Zootopia Short Stories: Santa Claws is Real!

On Christmas Eve, Nick tells Judy a story about when he was young and was told that Santa wasn't real.

This story was inspired by Carol Laycock's masterful short story "On Santa's Team" and all credit goes to her.

I do not own the rights to Zootopia or any of its characters. This story was written solely for the reader's enjoyment and without any profitable purposes. The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this story are fictitious.

It was a quiet Christmas Eve in downtown Zootopia, some of the shops were still open, even at this late hour, for those few shoppers who were scurrying around desperately seeking last minute gifts. The rabbit behind the wheel of the large black and white police cruiser sat back and stifled a yawn.

"Hey Fluff, are you going to stay awake?" the fox sitting in the passenger's seat asked as he adjusted the collar on his dark blue police jacket. "These night shifts are tough on you day mammals and besides, you seem to be in a bit of a funk for a holiday night?"

"I'll be fine Nick, its just I'm kind of missing my family tonight," Judy sighed as she pulled the cruiser down a residential side street. All around them were houses festively decorated with twinkling colored lights, cars were parked along the street's curbs as friends and family arrived at their destination carrying packages of gaily wrapped gifts. "On Christmas Eve we always have a big party at our warren and I wish we were there instead of working again."

"To quote Chief Buffalo Butt, crime never takes the holidays off and neither do we cops!" the fox chuckled. "As for being a lone fox in a room full of hundreds upon hundreds of rabbits…well, perish the thought!" he dramatically added with a flourish of his paws as he shivered in pretend fear.

"Hey Slick how old where you when you stopped believing in Santa Claws?"

"Believe it or not Carrots I've never stopped believing and it was Finn who taught me everything about the real Santa Claws. I was just a kit of eight, and still not quite as cynical as when you first met me, when one of the neighborhood bullies shoved me against the wall and told me that only dummies believe in Santa Claws.

As you know Finnick is not the exactly the gushy kind and he never has been, but Finn was older and wiser at sixteen and I knew he would be straight with me. The little guy may not have always told me the truth, but he was the one friend I knew that I could trust. I still had tears in my eyes when I told him everything.

"No Santa Claws!" he surprisingly guffawed out in his deep voice. "Wilde that is just stupid, you're so gullible! Look kit, that old rumor has been going around for years and it makes me mad, just plain mad, every time I hear some idiot say it. Come on let's go!"

"Where are we going?" I quickly asked as I raced after the smaller fox. I was afraid he was going to pick a fight again with the bullies or something.

He paused for a moment to light up a cigarette. "Where" turned out to be the thrift store, a place in Happy Town that had a little bit of just about everything. As we walked through its doors, he slapped ten bucks in bills into my paws. I was surprised that it was a bundle from his hard earned winnings and to me it was a small fortune!

"Take this cash," he grunted, "Go and buy something nice for someone who needs it and not me or your mom. I'll wait for you at the arcade next door." Then he turned and left me standing there not knowing what to do.

I was just a kit and although I'd often gone shopping with my mother before, but I had never shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed big and crowded and it was full of folks scrambling to finish their Christmas shopping. For a few moments I just stood there, confused, clutching that wad of cash and wondering what to buy, not to mention who on earth to buy it for. Then I remembered seeing Old Decker, he was a bum with bad breath and messy fur who lived in the alleyway down by the old factory. The elderly goat may have been dirt poor, but he was always nice to me and told the funniest stories. I knew Old Decker didn't have a coat and walked around wrapped in an old worn blanket.

I pawed the money with growing excitement, because I would buy Old Decker a coat! I settled on a thick red woolen one that had a hood, it looked really warm and I knew he would like that. I didn't see a price tag one it, but figured ten bucks ought to buy anything. Grinning with anticipation, I put the coat and the cash on the counter and pushed them toward the clerk standing behind it.

She looked over at the coat and then the money. "Is this a Christmas present for someone?" she asked kindly.

"Yes," I excitedly replied with a nod. "It's for Old Decker who lives in the old alleyway down by the mill. He doesn't have one and it is cold." The nice lady hesitated at first and then smiled at me as she took the money, I know now that it wasn't enough, but that didn't matter to her.

That evening, Finn helped me wrap the coat in some old Christmas paper and ribbons we found in the trash, and wrote on a tag, "To Mister Decker, From Santa Claws". Finn solemnly told me that Santa always insisted on secrecy.

As we rode our bikes toward the old factory, Finn explained that I was now and forever officially one of Santa's helpers, kind of like special secret agents. We dumped our bikes down the street from the grimy alleyway, and he and I hid behind a dumpster. Old Decker was asleep in his makeshift home, an old cardboard box with a ratty old tarp hung over it. Suddenly, Finnick gave me a nudge. "All right, Santa Claws," he whispered, "get going."

I took a deep breath, before I dashed down the alleyway and threw the present down next to the box. My giggling must have been heard, because by the time I got back and hid again next to Finn behind the dumpster, Old Decker had sat up. He picked up the package and after looking around, tore into the decorative paper and ribbon. I remember he gasped when he saw the coat and grinned as he quickly pulled it over his shivering shoulders.

All these years haven't dimmed the thrill of that moment of hiding with Finn behind the garbage, because that night I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claws were just what Finnick said they were…Stupid! That day I knew that Santa was not only alive and well, but WE WERE ON HIS TEAM!

Finn and I have been on his team every year since, despite how little cash we might have left during the holidays, we always bought a new toy for Toys for Tots so some kit could have a Merry Christmas."