The backdrop is Rapunzel’s tower. The story is told from my character’s point of view. Thanks for the opportunity! Rikki Strong
I’d been sitting in the cold, dark tower for hours trying to get a good look at my target. I had been tracking him for days and finally found him camping out in the middle of nowhere. Why he didn’t bother to actually come in the tower—preferring to huddle beside a small campfire on the edge of the clearing sleeping in a tent on this cold winter’s night—was beyond me, but who really knows what goes on in the minds of criminals?
Before I could detain him—without, you know, getting arrested myself for assault—I needed to catch him doing something wrong. But, for some reason, this guy—who had been involved in multiple kidnappings and disappearances of women from Kingston—didn’t seem to want to do anything except sit at the edge of the clearing and look up at the large, out-of-place, run-down tower I had hidden in.
I had just settled in for a long, tedious night of watching the flickering campfire when I began to hear bells in the distance. The sound kept getting nearer and nearer until it seemed like it was right on top of me. I heard footsteps on the rickety roof above me. I knew that the only way in or out of this room was the chimney—it was how I had gotten in the room myself. For some reason, my villain down below didn’t seem to be phased by this. Either he was in on it, or… I took out my small monocular and realized he had fallen asleep.
Good, I thought, putting away my monocular and blending into the shadows. I won’t have to worry about him running away while I take care of this guy.
The stranger slipped through the narrow chimney silently.
This guy must be a mutant, I thought. Not even my countless hours of physical and mental training allowed me to slide down the brick tunnel silently.
When the intruder climbed out of the fireplace, his super status was confirmed. The guy was enormous! That he was able to even come down without getting fatally stuck was a testament to mutants everywhere. The only question on my mind, though: superhero or supervillain?
The red-costumed stranger began searching the hearth for something. His attention diverted, I began creeping silently toward him. If I could take him by surprise, then perhaps I could neutralize him before he was able to alert my prey.
I couldn’t hear the sound that alerted the stranger to my position, but he certainly did. He began turning around and I froze, praying I was enough in the shadows that he wouldn’t see me. The room was much too small for a proper fight.
“Rapunzel?” he whispered in a kind-sounding voice. I stayed silent. He peered through the darkness and smiled at me. “Sorry, wrong tower. Hello, Tamara,” he said.
I blinked. How did he know my name? My real name? I looked at him closer and my mouth dropped.
“Santa?” I asked. “Really? Tim’s never going to believe this!”
“Ho ho ho,” he laughed. “I suppose I should be calling you Karis, since you’re in costume.” He dug through his bag and pulled out an ornately-wrapped present. “It’s difficult finding a gift for the girl who has everything, but here is a little something for you.”
I opened the package and found a small, silver picture frame. In the frame was the last photo taken of my family before they had been killed. “How did you get this?”
“Merry Christmas, Tamara,” Santa said. And then he was gone.
Thank you Rikki…It was lovely re-imagining Rapunzel with your special, imaginative spin. It was a pleasure having you on Dragonfly Scrolls. Happy HolidayHop and Merry Christmas! 🙂
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Kim Koning 