EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first chapter of a 12-part fictional tale running daily until Christmas. Parents are encouraged to read aloud with their children.

Katie had never thought about what pure chaos would look like. But as she stood in the center of the town’s Kiddie Christmas Village for her first day on the job, she knew.

Chaos was dozens of small children running around, shrieking with laughter as they moved from station to station while consuming large amounts of sugar via hot cocoa and marshmallows and candy canes. Frazzled parents stood off to the sides, their arms and strollers bogged down with packages.

“Um. Are we sure about this?,” her twin brother Kellan asked, looking slightly shell-shocked as he took in the scene.

Despite a momentary urge to turn around and flee, Katie nodded. “We’re sure. There’s no way this can be worse than Pizza Palace. And remember, we need the money.”

Kellan shuddered at the thought of going back to work at the poorly-managed pizza joint. “Yeah. Ok, I can do this.”

They were trying to earn enough money to buy a car; the almost 20-year-old sedan they inherited from their grandparents was on its last leg, and their parents had promised to match whatever they earned to help buy a newer used car. They’d have to find something else after the holidays, but the pay was too good to pass up so they both quit their part-time jobs at the Pizza Palace.

Katie looked around, trying to see who looked like they were in charge. She headed over to a woman in a jingly elf hat with a big star-shaped name tag that said Molly.

“Excuse me, we’re supposed to start work today…”

She had barely gotten the words out when Molly’s eyes lit up and she interrupted. “Oh, thank goodness! We’ve been swamped,” she said, gesturing around to the ensuing madness. “Did you get your uniforms?”

“No, nothing yet,” Katie said, and Molly pointed to a door on the far wall.

“Ok, head back there and see Mr. Hallet, he’s the one in charge. He’ll get you set up with some paperwork and uniforms, and then come find me and I’ll show you the ropes.”

Katie and Kellan obediently walked toward the door, pausing to avoid colliding with a group of kids with hot chocolate mustaches. They found Mr. Hallet, who had them fill out paperwork. When they were done, Mr. Hallet handed them two bags with a flourish, explaining that the $10 cost of the uniforms would come out of their first paychecks.

“The employee restrooms are right back there,” he said with a gesture. “Go ahead and change, then run back out and find Molly.”

Katie dressed quickly in the short red-and-green dress, complete with candy cane-striped tights and pointy elf hat.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she heard Kellan groan, and she bit back a laugh as she stepped out of the changing room to see her brother decked out in an outfit similar to hers. “I look ridiculous!” he exclaimed, and she couldn’t help letting out a snort of laughter.

“Oh, sure. Go ahead and laugh.” He glowered at her. “You look fine. I look like…like…” He sputtered, clearly unable to think of anything horrifying enough to compare himself to, and she laughed again.

“It’s Christmas Village, Kellan. You look like an elf — you’ll fit right in. Come on, let’s go see what we’re doing.”

On their way back through the chaos, Katie caught sight of a young girl, maybe 11 or 12, who was standing back while watching all the other kids play. The look on her face was strange; her expression was a mixture of sadness, excitement and something else Katie couldn’t place. She was watching a pair of small girls who were holding cups brimming with steaming cocoa, and one of the girls tripped suddenly. Katie gasped, certain the little girl would get burned from the hot chocolate, but she blinked as she took in the confusing scene before her.

The cocoa almost seemed to move backwards, sloshing toward the ground instead of onto the girl even while her mug was tipped into her chest. Even though Katie watched it happen, she didn’t see the cocoa hit the floor — it was like it just disappeared into thin air.

“Come on, Kat,” Kellan said, pulling on her arm. She blinked, shaking her head as she followed her brother. Whatever she thought she’d seen was obviously just her eyes playing tricks on her.

She glanced over her shoulder to see the girl watching her, a small smile on her lips as she lifted a mug of cocoa that hadn’t been in her hand a moment ago.

Read tomorrow’s newspaper for Chapter 2 of this Christmas tale.