S e c r e t s

Santa has finished his duties and has retired for a well deserved rest. His tee-shirt proudly proclaims this year's "World Tour." He also feels somewhat exhausted by what he's just read in the local paper "The Pole": the world population is growing by 78 million each year. Just think how much busier he'll be next year! "Y6B" in the headline is shorthand, similar to Y2K, and stands for "year six billion." One of Santa's reindeer is drafting a poorly spelled resignation letter after reading the same article. Another, seeing that Santa has pinned up a sock, slips a present in it. After all, someone has to deliver Santa's Christmas gifts. A leftover present, one of the ubiquitous singing fish, hangs on the footboard. Mince pies and a book on training reindeer are also in the bed. The jolly old elf has a side we haven't seen before: the barrel of a handgun pokes out from under the pillow and a pair of cuffs hang from a bedpost. The mouse peeks out from the stocking. The Version One interior contains letters to Santa and the newspaper headline reads "A. Binder Says Wasn't Me." The Version Infinity interior shows a stockpile of Christmas 2000's most popular gift, cell phones, and the newspaper headline reads "B. Clinton Says Wasn't Me."