!” Moose said. “Instead of having volume up to 10, it goes up to 15. Green Day will have it set to 14.”

“Why not 15?” Michael asked.

“It’s illegal to have it set to 15 in Texas.” Moose explained.

“That’s one good amp.” Michael said.

“Yeah dude.” Moose said. “I gotta go. See you when you get back.”

Michael closed his laptop. Suddenly, the plane started shaking.

“What was that?” Miranda asked.

“Folks, we are hitting some pretty bad turbulence. You may want to…”

Suddenly, the plane started plummeting. Miranda randomly kissed Michael.

“Why’d you do that?” Michael asked.

“The only boy I’ve kissed in my life is Moose.” Miranda said. “Before I die, I would’ve liked to kiss someone who doesn’t usually have barbecue sauce all over his lips.”

Suddenly, the plane crashed into the ground. Michael crashed into a pile of snow. He was a little dazed, but he saw a very short man and a big fat man before he fell unconscious.

Later, Michael opened his eyes. He stood up slowly and looked around. This wasn’t heaven, but it didn’t seem like earth. He was in a small green cottage with a miniature bed and a rocking chair. When he looked out the window, he saw tons of snow all over the place with candy canes popping out of the ground.

“Hello.” a voice behind him said.

Michael quickly turned around to see a little kid with pointy ears, wearing an elf costume.

“Hey. Who are you?” Michael asked.

“My name is Pinball. Pleasure to meet you.” the boy said.

“You talk pretty well for a 3 year old.” Michael said.

“I’m not three years old!” Pinball yelled. “I’m almost 55! I know that’s still pretty young for an elf, but…”

“An elf?” Michael interrupted. “You’re an elf?”

“Yeah.” Pinball said. “I’m here to take you to Santa Claus.”

“Santa Claus?” Michael asked. “Santa Claus isn’t real!”

“Yes, he is.” Pinball said. “He’s the one who saved you from the plane crash.”

“Oh my god! The plane crash!” Michael yelled. “Is Miranda all right?”

“Yes, yes.” Pinball said calmly. “She was taken with the other people on the plane to the hospital. There were no deaths and only a few injuries.”

Michael sighed with relief.

“Okay.” Pinball said. “Follow me.”

Pinball walked out the door and Michael followed cautiously.

As Michael and Pinball were walking, Michael saw other elves at work. They looked like preschoolers, but Michael guessed they were probably older than his grandparents. The smell of the air was like mint. Definitely better than the air in Houston. It was kinda nice to get away, but also kinda creepy. The North Pole was not anything like anywhere Michael had ever been.

Finally, Pinball opened the door to a cottage. There in a rocking chair was a big, fat man, wearing a warm hat and clothes, and with a giant, bushy white beard running down his neck.

It was Santa Claus.

“Ah…Michael.” Santa said. “Come, sit.”

Michael sat in the rocking chair next to Santa.

“So…you’re Santa Claus.” Michael said.

“That’s me!” Santa said. “I’ve brought you here to make a deal with you.”

Suddenly, Santa felt more like the average person Michael usually talked to.

“What kind of deal?” Michael asked intriguingly.

“After checking the list once, my elves have placed you on the naughty list.” Santa said.

“What?” Michael said shocked. “That must be a mistake. I’ve done nothing, but nice things.”

Santa opened up a piece of paper and started reading. “Kissed a girl so her boyfriend would vote himself off a reality show, stole a girl’s clothes so she had nothing but a diaper to wear, almost fed your friend to a bear so he’d call off a deal, teamed up with an English boy to attack another boy because you thought he was an alien.”

“Well…yeah.” Michael said. “But…uh…I got nothing.”

“Oh, here’s the most recent one.” Santa said. “Left a girl alone for Christmas to take a vacation in Barcelona.”

“That may have occurred recently.” Michael said innocently.

“So here’s the deal.” Santa said. “I’ll take you off the naughty list if you work for me as an elf until Christmas Day.”

“No way!” Michael said. “I’m not being an elf!”

“It’s either that or coal this Christmas.” Santa said.

“How much is coal worth?” Michael asked.

“About $10 a ton.” Santa said.

“Fine.” Michael said. “I’ll be a stupid elf.”

“Good.” Santa said. “Now go put on your uniform and Pinball will bring you to your first assignment.”

Later, Pinball lead Michael into a small room with tons of paper.

“How am I supposed to make toys in this room?” Michael asked.

“You won’t be making toys.” Pinball said. “That’s for advanced elves. You are in the Naughty or Nice Department. You must read over everyone of these people and see if they should be naughty or nice.”

“I thought the elves checked the list already.” Michael said.

“You have to check it twice.” Pinball said. “Duh. You’ve been assigned first names Ma through Mo. You’d better get started.”

Pinball left the room and Michael sat down.

“Ma’awiya.” Michael read. “Shot his girlfriend, stole her car, and robbed a bank.”

Michael stamped the paper with the “Naughty” stamp.

Later, Michael found Maria’s file. He stamped it with the “Nice” stamp. Before he moved onto the next one, he looked at her Christmas list.

Later, Michael picked up Megan Fox’s file and stamped it five times with the “Nice” stamp.

Then, Michael picked up his file. It had already been stamped with “Naughty.” He looked around to make sure no one was watching and stamped it “Nice.”

Later, Michael found Miranda’s file and stamped it “Nice.”

Later, Michael found Moose’s file. He read Moose’s Christmas list out loud. “A new guitar and buffalo wings.” Michael shrugged and stamped it “Nice.”

Finally, Michael stamped Mozes’s file, “Nice.”

He walked out of the room and realized he had been in there for a day. It was 7:00 on Christmas Eve. Jingles told him that Santa was leaving at 8:00 and was scheduled to finish all the presents by midnight.

Michael ran to where all the other elves were. He felt like a skyscraper next to them. Santa started walking up to his sleigh. All the elves cheered.

Michael’s elf costume suddenly felt tight. They had to get one specially made and it still didn’t fit him. He tried unbuttoning the top button, but suddenly, the button flew off and hit Santa upside the head and knocked him unconscious.

Everyone stared at Michael angrily and then gathered around Santa. Michael looked over toward the sleigh and then back at the elves. He snuck quietly up to the sleigh and hopped in. He grabbed the reins, and with a fluid motion, pulled on them. The reindeer took off. The elves turned around.

“Stop that Santa-killing sleigh thief!” one of the elves shouted.

But it was too late. Michael was in the sky.

“Now Dasher! Now Dancer! Now…all you German named reindeer.” Michael yelled into the sky.

Suddenly, Pinball jumped out of Santa’s bag and attacked Michael.

“Pinball!” Michael yelled. “What are you doing?”

“What are ‘’you’’ doing?” Pinball asked.

“Stealing Santa’s sleigh.” Michael explained. “I need to get back home.”

“You think this will get you on the nice list?” Pinball asked.

“It doesn’t matter.” Michael said. “I changed myself from the naughty list to the nice list.”

“Fine.” Pinball said. “If you’re going to hijack Santa’s sleigh and use it to escape the North Pole, at least deliver all the presents.”

There was a long pause of silence.

“Okay.” Michael finally said. “I’ll deliver the presents, but then I’m going home.”

“Yay!” Pinball yelled in his high-pitched elf voice.

“So how does this work?” Michael asked.

“Easy.” Pinball said. “As you pass over each house, just reach into this bag and you’ll pull out this little pellet. Use this slingshot to shoot it down into the chimney, and ‘’Poof!’’, all the presents they asked for are under the tree.”

Michael grabs the slingshot from Pinball.

“Sweet.” Michael said.

“Here is some magic dust.” Pinball said as he handed Michael the bag. “It’s for emergencies and it can do almost anything. If you run out of dust, you run out of magic.”

“Why can’t I just throw the dust and have presents appear everywhere?” Michael asked.

“Well, you’d need a pretty strong wind to blow that entire bag of dust across the entire world.” Pinball said.

“Okay.” Michael said. “I think I got it. Where are we going first?”

“Asia.” Pinball instructed.

“Let’s do it.” Michael said.

Michael and Pinball flew all over the world from Asia to Australia to Africa to Europe to the USA.

Later, Michael and Pinball flew over Houston.

“It’s already 11:50 and we have Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America still to cover.” Pinball said.

“We need more time.” Michael said.

Michael looked down and noticed Maria’s house. He grabbed a pellet and the bag of magic dust.

“Where are you going?” Pinball asked.

Michael picked up his present from Maria and opened it. It was a ring. Michael smiled.

“To save Christmas.” Michael said.

Michael jumped out of the sleigh and dived down Maria’s chimney.

Michael fell through the fireplace and bumped his head on a chair. He stood up quickly and saw Maria. Maria looked up and gasped.

“Michael!” she yelled. She ran up and hugged him.

“I thought you were dead.” Maria said.

Suddenly, Maria pushed Michael and he tripped on her leg. “Ow.” Michael said.

“Are you crazy?” Maria asked. “You just left me here and ran away to Barcelona to be with Bianca.”

“You don’t understand.” Michael said. “I didn’t want to leave you, and I didn’t leave to be with Bianca. I just felt like I was wasting my life.”

“Yeah, you said you wished that you wanted everyone to know your name and to look up to you.” Maria said.

“Yeah, like…” Michael took a long pause. “…like Santa Claus.”

“What?” Maria asked.

“Santa Claus.” Michael said. “Everyone looks up to him. Not because he’s famous though, because he helps everyone in the world. That’s what I need to do. I need to help the world.”

“What are you talking about?” Maria asked.

“He granted my wish.” Michael said. “I have to go. Thanks for the ring by the way.”

Michael threw magic dust at Maria and she fell asleep. He then threw a pellet on the ground and presents appeared all over the ground. Michael then put a label with his name over one with Santa’s name on it.

Just as he turned to leave, he looked back at Maria. He walked up to her and kissed her. He then ran and left.

Once he was outside, he took out his cell phone.

“Moose.” Michael said.

Moose talked into his cell phone at the Green Day concert.

“Michael?” Moose asked. “I thought you were dead.”

“I’ve heard.” Michael said. “Are you at the Green Day concert?”

“Yeah.” Moose said confused. “Why?”

“You need to get on stage and change the amp so that it’s set to 15.” Michael said.

“Why?” Moose asked.

“Trust me.” Michael said.

Michael hung up the phone and then looked at his watch.

“2 minutes.” Michael said to himself.

Meanwhile, Moose snuck backstage. He walked up to the amplifier and turned the dial from 14 to 15.

Then, Michael ran up to the concert. Billy Joe Armstrong walked up on stage.

“Hello Houston.” he said.

Michael ran through the crowd of people.

“Are you ready to rock?” he asked.

Michael jumped over the security guards and ran toward the amp.

The clock struck midnight, Armstrong played the first chord, and Michael dove for the amp and threw the magic dust.

And then, Michael blacked out.

The next day, Michael woke up in the hospital, surrounded by Maria, Moose, and Miranda.

“Hey guys.” Michael said weakly.

Maria hugged Michael.

“Someday, everyone will know your name.” Maria said. “I know it. Thanks for necklace.”

“No problem.” Michael said.

Later, Michael walked home. As he entered his house, he saw many presents under the tree and Pinball sitting in a chair.

“Pinball!” Michael exclaimed.

“Michael, it was amazing.” Pinball said. “That chord blasted magic dust all across the Western Hemisphere. Everyone got their presents.”

“It’s a very powerful amp.” Michael stated.

Pinball handed Michael a letter.

“This is from Santa.” Pinball said.

Michael read the letter. “Dear Michael, although you switched your name to the nice list, injured me, and stole my sleigh; you are more worthy for the nice list then anyone. You may not be the most behaved kid, but anyone who sacrifices their life for others across the world is my friend. Because I granted your wish, you were able to grant everyone else’s. And that’s why people look up to someone, and that’s why someday, people will look up to you. From, Santa.”

Michael put down the letter.

“Merry Christmas, Michael.” Pinball said.

“Merry Christmas to all, and to all a radical night.”