A Christmas Night

It was three days before Christmas while a young boy named Zach couldn’t wait for Christmas to start. He could imagine all those fancy presents lying under a beautiful pine tree with glittering ornaments, which reflected his young face back at him. Zach used to take Christmas very seriously when he was younger, and he had believed in Santa. But since he had grown up, his belief in Santa wavered and was fading. At school, everyone teased him because he was a ten-year old and still believed in Santa. Yesterday, his friend had dumped his binders in a trash can and said “Don’t worry Santa will get you a new one.”Zach started crying and felt betrayed and hurt. It was like a thousand knives stabbing him and he poured out all his tears till he couldn’t cry and his white shirt was covered in the stains of his tears.

    In a far and isolated place, Santa was sitting on his acacia wood rocking chair as he muttered to himself. He was wearing a green shirt and a beautiful, red jacket with a long ,black, leather belt with a gold hinge. He looked at his big, white list with singed, brown edges which had all the children’s names and their wishes. While he pondered on how he would get them, he noticed that something was off; Zach had not asked for anything. He was very surprised, because Zach had always put much time and effort into Christmas. Zach normally set up a small pile of freshly baked chocolate-chip cookies on a Chinese porcelain plate, and a delightful warm glass of milk with cocoa powder sprinkled in it placed right next to the cookies.

    In three days, Zach’s belief in Santa diminished until it was so small that you could compare it to a cookie crumb, he didn’t speak and he was as quiet as a mouse, he had lost his friends ,his binder, and everything that he ever wanted. What possibly could there to be to lose? He thought to himself. That very night his parents tucked him into his soft bed. He decided to see if Santa was real or not. When it was 12 AM, and his parents were asleep, he slowly snuck down the stairs without making a creak, his heart pounding with every step he took, and he knew what he would probably see, He swiftly hid behind the pine tree. The waft of pine made its way to his nose. He heard the sound of trotting and he slowly crawled out to snatch a peek. A glittering gold dust blurred his vision as a silhouette of a fat, rotund man carrying a bag entered the area. No way, he thought. His heart pounded harder and thehis joy was preparing to burst out of his chest.  He moved closer to the pine tree and suddenly, Zach quickly jumped up and looked at him. His jaw dropped and he kept staring at the man.

He stammered, “Sa-Sa-Santa!”The jolly old man gave a hearty laugh and gave him a heartwarming grin.”But-But you’re fake it’s not pos-”. Santa shushed him and put a pendant in his hand.The pendant was made a brazen frame and a ruby amulet, Before he fell asleep, his joy burst and he poured out tears of joy. As soon as he held it, he felt tired and sleepy, and his tears slowed down, and he fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning Zach woke up to check where the pendant, Santa gave him was. It lied there on his desk placed right next to his new binder. He still remembered the night Santa had visited him, he knew not to speak of it, but he felt glad to witness it. In the end, he learned that he should always keep believing in something even though other people don’t.