As I will most probably be busy with other things tomorrow, I am posting tomorrow’s post today. It’s a Christmas story for all ages. Regardless of what you celebrate, I hope tomorrow is a fun one!
A Snowflake for Mia
Mom was driving Mia to school one
day. They were alone in the van. It was close to Christmas, and Mia had doubts
that Santa was real. Her older brother and sister didn’t say too much about it,
but Mia was starting to wonder. Mom hoped Mia would hold on to the belief for
one more year. It had been a tough one. Dad lost his job and mom was having a hard
time getting a full time job. They were making things work, but Mia always
seemed to take things to heart.
At a stoplight, Mom turned to Mia.
“So did you write a letter to Santa this year?”
Mia shrugged. “Maybe.”
“I can mail it for you.”
Mia turned to look her mother in
the eyes. “If I wrote one, you have to promise not to read it. It’s for Santa
only.”
Mom smiled, but frowned at the same
time. “Of course, Mia. It’s private. I know that.”
Mia sighed as Mom turned back to
the road. Mia dug out the letter from her backpack, but held onto it until they
were stopped in front of the school. She turned to her mom and let her take the
plain white envelope. It was sealed and addressed to Santa Claus, North Pole.
She had even put her name and address in the top left corner and a stamp in the
right top corner. Mom looked to Mia as she unbuckled her seat belt.
“Don’t tell Maddy and Jordan that I
wrote to Santa.”
“I won’t, sweetie.”
Mia gave her mom a quick hug and
hurried out of the van. Mom watched Mia join her friends in the schoolyard and
left. Mom placed the letter in her laptop bag and headed off to work. She was
glad that Mia still believed in Santa, but unfortunately, Mia had been acting
up in school and at home. She might be on the naughty list this year. Mom knew
though, that sometimes children on the naughty list were still given gifts. No
one deserved a bad Christmas.
She arrived at work, but with too
many things on her mind, didn’t notice that the letter was sticking too far out
of her bag. She picked everything up, closed the car door and headed inside.
The wind picked up before she reached the door and pulled the letter out of her
bag. It carried the letter high up into the clouds, where it joined many other
letters addressed to Santa Claus, North Pole.
The letters to Santa were taken
away, far, far, away, to a mailbox outside a cozy cottage at the North Pole.
They settled into the box, which was soon opened by an elf. He was an old elf,
and had helped Santa with the mail for generations. He hoped to be helping for
a long time to come.
A happy smile on his face, he carried
the latest letters to Santa and placed them on the grand wooden desk. In the
fireplace, the fire crackled and sent warmth throughout the room. It lit the
room up as well, but there was a candle on the desk, for more light. The elf
nodded to Santa and went on his way. There were more letters, always more
letters.
Santa looked down at the pile of
letters in front of him. He sifted through them, separating them into ‘naughty’
and ‘nice’ by name. He knew the very bad ones, and he knew the very good ones.
He knew the ones that were trying to be good, but were having problems due to
reasons they couldn’t help. It wasn’t easy being good, and Santa understood
that.
When he found Mia’s letter, he paused.
She had been trying so hard to be good, but things were tough. He sighed but
smiled. He adjusted his glasses on his nose and opened her letter with a silver
letter opener. It had a candy cane handle. The envelope parted easily and he
carefully took out the letter. He read it twice. He read it a third time as he
composed a response in his head. He didn’t always respond, but this one, this
one needed a response.
My Dearest Mia,
Life is not always easy, even for
children. I know that you have been trying to be good this year, and I know
what has made it so hard. You are an amazing young girl. Thank you for asking
for your family to be ok. Thank you for thinking of others before yourself. I know
that you will always be a wonderful person.
Because of your generosity, I am
sending you a special snowflake. It is from the North Pole and will never melt.
It will shine brightly like a star, but only if you truly believe. Be good, Mia
and always keep love in your heart.
Santa Claus
Once the letter was written, he
placed it in an envelope and sealed it. He addressed it to Mia and placed it to
the side. He called for his elves. Three came to help. Santa and his elves went
to the factory and found the perfect round glass ornament. Then they dressed
warmly and took the ornament outside. One of the elves took off the silver cap
and handed the round ornament to Santa Claus. Santa Claus, love in his heart,
looked up at the clear skies and spoke out loud.
“Now, I know it’s not supposed to
snow tonight, but Mia needs a little magic in her life, right now. All I need
is one snowflake.”
From the dark skies a star blinked.
It continued to blink and seemed to fall at the same time. It did not grow as
it came closer, but stayed small and bright. Santa caught it in the ornament, took
the cap from the elf and closed it. The four went back inside, placed a bow on
the cap and found a good box for the gift. They packaged it up, and one of the
elves ran for the letter.
Letter and box in hand, Santa took
the gift outside again and raised his hands. He whispered Mia’s name and
address and the wind picked up. The gift left his hands as he laughed.
“Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas Mia!”
As his laughter echoed in the cold
North Pole, the wind took the gift to its new home.
Many, many miles away, in another
cold place called the Midwest, the gift landed on Mia’s front door. The wind,
urged on by Christmas magic, rang the doorbell.
Inside the house, little feet ran
to the door. Mia, expecting a friend, opened the door and looked around. No one
was there, but there was a box on the step. It had her name on it. She frowned
and picked it up. The return address said Santa.
“Mom! Come look!”
Mom came into the hallway as Mia
was closing the door. She saw the package in Mia’s hands and frowned. “What is
it?”
Mia looked to her mom in happy
confusion. “It’s from Santa. Can I open it?”
Mom came to look at the package. It
did in fact say Santa Claus North Pole. She felt guilty though, as she never
mailed the letter. She was sure she had lost it. “Sure. Honey. You can open it.
Let’s go into the living room.”
Mom wasn’t sure if it was from
Santa, but she didn’t want to break Mia’s happiness. They went into the living
room and Mia settled on the floor in front of the coffee table. She carefully
opened the envelope, read the letter and gasped. She then quickly opened the
packaged and gasped again as she saw the glowing snowflake in the glass
ornament. It shimmered in the glass as if alive. She took it out of the box. It
wasn’t warm, but it was as bright as a star, and it wasn’t melting.
“Mom?” She looked at her mom. “Is
this really from Santa?”
Mom looked to the glass ornament in
awe. Like the letter said, she couldn’t see the light, but it was still a
snowflake in an ornament and it was not melting. “Of course, honey. Who else
could it be from?”
Mia smiled at the ornament as love
filled her heart for Santa, and for her family. She placed the ornament on the
tree and knew she would try and be a better person. Like the letter said, it
was hard being a kid, but she would do what she could to help her family.
From the Christmas tree, the
snowflake gave off more light, as if it agreed with her thoughts. It made her
smile again as she turned to give her mom a great big hug.
“Merry Christmas, Mommy.”
“Merry Christmas, Mia.”
