The job offer notification pops up on my phone early on Christmas Eve. It’s a short-term role helping with overnight deliveries. The regular delivery driver has hurt his back and needs an offsider for heavy lifting.

Once, I would have declined the job and spent Christmas Eve with my kids. I love the excited glow on their faces when they put out the glass of milk and cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. But Mary has the kids for Christmas this year, and I need the money, so I swipe right and freshen up for the Zoom interview.

These are the opening paragraphs from Nick’s Helper, a Christmas-themed short story I shared on the Tall And True writers’ website on 25 December 2024.

Please note: The Story Insight below contains spoilers.

Story Insight

I wrote Nick’s Helper for the Australian Writers’ Centre’s monthly writing challenge, Furious Fiction, in December 2024. The brief was that each 500-word story had to:

• Take place (mostly) on Christmas Eve/24 December
• Include a character who has an accident of some kind
• Contain the words AGAINST, TOOTH and ORANGE (longer variations were allowed).

2024 was my fifth December Furious Fiction. In previous years, I had eschewed Christmas themes suggested in the brief (for example, The Gift in 2020 and The Special Tree in 2022), but because this year’s story had to take place (mostly) on Christmas Eve, I leaned heavily into a tale involving Santa.

A Bad Back

Brainstorming the story, I reasoned that if Santa hurt his back, he’d need help with the heavy lifting on his Christmas Eve delivery run. And to avoid the need for work visas, he’d employ locals.

I created a local temporary delivery offsider, Chris, who would rather spend Christmas Eve with his kids. But this year, they’re spending Christmas on the West Coast with his former wife, Mary, and her mother. So, Chris accepts the job offer notification and has a Zoom interview with the delivery driver, who he realises is San—

“Call me Nick!”

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Character Names

Did I deliberately name the main characters Chris, Mary and Nick?

Yes, of course. I knew my Santa theme was obvious, but I tried making it subtly so by alluding to the characters and delivery job until Christmas Eve. And then Chris couldn’t reveal much about the night because he’d signed a non-disclosure agreement.

Some things should remain a secret!

Gift to Readers

On Christmas Eve, I learned that the Writers’ Centre judges had not showcased or longlisted my story for December 2024.

I was disappointed. However, when I reread Nick’s Helper on Christmas Day, I still enjoyed the sweet tale of a separated father and his kids at Christmas, so I shared it as my gift to readers on Tall And True!

© 2024 Robert Fairhead

Thanks to Wattblicker for sharing the image of Santa and his sleigh crossing the moon on Pixabay.

N.B. You might like to read another of my non-Christmas-themed Furious Fictions, Moving On, from December 2023.