One day Mr. Winter was going to work. He got in the car and turned the keys, then he drove to work. It was the day before Christmas Eve, and Mr. Winter had a lot of work to do before then.

When he arrived, he made sure all of the workers were there. Then he took his keys and went into the old building. He was the boss of the entire company and had been working here for thousands of years. It was his duty.

He switched a small switch on his keys and a small button appeared. Mr. Winter took the elevator to floor three, hallway six, door four. He entered the room and pushed the button on the keys, then a small part of the right wall departed and another button appeared. But this one was bigger. Mr. Winter pushed the button on the wall and the wall turned around to reveal a small room.

It was a pretty small room - only big enough to fit Mr. Winter and give him a little space. He went into the small room and stepped on a board then the wall turned around and then opened again. But when Mr. Winter stepped out, he wasn't Mr. Winter anymore. He was Santa Clause.

Santa went over to the telephones and picked one up. He pushed a small, hard to see button. And then the numbers turned into letters. He spelled Merry Christmas.  And pushed Enter then he picked up the phone and said, “Wendy, open the gates.”
 

    “Okay sir,” squeaked a tiny women's voice. Santa went over to the left wall. He waited a minute or two, and then a button appeared. He pushed it and then the wall departed, and giant candy cane gates appeared. 

 He entered the workshop and there was Christmas music playing all around. “Hurry everyone!” Santa said. “We have two days until Christmas." 

“Everything is here, sir,” said another tiny voice. 

“Okay, thank you Molly,” Santa replied. 

For the next two days Santa and his elves 
worked on the last presents. 

 On the day before Christmas, Santa ordered his elves to make two very special presents - one for his daughter Ria, and one for his wife Maria. He specifically said what the gifts were and told the elves to make them. The elves finished very soon and Santa put the two presents in a very special bag. The next morning (Christmas Eve day) Ria had woken up very early because she wanted a drink of water. Ria carefully went down the stairs and when she was going into the kitchen, she saw her dad in his work clothes. What was her dad doing?

 “Plus, it's like four in the morning,” she mumbled to herself. “I thought dad liked to sleep in.” Then she saw him put on a coat and she tiptoed after him. 
Ria went outside. Brrrrrrr, she shivered! Her dad went over to the car. Ria tried to follow but ended up slipping, nearly crashing into her dad. She hid on the other side of the car. “That was a close one,” she whispered to herself. Her dad entered the car. Ria climbed into the back seat, quietly buckling herself and staying low.

Luckily her dad didn't see her.  When the car stopped Ria peeked through the window and saw that she was at her dad’s work. She exited the car and saw him switch a switch on his keys and a button appeared. Ria felt her pocket and pulled out a notebook and pen. “Button on keys,” Ria said quietly. “Interesting." She wrote down what she saw on the keys and then hurried after her dad. Ria was very stealth and wanted to be a detective when she grew up. And right now was the perfect time to start. 

After all, I am 12, Ria thought.   

Her dad entered his work and Ria followed. She wondered what her dad was doing. Her dad pushed the button and a bigger button appeared on the wall. “Button on keys leads to a big button on the wall,” Ria whispered as she wrote it down. Her dad pushed the button on the wall and a small room appeared. “Very interesting!’’ Ria said, surprised. She wrote everything down. Her dad went into the room and the wall turned around and opened again. But when her dad came out he was not her dad anymore. He was Santa! “Apples and sugarplums!’’