Krampus is Coming to Town

Susie entered the room tears streaming down her pudgy cheeks. “M…m…mommy, Johnnie hit me.”

“Johnathan Andrew Willson get in here now!”

He came running into the room and spotted his sister. “I don’t know what she said mom, but I didn’t do it.”

“Do not lie to me, young man. This is Christmas Eve and I thought you would be good at least this one day. I should have known better.”

“I swear mom, I’ve been in my room all morning.”

“Don’t you continue to lie. Go to your room, I’m canceling Christmas for you.”

Johnathan looked at his little sister standing behind their mom. She stuck her tongue out at him with a smile. Screaming in frustration Johnathan turned on his heels and went back to his room.

Throwing himself on his bed he wished his sister would just once be caught in her lies and be punished for it. He buried his face into his pillow as he wished Santa would just put her on his naughty list for all the bad things she did, and he got blamed for. He considered doing the things she always said he did to get him in trouble; he was being punished for them anyway.

A shimmering doorway appeared deep in the woods. Ducking his head, a large horned creature stepped through. He held a bundle of birch branches in his right hand and a sack in his left. As his hooved feet struck the ground, the snow melted away. His long-forked tongue licked his hairy chin and lip as he looked around. Lifting his head, he sniffed the air before lumbering off into the trees.

Through the night he hunted them out and collected all the bad little boys and girls stuffing them into his sack as he went. It had been eons since someone had called him forth, banished to the nether regions he had waited for someone to truly want to punish a naughty child on Christmas Eve to break him from his prison.

His sack was getting full, and he realized that he had to soon return to his realm, but he had one final stop to make. The one that had won his freedom had to be collected, the one that truly deserved their punishment. She would be snuggled up in bed, warm and comfortable dreaming of all the presents she would get in the morning. Humming his own version of a Christmas song he trudged off into the night.

A noise woke Johnathan from his sleep and he laid in bed listening to see if he would hear it again. A slight creaking noise told him someone was on the stairs. He rolled out of bed and crept to his door. Peeking out he saw a large monster walking towards his sister’s room. Gasping he ducked back into his room with a shiver.

He knew his sister was in danger, so he grabbed his bat. He peeked out just in time to see the thing enter his sister’s room and on shaking legs he quickly followed the monster.

The thing had his sister by her ankle and was trying to stuff her into a wiggling sack he held open with his other hand. Johnathan hesitated for only a second before charging in and smacking the thing in the back with his bat.

“Leave my sister alone you monster!”

The creature turned his gaze on the boy and smiled revealing his sharp pointed teeth. “You called me boy. You wanted your sister punished for being so naughty.”

“I didn’t want her taken by some monster!” Johnathan swung at the monster again, but it ducked away.

“You made the wish boy and you can’t take it back now.” The creature forced Susie head first into his sack with a laugh.

“Leave her go!” Johnathan swung his bat back and forth at the creature, but it danced backward laughing.

“I have to go boy; my time is almost up.” It snatched up a bundle of branches before turning and leaping through the window.

Landing on the porch roof the creature sprinted to the edge and jumped down. He could sense the boy behind him and laughed gleefully. His long legs quickly carried him away from the house and into the woods.

Before his long banishment, he could have called his door to him, but he was weak now. He would have to go back to it if he was to return home. He could feel the boy following like a dog on a trail. He had never had a good one before, he could only collect the bad children, but if the boy followed him to his home, then he could do with him what he wanted.

Like a game of tag, he would let the boy almost catch him only to pull away. Around trees and over bushes he ran staying only one step ahead of the boy. He laughed enjoying this game and dreaming of the fun to come.

The sound of sleigh bells suddenly came from overhead and out of the sky plummeted a fat man all dressed in red. The man’s impact bellowed the snow up into a cloud and out of it stepped the man with a twinkle in his eye.

“Krampus, you old devil, how did you escape?”

“Someone wished me free. I have collected my prize and now I will return home.”

Pulling his long-stemmed pipe from a pocket Santa set himself before Krampus. “I won’t let you take those children. Give them up or I’ll take them.”

“No, never, they are mine. By the old laws, they were naughty, so they come with me.”

Santa tossed his pipe into the air and charged in. Landing a powerful right hook to the demon’s head. Krampus stumbled back dropping his sack and bringing his bundle of birch branches around. Santa caught his pipe and used it to block Krampus’ attack.

“You used to hit a lot harder fat man.”

“And you used to be faster.”

They circled each other neither noticing Johnathan ducking behind a tree. He watched as the two legends fought back and forth. Krampus’ bundle of branches whipping this way and that, but Santa’s pipe blocking each attack. Neither could gain the advantage on the other and both becoming winded gasping for breath as they dueled it out.

Wide-eyed Johnathan watched unable to believe the man in red was really Santa. Santa dropped back his years of cookie eating catching up with him. Krampus seeing his nemesis weakened moved in to finish him.

As the demon raised his weapon to deliver the killing blow, Johnathan charged forward and hit the old demon in the back with his bat. Krampus stumbled and spun to face the boy.

“I was going to take you to my home to feast on your flesh boy, but now I’ll kill you here.”

Johnathan let out a squeak and stumbled back as the demon advanced on him. The demon stalked forward as he licked his lips. As he was about to strike when he was hit in the head by a snowball.

“Let’s finish this demon.” Santa was back on his feet holding a long oak staff.

Krampus charged the fat man with a scream of rage. Santa’s staff connected with Krampus’ bundle of branches, breaking them. The demon howled and attacked again, but Santa easily blocked the demon’s attacks before ramming the tip of his staff into the demon’s chest.. A scream that shook the very trees was ripped from Krampus’s throat just before a bright light seemed to burst out of the old demon. As the light faded Johnathan saw the demon was gone.

“You did well Johnathan. For this, I will make sure you get something extra special under the tree.”

“What about Susie?”

“I have a special gift for her as well.” Santa opened the sack and pulled the children out. As each was pulled free from the sack they fell into a deep sleep. “I need to hurry to return all these children home.”

A sleigh pulled by eight reindeer landed nearby and Santa loaded the children on board. Johnathan felt drowsy as he climbed onto the sleigh.

Waking in his own bed, Johnathan sat up. It all had been a dream. He got up and started downstairs when he heard his sister and mom already down there.

“Mommy, Johnathan didn’t hit me yesterday. He is never mean at all.”

“What are you saying Susie, have you been lying?”

“I’m sorry mommy. I won’t lie again ever.”