Katy Peppermint and Santa’s Evil Twin

Written By Kruti Patel

Can you keep a secret? I mean it. I’m related to Santa Claus. Unbelievable, right? You can laugh at me, but I’m serious. You’ll see.

It all started on a regular Saturday morning. “Beep, beep, beep!” my alarm clock rang annoyingly. I looked at the time, and it read 7:00 a.m. What in the world? Ugh. My little brother, Sam, must’ve set it to 7:00 a.m. as a prank. Ha, ha, Sam. Very funny. Why couldn’t I be born an only child? I went right back to sleep and dreamt of ZZZ’s.

I arose at about 8:00 a.m. and walked wearily downstairs to breakfast. Mom joked, “Huh! You look like you just fought a big war!” “Mom!” I groaned. I just hate it when she says that, but I did look untidy. My hair was all over the place. I looked tired. Really tired.

“Honey, please wake up your brother,” Mom said. “Okay,” I moaned unpleasantly. Yeah, and get scared to death by his fake spider? I stalked up the stairs into my brother’s room anyway and shouted, “Sam, wake up! Breakfast is ready!” Let’s see if that scared him! He fell out of bed and grumbled, “Okay, okay,” Aw, man! He looked a little disturbed as we walked down the stairs to the kitchen, though. Yes! 

“Katy, why do you look like a monster?” Sam teased. “Oh, shut up!” I retorted. “Mmm! Waffles!” Sam exclaimed as he sat down in his chair and started to gobble down his meal. I love waffles as much as my brother. I plopped down on my seat and started devouring my tasty waffles. Oh! I forgot to add the maple syrup. I grabbed the maple syrup on the table and poured it on my waffles. I continued to devour my breakfast, and when I finished, I poured a glass of milk and drank it. For some reason, I love cold milk, and I don’t know why. 

I went into my room upstairs, brushed my teeth, took a bath, and dressed up in a T-shirt and pants. I flopped onto my bed and read my 2nd Harry Potter book of the series. It wasn’t until lunch that I stopped reading.

I raced downstairs with my brother, and Mom said that Mr. Thomas was coming to lunch. Great. It’s just…he’s a little creepy with his smile. I have a weird feeling about him. He’s our local postman, and he always delivers our packages. Mom NEVER allows us to look at the postage stamps. One time, Sam tried to look at the postage stamp, but Mom washed his mouth with Sonny’s Soap brand of soap. It tastes awful, but it smells great!

“I have to go to the office. Mr. Thomas, take care of Katy and Sam,” Mom said, rushing outside and driving her car to the office. My brother, Mr. Thomas, and I sat down to eat. I had noodles with tomato sauce, Sam had mac ‘n cheese, and our “visitor” had tomato soup with bread. Mr. Thomas took a nap on the couch, so Sam and I played some board games. I ‘m not bragging, but every single round of Payday, I win! Sam is great at checkers, though. He beats me every time. I’m proud and jealous of him! He’ll be a great checker champion!

A few months later, it was December 3rd, and I was writing my letter to Santa Claus already. What? Big fan of Christmas here! I was writing with a special pen:

Dear Santa,

I’m 10 years old, and this year I want to have a good time with my family during Christmas. I also want world peace and art supplies.

Love,

Katy Peppermint

I stored my letter in my room until December 23 came. In a few weeks, December 23 did come. I got my letter and went outside to put it in the mailbox. All of a sudden, the wind blew, and my letter was blown out of my hand.

“Oh no!” I shouted. My letter! I jumped really high and grabbed it. The problem was, I was pulled with the wind. “Aaaah!” I screamed, hoping someone would hear my cry. No one heard it, unfortunately. Still clinging to my letter, I looked down. I felt more scared because I was high in the air. Very high. The wind carried my letter and me to a snowy place. 

I realized where I was: the North Pole.

But how did I get from New Jersey to the North Pole? At that moment, I was falling to the ground. “What’s happening?” I asked. I could see a sled, so when I landed on it forcibly, I rode it. “Woo-hoo!” I enjoyed that ride. Oof! I bumped into a polar bear. Oops!

“Nice bear, nice bear!” I said nervously. I broke into a run, but the polar bear chased me around the North Pole. Literally. We went round and round and round and round until the polar bear got dizzy and ran off. Adios, polar bear! 

I saw a cottage and walked toward it. The door was unlocked, so I went inside. Mrs. Claus saw me and exclaimed, “Santa, your niece is here!” Wait, what?

Santa came into the room and hugged me tightly. “Hey Santa, I brought you my letter, but are you my uncle or something?” I asked, puzzled. “Your mom never told you I am your uncle?” Santa asked. “Mom told me about Aunt Jane and Uncle Joe, but not about you and Mrs. Claus,” I shook my head.

“You can have cookies and milk if you want,” Mrs. Claus said. A few minutes later, we were sitting at the kitchen table, eating cookies and drinking cold milk. So thoughtful! “Uncle Santa, am I on the nice or naughty list?” I asked eagerly. “You’re on the nice list!” Santa munched on a cookie happily. I decided to ask my uncle about my Claus heritage. 

So I asked Santa, “I want to learn about my family heritage, Santa! Please tell me about it!” He told me that my Uncle Kevin, his secret twin brother, was like the Grinch when he was bad. The evil twin stole gifts from Santa, Mom, Joe, and Jane. Santa was worried that he might steal all the presents.

“I have to get going to your twin’s palace to show him the true meaning of Christmas!” I said, going outside and climbing in Santa’s sleigh. I said, “Bring me to Santa’s twin’s brother’s home! On Dasher!” The sleigh was in the air, and the reindeer carried me to Santa’s twin’s castle.

The castle looked modest, but cozy. I sneaked inside and saw the evil twin plotting ideas to steal presents from children. I had to sneeze, so I did. That gave me away. I asked, “Why are you on the naughty list?” “Because I steal presents,” he replied. “And I’m going to steal Christmas!” 

“You can’t steal Christmas! It doesn’t come from presents. Christmas is about spending time with family. It comes from the heart! It won’t matter if you steal presents or cookies!” I said. “So, they won’t care if I steal the presents?” Santa’s twin asked. “Yes!” I responded. “Now, come! Let’s go to my uncle’s house for a Christmas party before I leave the North Pole.” 

“I told Hickory, ‘I forgot to turn off the coffee maker!’ His speech was so boring, so I saved myself from boredom!” We laughed at Santa’s nice twin brother’s story.

I gobbled down a piece of cake and drank milk. “I’m sorry, but I have to go! I’ll visit every Christmas, though!” I went outside and let the wind carry me to my house. 

A few moments later, I was in my house, drinking delicious hot cocoa with marshmallows. I was wondering what adventure I might have next. When Mom came into the room I was in, she teased, “Huh! You look like you had a huge adventure!” Boy, did I!