What is Santa Clause?

24 december

Little Felicia and Joel both gasped when they saw what their uncle Josh was doing. He was hunching at the dining room table in front of the candles, maybe he didn’t think anyone was looking, and they saw him blow fire on them. They hadn’t seen anything like it before, and if uncle Josh could do that, then the other things in the story must be true, which means that their mom could fly! And their dad could use tele.. telekene… move things with his mind!  They whispered to each other excitedly and the old man had to stop his storytelling for a while to let them calm down. William was still bothering Alex about his mom walking through the wall in the kitchen and Mandy and Reese were sure that they had seen the old man turn into their uncle Riley, they all wondered if they should tell the other kids about it all or not. They wanted the story to be true! How wonderful it would be if their parents could to all those amazing things the old man had been talking about, but it was strange that they had never seen anything before.

                “They all smiled for the picture holding their prize high up above their heads. All your parents were there, except for your mom.” The old man said and looked at Alex and her brother Peter, their mom hadn’t met their dad a lot later. “Or your dad Jay.” He said and patted the boy next to him on the head. “But everyone else were there they all looked mighty proud on that picture.” He looked like he had just remembered something and then he pulled out a picture from his jacket pocket and showed it to all of them.  They giggled at how funny their parents looked, and they called out names when they suddenly recognized their faces.

“What was the prize?” A boy said with a lisp. The old man smiled at his son. “Oh, it was a great prize.” He said and started telling the story again…

                After the picture had been taken they all felt a little nervous. The check was just a symbolic gesture; the real prize was to meet S.C. Danny was perhaps the only one who didn’t feel nervous, since she didn’t know about the real prize. Blake certainly looked like he was calm, but you never knew with him, Sierra was practically flickering with excitement and Maggie couldn’t stay on the ground for more than a few seconds at a time. Soon, soon they would be allowed to go in. First they had to listen to the boring old speech that they hear every year. The headmaster talked about previous tournaments and the very first ones that got to talk to S.C and how exciting it was. He had been one of them, you see. Before his time this special treat had not been a part of the prize, oh no, then the check and a medal was all you got! He said and tapped the big check that Josh was now holding proudly. Near the end of the speech even Dawson looked a little restless. And then, finally, they heard their headmaster say his last line: ‘Step into the fireplace boys and girls. They are waiting for you’. And so they did, there was big open fireplace behind them and they all turned around and proudly walked into it. They stood there for a few seconds looking at all the people in the hall and then it started to fade. It was as if looking through water and fog at the same time, their few got distorted and suddenly disappeared. So this is what it felt like. They all thought, they had seen it happen before to the previous winners of the tournament and now they finally got to experience it themselves. After a while their vision cleared. There was a door there now. “This is it.” Riley said and smiled. “Open it!” He said sounding like a kid on Christmas and so they did. On the other side were coloured lights in various shapes and sizes and the prettiest Christmas tree you could ever imagine, reaching all the way up to the ceiling. The room was filled with people, some were wrapping gifts and others were decorating the tree. Blake was the first one who walked into the room and he was trying to look at everything at once, twisting and turning while doing it.

“There you are!” Said one of the women sitting next to the tree. She had been drinking hot chocolate and offered them all a cup. “So, you are the lucky ones this year huh? Well, come along, we don’t have all day.” She said cheerily and hurried them along. She led them through the hall to a big door at the other end. “In you go!” She laughed a little at them when they hesitated. “You were invited you know.”

                “And so your aunt Sonya was the brave one and opened the door.” The old man said and smiled at her when she walked by them.

                “Do you all know what Santa Clause is?” Was the very first they heard upon entering. Danny thought it was an odd question, of course she thought of a whitebeared old man in a red suit, but somehow she figured that wasn’t the right answer. Inside was a round table with perhaps 10 people sitting around it, the one who had spoken was standing in front of a large shining globe. He smiled at them all. “Yes, I know. It is a strange question.” He said and nodded towards some empty chairs around the table. While they sat down he continued. “We are Santa Clause.” He said and gestured to the other people around the table. They all smiled and some waved shyly. “You may think of a plump old man with white beard and a red suit and flying reindeers, but this, this is what Santa really is.” He poked the globe and it cracked opened to reveal an envelope. “What we do is to help people; Santa Clause is active all year round even if it is only under that name during Christmas.” He winked at them and smiled again. “We help wherever we are needed, be it small or big; we use our abilities to make life easier for those in trouble.” He picked up the envelope and held it for a while. “You have proven yourselves in your tournament, it has become a tradition to ask those who win to be a part of Santa Clause. We want you to join us. Just sign up and you will be trained here to reach your full potential and finally you will be sent out there to give and to help.” He unfolded the envelope and put it on the table; it had many signatures on it and looked very old. León was the first to grab the pen and sign the paper it was followed by cheers and the man patted him on back. “Good, son, good.” He said and then Josh took the pen from León and scribbled on the paper.

                “They all signed up. And let me tell you a secret.” He waved for them to come closer. “They are the ones running Santa Clause now.” He whispered to them. They looked over their shoulders to look at their parents and then they quickly turned back when Keith waved at them. “Do they give the Christmas presents to all the children on… on Christmas?”Mandy asked and she looked very excited. The old man nodded. “And much, much more. Do you know why I have told you this story?” He asked them. Some chook their heads but most remained still. “Because all of what I have said is true. All of it. Your parents can do all of the things I have told you. Your aunt Maggie can really fly and Josh have terrible habit of setting everything on fire when he sneezes.” They all laughed at that. “Very soon,” he said and looked at them all. “we, your parents, will give you your own powers.” He said and now they noticed that the old man was changing. They gasped and giggled when his stomach popped away and when his nose seemed to sink into his face. Soon they were all looking at their uncle Riley.  “Go open your presents!” And so they did. These were very special gifts; each and every one of the children had one silver wrapped present. As they opened them the children started glowing until they all were covered in sparkling lights. Their parents stood by watching and remembered when they had done this long ago.

The torch has been passed, now it was their turn to shine.

               

The End