"What are you going to do?" Jon asked.
Another quake hit. This one was bigger than the last, causing some of Jon's stuff to fall off his shelves.
"The solution is simple," Santa replied. "I reverse the flow of the continuum and stop you from making your wish."
"What are you talking about?" Santa was talking gibberish.
"Sorry. I forgot that human minds are a bit limited. I meant that I can travel backwards in time."
Human minds? Jon thought. Was Santa not human? If not, then what was he?
"Wouldn't that cause a paradox or something?" Jon asked.
"You've been watching too much science fiction. The real world doesn't work that way. At least, not when I'm involved."
"What do you mean?"
Santa sighed. This kid was a little dimmer than previous ones he met. What happened to good old fashioned imagination?
"I give presents to all the children of the world. In one night. Didn't you ever wonder how I did that?"
"Magic?"
"Magic doesn't exist."
"But ... the stone is ..."
"No. It only seems like magic, because you don't know how it works."
The room shook again, bringing them back to the reality of their situation.
"Anyway," Santa said. "I can give presents to everyone in the world in one night, because I can control time. It makes it easier when I have as much time as I need to do my job."
Another quake hit.
"Santa, you've gotta fix this!" Jon yelled, getting hysterical.
Santa Claus snapped his fingers and disappeared.
"Santa?" Jon looked around his room, as his furniture crashed down all around him. "Santa! Where'd you go?!"
