The Tor site has a story by Charles Stross set in the “Laundry” (Atrocity Archives/Jennifer Morgue) milieu, in which something that definitely isn’t Santa comes down the chimney.

All bureaucracies obey certain iron laws, and one of the oldest is this: get your seasonal leave booked early, lest you be trampled in the rush.

I broke the rule this year, and now I’m paying the price. It’s not my fault I failed to book my Christmas leave in time—I was in hospital and heavily sedated. But the ruthless cut and thrust of office politics makes no allowance for those who fall in the line of battle: “You should have foreseen your hospitalization and planned around it” said the memo from HR when I complained. They’re quite right, and I’ve made a note to book in advance next time I’m about to be abducted by murderous cultists or enemy spies.

I get a huge kick out of the Laundry stories, particularly the mildly-exasperated way that the protagonist goes about his daily demon-fighting routine, and this is a fun one. Check it out!

Link (via BoingBoing)