Karen
                                By: Dosman!
    Dedicated to the real elves at the real xmas village in Torrington,
                                Connecticut

Growing up, Karen had been to the Christmas Village to visit Santa Claus
plenty of times. She always loved sitting on Santa's lap, and getting the
little trinket toy. Then she and her family would visit the reindeer and
toy room with the elves in it. For some reason, all those years, she never
really paid attention to the elves. She had never noticed that it was real
guys and girls playing them, moving about the room, moving props back and
forth, looking useful. Then one day, in her last year of high school, the
park and rec. department came into school looking for that years elves. She
had always been into acting, and an active member of the drama club, so she
jumped at the chance. Plus, they were paying $50 a night. Talk about big
money.

Karen was happy the next day when she got a call from the park and rec.
department and they told her that she had gotten a position! She of course
accepted the job and counted days in her head. There was 2 weeks to
Christmas, and that would mean big money for her fashion budget.

The next day after classes, Karen went to the building that housed the
village. It was an older looking brick building, with different rooms for
the different exhibits. She hadn't been to it in at least 5 or 6 years. She
had given up on Santa around that time, and never saw the point in just
going to see the animals or the lights. When she got there, there were 5
other people, 2 guys and 3 girls waiting in the Santa room. They were all
supposed to be there for their costumes. It took about 2 hours while they
measured each person and made the costumes right then. She didn't realize
they had to start that night for the opening festivities. After everyone
had an outfit, they where told they had to get dressed right there. She
removed her sneakers and socks, then her baggy jeans and blouse. She was
hesitant to remove her underwear until an assistant came over and told
everyone that they should. So, she got naked and put on her outfit. It was
really simple, just a green lycra catsuit and a felt dress. Then they
needed accessories, so that all got cute little hats, and pointy shoes.
Then two women came around and did their make up to look childish. It was
the same for the guys as well. She couldn't help but giggle when she saw
them all gathered there dressed up life elves. Before she knew it they were
being ushered into the toy room where they had to perform. It looked
exactly as she had remembered it. A couple workbenches with half made toys,
and lots of classic 1950s tin and wood toys filling up the room. Most were
battery operated, with lots of noise and lights to attract attention. She
figured they had probably all been there since the 50s when the place was
originally built. Apparently at random the two women picked people and told
them were to stand or sit. Karen got was told to sit on a stool in the
corner of the room where a bunch of paint cans and half-painted toys sat.
She quickly wondered how long she would be able to fake paint a toy before
being totally bored. She had never given any thought to how repetitious her
job would be. After the last guy was placed in the room, the two women
opened the door and started to leave. She was about to speak up and ask
what they should do to perform when her world went black. She felt her body
slip away from her and a fog fill her mind.

It was only a few minutes before Karen awoke. She had no idea how long she
was out of it for, but she was suddenly aware of the fact that she was
awake. She tried to look around the room to see how everyone else was, but
she quickly realized that she could not move a muscle. She couldn't even
bat an eye. All that she could see was the door where people entered and a
bunch of toys in her peripheral vision. She gradually became aware of her
body. She was still sitting on the stool. One hand was holding some type of
wooden toy, and the other held a paintbrush. She could tell there was an
overly cheery smile on her face. Why would they turn us into elf statues,
she thought to herself. There was no one in the room with them right then,
but soon enough the door to the toy room opened and a small red light bulb
came on, above the door. All of the sudden she detected movement as people
came into the room. She felt her arms begin to move so that she appeared to
be painting the toy. She had no control over her body, her arms just moved
on their own, while the rest of her body remained rigid. She felt like an
animatronic doll instead of an actress. After a few moments the people were
ushered out of the room by the guide. The light above the door shut off,
and they all remained still once again. This continued for another 5 hours
while people went in and out of the room. At the end of the night, her
world once again went black. When she awoke she was back in the Santa room.
The two women were there with them. One of them as speaking to her, which
suddenly made her wake up. "Would you like me to take your makeup off,
miss?" she asked Karen. Of course I do, she replied. She looked down at
herself and realized that she had already taken off her elf uniform, so she
picked her clothes up and began dressing again. "That went by really
quickly" she heard one of the other girls say. Karen had to agree, she
didn't remember anything from the evening, she hoped the rest of the nights
would be as uneventful.

The End.

OK, in case you are wondering, this is supposed to be a hanging ending.
Does Karen remember what really happened? Why does she keep coming back? I
don't know. That's why it's hanging. Make it up yourself. -Dosman!




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