A Holiday Epic
A never before recalled history of something no one remembers anymore, or "How Santa Saved The World Then Lost It All"

What is fear? One shade in the rainbow of fears is the unknown that is disguised as the familiar.

Is there a man clinging to the side of your house? Are you sure? Go look. Maybe he moved to the other side when you peeked out. A Man. A House- nothing scary there- but combine them in a certain way and.....

If there were a man clinging to the outside of your home would anyone even know? Do you know what’s clinging to your neighbor's home right now?

What if you did see him, the shadowy man crawling up the side of someone's house, and then what if he slipped into a window and disappeared inside? Maybe you'd call the cops- or maybe you'd pause for just a second staring and listening to see what would happen.

What if this were a nightly occurrence and it was no big deal to see a man creeping into windows at night because, for example, it was his job? Then how would you know when the man crouching on your windowsill wasn't supposed to be there?

If bad people made use of this enough times, what was once familiar would become fearful because now no one would ever know for sure if that man clinging to the house was the guy who was supposed to be there, or someone else.

Now you see why a certain service was being dropped. The Sandman was quickly losing clients. Rumors of an impostor were spreading.

His work now seemed to always start with a lovely night and a child in bed, the glass dissolving to mist, quietly slipping inside, and then the screams. Always the screams and the Sandman knew what would come next. The pet hamster running on his squeaky wheel witnessed the entire thing this particular night.

"I hate when you do this! That’s why I'm putting a stop to it- you are no longer needed Sandman. I have heard too many stories of strange people climbing about robbing people or worse, who pretend to be you!"

The Sandman was trying to apply his ancient trade to wakeful children and once again was being informed by a mother that she did not need him. Apparently with this mother, sleep comes naturally enough to her ever so gently medicated son. No more sleep services for her child thank you, and more importantly to the Sandman himself, she no longer had to pay that part of the FGT (Fairytale Gift Tax).

The real problem was this was the last person to sign off needed to set Sandman and all the others in his group back one FGT payment bracket. This new lower bracket was so low it was not enough to live on.

Sandman curtly informed her that by cutting him off she was also cutting off the services of the others who had been included in that portion of the FGT. That meant, The Easter Bunny, and those little Pixies that do shoes at night, and his own wife, The Tooth Fairy, The Fairy Godmother, and many others. It was important for the mother to know what she was losing in those forms she had just signed. The news spread quickly after that in the Fairytale working ranks.

When she heard about this, the Tooth Fairy wasn't surprised.

She had been having a recurring dream that she was lying out under a sunny sky in a wooded park. She is relaxed and happy when she notices a huge shadow blotting out the sun. She sees an object falling from the sky and can't move. She could tell no matter how fast she ran it would hit her so she watches it fall toward her, transfixed. It doesn't hit her though, it crashes into the field just a few feet from her. It’s a large funny white tooth shaped object. It cracks open and all kinds of fake Tooth Fairies fall out and run off. Each was more ridiculous looking than the next. They disappear and leave the tooth behind, broken, and then she wakes up. It could not have meant anything good.

The Fairy Godmother heard about the FGT bracket change because she was also included in that group, but it really didn't make her that mad personally. The majority of her work was freelance and out of the goodness of her heart. She worked mainly for poor downtrodden maidens attending balls and assorted soirees. This work eventually added up to more maidens and balls than were allotted by the FGT reimbursement anyway so she didn't pay attention to whether she had cost over-runs. She used her own resources when needed. The angry scrunched up faces of mean nasty stepsisters were worth it. Yes even the Fairy Godmother had a fun yet wicked side.