Just a Little While
Kelly knows how to get what she wants - kicking, screaming, threats and violence work really well. Heck, she's even got Santa delivering an 'impossible' present.
Kelly slumped in her chair, scowling out the window. There was no point in throwing another tantrum. Mom and Dad had locked the door, turned up the TV, and pointedly ignored her screams and shouts for over an hour. Maybe her ways of getting what she wanted were wearing thin after ten years. She sighed. Time to start coming up with new ideas. Guilt trips? Faking injury or some sort of mental thing? She could claim abuse - all the teachers were really hot on that.
School was already out for Christmas, though. It would be a couple of weeks before she could try anything there. Kelly picked up a stuffed kitten and idly twisted its head until it ripped off. Nowhere near as satisfying as the real thing, but they wouldn't let her near puppies and kittens any more. She tossed the pieces across the room in a sudden fit of anger. She never got what she really wanted! She wanted real diamonds and jewels, not plastic fake sets. She wanted to have a real jet, not the play set Dad had fixed up for her. And more than anything, she wanted to be a horse.
Not forever, maybe. Just for a little while. So she could run free, and taste grass, and kick and bite people whenever she wanted. OK, that wasn't something Mom and Dad could do. Which was why she'd put it into her letter to Santa Claus for the past two years. This year she made a few threats just in case it helped spur the old fat guy along. All those 'good' kids out there were stupid - you got a lot more with throwing things and ear-piercing screams. Some of the kids were talking about Santa not being real - she had to admit that the whole idea was harder to beleive. After all, she always got great presents every year, and she knew a lot of 'good' kids who were disappointed. Maybe Santa...
"Hello, Kelly."
She jerked her head around and screamed - there was a guy in a Santa Suit sitting on her bed! Downstairs, the TV got turned up louder. How could he have gotten in? The door was locked, the window was closed. Unless... she looked him over. White beard, red suit, fat. He sure looked like the real thing. Well, this guy sure wasn't jolly - he looked sad. And, she suddenly realized, he ahd her letter in his hand! She recognized her drawing of a puppy with a pencil in its eye.
"Santa Claus!" She grinned suddenly, feeling triumphant. None of the 'good' kids got a personal visit - that's why they didn't beleive. It was just like everything else - cause enough trouble, and you get what you want.
He sighed, like he was really tired, and nodded. "So, you plan to kill and maim small animals all year unless you can spend some time as a horse?"
Her eyes hardened. "Yeah! And I mean it, too!"
Santa nodded slightly. "I know. So I'm here to grant your wish. I'm going to let you be a horse."
"Just for a little while!" Kelly scowled. "I don't wanna spend years in a stable. I just want to have a good gallop, maybe see what it's like to kick and bite."
"And that's exactly what you will get." Santa crumpled her letter.
"So I'll wake up as a horse on Christmas?"
"No." Santa dropped the letter on the floor. "I take care of special cases before Christmas. Let's me focus better. So I'm here to take care of you now."
Kelly jumped up, excited. "Right now!? But..." And then she was gone.
Santa looked around the room and shook his head sadly, then vanished himself.
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She was surrounded by horses. Other horses! Kelly twisted around, excited by the sudden rush of strange feelings and smells. It was cold out, but her shaggy hide kept her comfortable. And she felt so big and strong! The air was full of stinks - it was weird, cause in her mind, she could sort them all out. The horses around her had different stinks, and she could tell some of them were boys, some were girls, some were sick. Huh? She felt a pain in her stomach. Hungry. She was really, really hungry!
There was a squeal from a horse behind her, and the herd bolted suddenly. Confused, she looked around as the horses took off at a gallop over the flat plain. These were wild horses! But why were they running away? There was some grass here. Then she caught the new stinks. Smells that brought real fear in her head. Most of the herd was already past her, and she could see the dark, sinister forms that had caused the panic. Wolves! A whole pack of wolves, coming after fresh meat. Coming after... her!
With a squeal of terror, Kelly spun and bolted after the rest of her herd. But she had waited too long, and the pack zeroed in on her. As she galloped hard across the cold, hard ground, she realized she couldn't outrun them. She'd bite and kick, but eventually the pack would bring her down. The only consolation was that there would be pain for just a little while.
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