Here in the North Pole, our idea of a “good scare” is when Rudolph comes down with a case of the sniffles! But this week, one Elfster intern found herself smack dab in the middle of a Halloween horror flick. With a flashlight poised eerily under-chin, today we tell her tale! [Cue clap of thunder.]
True story… It was a dark and snowy morning. Walking to work, Intern Steph prepared to hand-deliver an updated draft of Santa’s “Naughty List” to the Big Boss himself. As you can imagine, this made her pretty nervous!
Usually accompanied by an armored fleet of reindeer (what else are they going to do in the off-season?), on this particular morning, she decided to forgo the fuss and give the crew the day off… Big mistake. Not long after leaving the cottage, Intern Steph began to sense that she was not alone. Despite the seasonal sub-zero temperatures, it wasn’t every day that the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Someone, or something, was following her!
With each stride, Intern Steph heard the unexplained patter of footsteps behind her. She stopped to survey her surroundings, but to her surprise, she was entirely alone! What was really troubling, however, was the fact that Steph was trudging through 12 feet of snow. Whoever was following her was apparently having a pretty easy time it, finding solid enough footing to produce an echo. But the unseen stalker teased her, only stepping when Steph stepped. She slowed, and so did they…When she sped up, their pace quickened, too. It was frustrating and frightening at the same time!
Our Hero tried to play it cool, licking her lips to whistle a favorite holiday jingle nonchalantly. But soon the industrious intern realized she was too terrified to remember the tune! Her teeth chattered more than the time she took up competitive snow cone eating. All the while, she bravely continued, remembering her Elf’s Oath to risk life and limb to deliver the scroll (or coffee, depending on the occasion). But those footsteps sure were alarming… Something had to be done.
With a ferocity that surprised even herself, Intern Steph flung open her knapsack to access her street-legal, Santa-issue Stun Gun (North Poll elves lead pretty perilous lives). It was then that she finally came face-to-face with her “stalker”… a plastic water bottle sloshing around in the bottom of the bag. Steph’s initial relief was quickly replaced by downright embarrassment, but we believe she learned a valuable lesson that day… Though her cheeks may have been red, at that moment, Intern Steph officially went “green”!
Now, skeptics out there might be wondering, “Sloshing around? Wait a minute. Something doesn’t add up! Just what kind of liquid doesn’t freeze in sub-zero temperatures?” Okay, okay, you have a point. We reluctantly admit, the contents of that particular bottle might not have been pure water…
We suspect one of those restless reindeer may have spiked her drink… Just a theory.