"First Encounters" - By Kirsten Kohlwey (Exclusive to Santa.CC)

Derek and 100 other scientists from Yigon were to study the behavior of the inhabitants of Earth up close. The citizens of Yigon had a similar build to the inhabitants of Earth. They tended to be a bit larger on average and had pointed ears. These Santa Suits would hide their ears nicely, so the local inhabitants wouldn't notice the difference.

As a psychologist, Derek was excited to have the opportunity to interact with the subjects of his studies in person. He had watched hundreds of hours of transmissions they received from Earth. They were quite diverse. Derek thought he had a good idea of which transmissions were reality and which were fiction, but you could never be sure when studying your subjects from a distance.

Derek reported to the shuttle terminal wearing his Santa Suit. He laughed when he saw one of his friends in the Santa Suit.

“Do I look as silly as you do?” He said.

“You most certainly do. Red is not a good color for you.”

They boarded the shuttle for the journey to Earth. It took them a week to arrive in Earth orbit. Each of them was assigned to a different area on Earth. It had been decided that the risk of discovery would be lower if they didn't appear in groups. All of them would be within what the local inhabitants called North America. Time to go.

Derek was assigned to the western part of the United States. All of them arrived at their destinations in the middle of the night to conceal their appearance. When Derek looked around at his surroundings, he found a desert landscape. The only structure he saw was a concrete pole with spheres suspended near the top. He headed towards it. When he arrived, he found a plaque mounted at the bottom which read “A hymn to our universe whose glory and dimension is beyond all myth and imagination.”

“How appropriate,”  thought Derek. Not seeing anything else but desert, Derek headed towards the east. In the transmissions he had studied, he had only seen people in Santa suits in city environments. He wondered what they would think if he was found in this desert. He was glad it was still dark. He knew the inhabitants of this planet couldn't walk as fast as he could, but he saw no one around, so he walked at his normal pace. After an hour of walking he saw lights in the distance.

His next set of structures turned out to be non-residential. Derek decided to keep walking. He really wanted to get to a large settlement. When he reached an area where he saw people walking, he crossed the road he had been walking next to and observed them for a while to judge their average speed of movement. He sighed. He was going to get bored with that pace. He started heading towards the east again. He had barely started walking at the human pace, when a vehicle stopped next to him and the occupant called out of the window: “Do you need a ride, Santa?”

Derek nodded and said, “yes”.

“Well, jump on in.”

Derek considered the size of the opening. Jumping through it did not seem feasible for his rather large body. He remembered seeing doors open in the Earth's vehicles. He looked for a button. He spotted a handle and pulled on it. A door did open and Derek jumped into the vehicle.

“Woah, Santa, I didn't mean that literally,” the driver said. “I didn't know Santa could move that fast.”

Derek silently scolded himself. He had forgotten to slow down. His first encounter and he almost blew it already. “Sorry.”

“No problem. Where are you headed this late at night, Santa?”

“To town,” Derek said. He didn't dare say more than a few words. He hadn't heard enough of his driver's accent yet.

“Okay, we should get there in about half an hour. I will take you to the gas station there. Then you can go where ever Santa goes at this hour,” the driver said.

“Thank you,” Derek replied. The rest of the drive went in silence. When they arrived Derek discovered a large city lit up in white and red lights. He was pleased. He was drawn to an area in the center of the city where all the trees were decorated with lights. He wandered about the place until the sun started coming up. The architecture seemed to be from different time periods. He particularly liked the tall central structure with the gold statue on the top. He hoped he would be able to observe the locals from here. The first inhabitant he saw set up a stand with a kettle hanging from it near the entrance to a building. He had a bell in his hand.

Derek approached the man.

“Merry Christmas, Santa,” the man said. “Aren't you a bit early for your job at the mall?”

Derek wondered what that meant but decided to just repeat the greeting, “Merry Christmas.”

He wondered if the red Santa suit had more significance than they had realized. So far the inhabitants of Earth appeared to be friendly though. The transmissions showing vehicle chases and weapons must have been fiction. Derek wandered slowly along the streets. Soon more people crowded the streets. Suddenly, a small person ran towards Derek and embraced him.

“Santa! Can you bring me a toy truck for Christmas?” He said looking up at Derek.

Derek attempted a smile. “I will try,” he said.

The child started screaming and ran towards the adult female that had been with him.

“Mom, Santa is a vampire. He has fangs.”

The woman looked at Derek and said, “You should be ashamed of yourself!”

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