The time I was harmed by a suspicious person dressed as Santa

When I arrived at my part-time job, Santa's clothes and beard were laid out, as if someone had said, 'Santa was here until just a moment ago, but he suddenly turned into sand.'

A group of toddlers and their parents were holding a Christmas event, but it seemed the person meant to play Santa couldn't make it, and I was asked to fill in. Since the staff members were busy with urgent paperwork, I ended up dressing as Santa.

I was supposed to make my entrance by opening the sliding door at the signal of everyone calling out, 'Santa!'
However, the door was stuck and wouldn't open. After I caused a stir by rattling it, it flew open with tremendous force. At the same time, a suspicious, red-clad figure with a belly like a starving demon was revealed.
Santa had arrived.
It was like a scene from a horror movie.
Since the children had gone stone-faced at my unsettling entrance, I opened my mouth to try and liven things up by saying something like, 'Ho ho, Merry Christmas!'

'Nho-ho, Merry Christmaaaas...'

It came out sounding eerie.

In my attempt to sound like a native speaker, the end of the phrase became breathy, which only accelerated the 'suspicious person' vibe.
You can imagine the voice as a dirty Goofy.
Even though they were supposed to have called for Santa, a creature that had branched off in its evolution and was similar but not quite the same had arrived instead.
The children kept their distance, like stray cats not used to humans, and never closed the gap.

In the midst of this, a Q&A session for the children to ask Santa questions began.
However, perhaps because the children were wary, the questions were relayed through their mothers.
I was asked things like, 'Where is the sleigh you rode in on?' but I am terrible at this kind of improvisation.
I tried my best to think of a response that would keep the dream alive, but...
'It's parked at the monthly parking lot...'
It ended up being a strangely realistic answer.
My consideration of road traffic laws had backfired.

Due to the strain on my throat, my Santa voice gradually transformed from a dirty Goofy into an IKKO-san living in an arid region.
In contrast to the children, all the mothers had twisted mouths and were trembling.

After the Q&A, an accident befell me where everyone had to dance to the song 'Hasty Santa Claus.'
Because I hadn't heard about it beforehand, I couldn't prepare myself mentally, and combined with my naturally poor dance skills, I underwent an unpleasant evolution from 'creepy red old man' to 'creepy red old man shaking his belly with cursed movements.'

During the dance, something fell from Santa's belly with a thud.
It was the unsold children's clothes from the bazaar that the staff had stuffed into my belly earlier to make me look the part.
Suddenly, the atmosphere became as if Santa had broken into a house and the children's clothes he had stolen were falling out of his belly.
Tonight, sirens would surely be ringing out instead of the sound of bells.

I picked up the children's clothes and put them back in my coat, but because I did it while facing away from everyone and stuffing them in from the neck, the scene of Santa devouring children's clothes was unveiled at the Christmas party.
The room became noisy, so I turned to face the front and bent over to put them in from under my jacket, but that just looked like a reenactment video of the crime, and I was finished.

During that time, I made eye contact with a parent and child in front of me.
Tension ran between us, so to lighten the mood, I smiled like Santa.
'Nho-ho...'
The toddler ran away.
The mother was past the point of dancing.
She was facing a breathing crisis.
Given the situation, it didn't look unlike the smile of someone who had locked onto their next target after being witnessed committing a crime.
The birth of a hasty serial killer.

Suddenly, I looked toward the door and saw a staff member watching me, looking genuinely happy.
I wonder what happened to that urgent paperwork.

[Aside]
This staff member left when I threatened them with a bell.

By the way, when I tried to type 'hasty' (awatenbou), it converted to 'Tantenbou' (a different kanji combination).
Is that some kind of monster that appears at twilight?

Since I don't even have the talent to dress as Santa, let alone use text conversion, I thought I would politely decline if I were ever asked again, but strangely enough, I ended up dressing as Santa the following year as well.