The Agent and the Elf

A stakeout wasn’t what David had in mind for Christmas Eve, but here he was, shivering in his car with a cup of cold coffee while “Last Christmas” played quietly on the radio. The building across the street had been quiet for hours, and now that it was nearly eleven o’clock, he

packed up his thermos and prepared to punch out. His partner would be here any second to relieve him. Then, at that precise moment, he saw exactly what he’d been waiting for: the lights turned on across the street and he could see the silhouettes of two figures arguing.

The larger of the two silhouettes seemed upset. Objects were thrown: a lampshade, a shoe, some books and possibly a cat. The shorter of the two rushed outside. The agent texted his partner to meet him later, he needed to see where the shorter, now angry, figure would lead him.

The figure was hard to follow, keeping mainly to the shadows and alleys. The agent struggled to keep up, then he realized the figure was getting smaller and faster.

'Nothing could beat the speed of a tranquilizer, though,' he thought. He ran on top adjoining buildings, keeping his target as much in sight as possible, as they weaved throughout the cement maze. The figure stumbled for the first time. Now! He whipped out the gun and shot,

missing by mere inches as the kickback threw him slightly off target. Unbelievably, the figure stopped and whipped around, shouting “neener neener neener,” before sticking its tongue out and disappearing. The target was never found again, and the shooter was forever confused.