A Short Story
The “You believe in Santa?!?” Conversation
SALLY
“I don’t understand…You’re a grown woman. How can you possibly believe in Santa?!?”
JAN
“Okay, FINE!! I’ll tell you why I believe in Santa, but I seriously doubt you’ll believe anything I say!”
(Sally giggled.)
“The other day, an unimaginable challenge came my way. ‘You’d hafta see it to believe it.’, is an understatement – to say the least. I was up late one night (you know me). The kids were sound asleep, as I was enjoying some ‘me time’, snuggled in my bed with a good book.”
(Sally smiled, thinking about her own ‘me time’.)
“I heard a loud shuffling somewhere near the house. My heart started pounding as I tried, unsuccessfully to calm myself down, thinking, ‘Maybe its the leaves blowing around??’. I tried to keep reading; my bed was SO cozy and I didn’t wanna check, but the noises were getting louder.”
(Sally examined Jan skeptically.)
“Finally, I got up, my cell phone in one hand, that tazor I just bought in the other, and started down the hall. I kept the lights out and crept around looking out the windows. I was wearing those stinkin bright yellow pajama pants of all things; what an easy target, huh?”
(Sally giggled, a hint of skepticism still visible in her eyes.)
“I about peed my pants, when I saw a HIM at the window, all red and white and freakishly jolly, saying loudly, ‘Ho, Ho, Ho!!’. I stood there for a few seconds with my mouth open, thinking, ‘Wonderful. Some psycho has come to terrorize me and my kids.'”
(Sally grew serious at the thought.)
“Then he disappeared, but INTO my living room, like right in front of me! Of course, I dropped the tazor and my cell phone! It was dead silent for all of two seconds. Then I started screaming like a woman about to die, until he calmly put his white-gloved hand on my shoulder and said, ‘Don’t worry my dear.’
I’ll tell you, no books, shopping malls or cartoons could ever get him right. He was the most amazing, wonderful thing I’ve ever seen! Except…something just wasn’t right…he looked weary…and worried. I wondered what could be possibly be wrong with such a magical legend as him!”
(Sally’s eyes were now wide in wonder, belief creeping in.)
“‘Wow, what do you do when Santa comes for a visit?!’, I thought. I told him to sit down, started offering him cookies, milk, hot chocolate…stuttering like crazy all the while. He politely refused, saying he didn’t think his stomach could handle it.
To my astonishment, he went on to tell me that he couldn’t deliver Christmas this year, that he needed MY help. Without thinking, I said, ‘Dude, what did you just say? Oh wow, I need a moment to process this…’ I was jabbering like a fool.”
(Sally just stared at Jan; she seemed on the verge of freaking out herself.)
“He put his hand on my shoulder again, and everything seemed to fall into place. This was my purpose, my once-in-a-never-lifetime Christmas calling…Can you believe it? I’m gonna be Santa for a night? Wanna join me? Come on! It’ll be fun! You can shrink down the chimneys and vents with me!! Hahaha….you could be my ELF!”
(Sally sneered, and then laughed excitedly with a twinkle in her eyes.)
SALLY
“I am SO there!!!”
© 2010 Dana Renee’ Billingsley
Related Music – Listen: Away in a Manger by Bing Crosby
Written for an online writing challenge, called “Santa’s Got The Flu”.
Sensations of Rain 