Tanya was talking on her cell phone with her best friend Nicole when this happened.
Tanya was 16 years old, had chocolate-toned skin, and light brown frizzy hair. She'd been watching the local news when they started reporting on people turning into happy little elf kids. The idea of becoming a kid again did not appeal to the black teen girl, as she felt she'd worked too hard for the nice body she had.
"I'm tellin' ya Nicole," she said over the phone "if one of those little pointy-eared, pointy-nosed runts comes up to ME, I'm running the other way!"
"So you wouldn't even give them the chance to say 'hi' to you?" Nicole asked over the cell phone "That seems a bit harsh, don't you think?"
"Look, I know they mean well, but I don't want to be seven again!" Tanya replied "Sure, it was fun back then, but I've changed. I'm not into little kid's stuff any more - right now, I'm just trying to find a nice boy who will like me for who I am."
"In that respect," Nicole replied "I don't think you've changed much at all - when you were seven, you'd shamelessly flirt with every cute boy you saw! It was honestly hilarious to watch! Hee-hee!"
"That's why I don't want to be a kid again." Tanya told Nicole "I don't want to be like that. I want the boys to come to ME, not the other way around. It's less work that way."
"You're thinking about this too hard." Nicole told her "Don't worry. I'm sure you'll find the right guy for y-"
"Nicole? What's wrong?" Tanya asked.
"Oh, that was just the doorbell." Nicole told her "I gotta go answer it. I'll call you back when I'm done, ok?"
"Okay." Tanya replied "Just be careful out there."
"I will." Nicole told her with a chuckle "You worry too much." and with that, the call ended.
Tanya hoped that Nicole would be ok. She'd been best friends with her since Kindergarten.
She chose to change channels to see what else was on TV. She stopped when she saw one news channel was being run by these elf kids.
"Snowball fights have gone up by thirty percent in the last two weeks." the elf boy said with a big smile "No injuries have been reported so far, but it's not like we can be seriously hurt anyway."
"In other news, more gingerbread people have been baked in the last half hour." the elf girl said with a grin just as big as her co-anchor "It WAS just ginerbread MEN, but then one of our friends got the idea 'hey, it's the twenty-first century, so let's be flexible', and I fully stand by their choice."
"Later tonight there will be an eggnog drinking contest." the elf boy said happily "For humans, this would be dangerous, but us elves can handle the stuff with no problems. Ultimately, it doesn't really matter who wins, because EVERYONE is a winner!"
"There will also be time for kissing under the mistletoe afterwards. Hee-hee!" the elf girl said with a sly wink, which Tanya assumed was for any elf boy watching, or any elf girl willing to make the same plans.
"Ung! I can't watch this anymore!" Tanya said, disgusted by how sweet these elf kids were behaving, and she turned off her TV.
She knew it would be a while before her parents came home with her little sister, so she still had some time to herself. She deciced to watch one of her favorite DVDs to get her mind off of this elvish epidemic.
She was ten minutes into the movie, when.......