Joe
Swafford
Grandpa’s Tale
“Grandpa, tell us the Santa Story. Sarah hasn’t heard it yet.”
Little
Jimmy came running up and jumped on Grandpa’s lap. Sarah came running behind him and slid to a
stop at the foot of Grandpa’s nice leather chair. He moved his hot cocoa and made room for
Jimmy and Sarah to each take a thigh as they nestled against his warm
chest.
“Alright, alright.
I’ll tell you the story of the time I met Santa Claus.” Grandpa looked at their wide eyes as they
cuddled closer to him, trying to steal some of the warmth off of his wool
sweater. He wrapped his teddy bear arms
around their shoulders and hugged them before beginning.
“Let’s see. Where
should I start? Oh yes, of course. Let’s begin on Christmas Eve day, a long, long
time ago. I was just a little boy, like
you Jimmy. Christmas was my favorite
time of year. The presents, food and
snow. But my favorite thing of Christmas,
was trying to stay up and see Santa Claus bring me my presents. Year after year, I would set up my sleeping
bag next to the fireplace and drink lots of soda, preparing for Santa to come
down.”
Jimmy stretched out his arms, creating a contagious yawn
that hit Sarah and then Grandpa.
“Don’t fall asleep on me chief. I’ve only started the story.”
“I’m listening, but I’m just going to close my eyes and
listen.” Sarah looked at Jimmy and back
at Grandpa. “I’m listening Grandpa,
don’t worry.”
“Thanks Sarah.”
“Alright, where was I?
Oh, yes. Waiting for Santa. Well, every year I tried to stay up with my
little brother Jack to see Santa.
Except, every year, we would fall asleep before he came. When we woke up the next morning on
Christmas, he had come and dropped out presents off. One year, we put pots and pans near the
fireplace, so when Santa would come he would make some noise and wake us
up. Except, he found a way to get past
our trap. Our final year trying to see
Santa, Jack and I –
“Grandpa?” Sarah
raised her big blue eyes to meet his.
“Yes, Sarah.”
“Did you really see Santa?”
Grandpa chuckled a bit.
He patted Sarah’s heads.
“Hold on. I’m
getting there. The story’s not over
yet.”
Sarah poked Jimmy, who was sound asleep. Jimmy woke with a start, and rested his head
back on Grandpa.
“Alright. So, our
final year of sleeping downstairs on Christmas Eve, Jack and I tried everything
to keep each other awake. We played
dominoes, cards, made up stories, told jokes.
Anything you can think of, we did.
I remember hearing the clock ring twelve times, and looking at
Jack. I’m sure my eyes were as big as
the clock. We had finally stayed up
until Christmas. Any second now, Santa
would slide down our chimney and drop our presents off and eat the cookies we
had left out.
Grandpa looked at Jimmy and Sarah, both of them looking
up at him, anxious to hear what happened next.
“So,” he continued.
“Jack and I had stayed up and were almost bouncing off the walls,
waiting for Santa. But something strange
happened. My mother had told me earlier
that night that Santa only visits those children who are asleep. My eyes started to get very tired. I looked over at Jack who was struggling to
stay awake. We both lay our head down
and fell asleep. What seemed like
minutes later, I woke up. It was still
night time, so I knew I didn’t sleep until morning. I crawled over to the Christmas tree and
didn’t see anything under there yet, so I knew Santa hadn’t come yet. I crawled back to where Jack and I fell
asleep waiting for Santa. It was then
that I heard the footsteps on the roof.”
Jimmy and Sarah were trying best they could to hold back
their excitement. They grabbed each
other’s arms and grinned.
“The footsteps on the roof became louder and louder. I heard the footsteps stop near the chimney
and a thump.”
Jimmy and Sarah looked at each other and whispered
together, “Santa’s bag!”
“And so, after the
thump I hear bells ringing, like the reindeer were getting excited. Then, I hear a ‘Ho, Ho, Ho’!”
Jimmy and Sarah let out a shriek of excitement.
“I turned to Jack to try and wake him, because he was
still asleep. Just then, I saw two black
boots land at the bottom of my fireplace.
I sat up straight as they made their way out of the fireplace and into
my living room. I looked up from the
black boots, to the red pants with white fur, to the fluffiest white beard to
the red hat with the white ball on the end.
I had done it. I turned to wake
Jack, so he could see Santa, but as I did so, a hand stopped me from doing
so. I turned around to see Santa holding
his finger up to his mouth, wanting me to be quiet and not wake my
brother. I watched as his bag plopped
down and sat in the fireplace. I began
to grow tired again, but before I fell asleep Santa said to me, ‘Merry
Christmas Peter.’”
Grandpa looked down to Jimmy and Sarah who were wide-eyed
and wide-mouthed.
“See Sarah, I told you Grandpa met Santa Clause
before.” Jimmy folded his arms, looking
pleased he was right for once.
Sarah turned to Grandpa.
“What happened next, Grandpa?”
“Well, I fell asleep and the next thing I know, my
brother Jack is shaking me and yelling ‘Wake Up!’ in my ear. I rolled over and got up and saw dozens of
presents under the tree. After that
year, I didn’t stay up anymore. I had
seen Santa Claus and didn’t need any more proof. The End.”
Jimmy and Sarah hopped off Grandpa’s thighs and helped
him out of the chair. Sarah turned to
Jimmy, “Let’s do that tonight. Let’s
stay up and try and see Santa Claus!”
Jimmy gave her a high-five and said, “Totally. Let’s do it.
Let’s go hide some soda and candy, to help us stay awake.”
They ran out of the room, as Grandpa walked towards the
window. He gazed out the window as the
snowflakes began to fall, piling up on the driveway.
THE
END.
