Chapter Eight
At the last moment, the reindeer bucked upward, guiding the sleigh higher into the air and allowing it to miss the parked vehicle by mere inches.
“Don’t worry, folks!” Santa yelled. “We’ll be okayyyyyy….” The word trailed off as the reindeer plummeted downward.
One paw hit the ground. Then another. Soon, the animals crashed into the hard-packed desert floor just off to the side of the marshal’s office. It quickly became aware to those watching that the reindeer weren’t real animals at all.
Not that anyone had thought they were, given as how they’d been flying, seemingly pulling a sleigh.
The animatronics died with a pop, sizzle, and electronic hum.
Miraculously, the sleigh was upright, resting calmly on the ground, allowing “Santa” to step out.
He surveyed the reindeer and shook his head. “Well, I still have a few kinks to work out, but we’ll get there,” he said to himself. He turned around and faced the group. “Sorry about that, folks.” He stepped closer. “I was just testing out some new stuff for the upcoming Christmas parade and got a little carried away. Sometimes, my inventions do that.”
Dax groaned. “You can say that again.” He looked at the town’s newest guests. “Contrary to the red coat he’s wearing, this isn’t Santa. Meet Stryker. Stryker, this is Dylan and Teagan. They’re from the Dallas area.”
“Nice meeting y’all,” Stryker said. “Welcome to Mountainville.”
“Thank you,” Teagan said, shaking his hand.
“You made that thing?” Dylan asked, when it was his turn to shake.
“Yeah. I’ve had the sleigh for years. Just added the reindeer to give it a little more pizazz. As you can see, though, they still have a few bugs to work through.”
Dylan looked past him to the wreckage. “How do they fly?”
“It’s all drone tech,” Stryker said. “Those deer weren’t really pulling the sleigh. They have their own hovering system that keeps them in place. I need to make it bigger, though.”
“That’s pretty cool,” Dylan said.
“Thanks,” Stryker said. “I love to create and invent. If you’d like, I can show you a few things in my garage later.”
“Yeah. That would be fun,” Dylan said. “Where’d you learn to do all this?”
“Just messing around,” Stryker said with a shrug.
Dax smiled and interjected, saying, “He’s being humble. He’s a director. He’s designed a lot of the special effects for his movies himself. Before that, he was a stuntman, so he rigged stunts and learned to tinker with things.”
Dylan’s eyes lit up in recognition. “You directed The Fast and the Deadly !”
Stryker blushed a little as he grinned and nodded. “Parts one through four.”
“Man, those are some of my favorites! So much action!” Dylan said.
At that moment, Dylan was so caught up in the conversation, that he didn’t notice his wife beaming with joy as she watched her husband relax a little and simply enjoy the experience.
He was already falling under the spell of Mountainville.
“When Harrison Trent gets in the car chase driving that ’69 Mustang Fastback. That was so awesome!” Dylan said.
“Well, you’ll get to meet Harrison. He lives here,” Stryker said.
“Seriously? Is he a Daddy?”
“Nope. A Little. Like me.”
Dylan couldn’t hide the shock he felt at the revelation. “You’re a Little?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Oh.” A moment of heavy silence passed before Dylan added, “I just figured you were a Daddy.”
Teagan wanted to remind Dylan that being tough and manly didn’t preclude someone from being a Little, but she kept the observation to herself. Her husband would figure that out on his own soon enough.
“Me?” Stryker said. “No way. I’m as Little as they come.”
Dylan didn’t say anything, but the smile on his face revealed he was pleased to hear the news.
Teagan was pleased, too. Perhaps her husband was already making friends in that special community.
“You’ll find the information about your rental house in the app,” Dax told Teagan. “My contact info is in there, too. Feel free to get ahold of me if you need anything. Day or night.”
“Thank you,” Teagan said. “We appreciate you and the whole town. I wasn’t sure you would have room on such short notice.”
“Oh, we always have room. Plus, lots of folks are out of town for the holiday. Some of ‘em rent their places out when they’re gone,” Dax said.
Everyone said goodbye and the couple got back in their vehicle. As Dylan was about to take off, Stryker approached and spoke through the open window.
“You want to hangout later?”
“Sure,” Dylan said.
“I’ll drop by if that’s okay.”
“Yeah. Of course,” Dylan said.
Stryker waved as the car pulled away.
He could tell Dylan was nervous. That was normal. Being a Little is often a private affair. It can take a while to come out of your shell and let others in.
But he’d have fun.
The Littles of Mountainville would make sure of that.