I wrote this for my 6 year old great niece last year.
I had a plan. I didn’t tell a soul. I couldn’t take a chance on anybody finding out what I was up to – especially Santa Claus. We visited my grandparents like we always did on Christmas Eve. Me and my brother and sister wore our new pj’s to bed.
First
we made sure that we left a letter for Santa with some warm cocoa and
some cookies. When mommy commented on my extra long Christmas list, I
didn’t tell her that I wrote an extra long letter to Santa to buy some
extra time. She would have sent me to my room if she had known what I
was planning, maybe even cancelled Christmas. I couldn’t have that.
When
I was sure everybody was asleep I sneaked out of bed. I put on my coat
and boots and even my mittens and toboggan. I didn’t know how long I
would be outside. I didn’t know how long I would have to wait. I just
knew I would wait all night if I had to.
It
was snowing. I was glad. The snow would cover my tracks. The snow
crunched with every step I took. It was so quiet and the snow crunched
so loud that I was worried somebody would hear me. I made it to the
holly bush on the side of the house next to the chimney. I hid behind
it and settled in for my long wait.
I
was going to catch Santa Claus this year. Not only was I going to
catch him, I was going to ride in his sleigh. I had everything figured
out. Every last detail was taken care of. I had even tossed candy
corns on the roof so the reindeer would have something to eat. After
all I didn’t want them to see me sneaking into Santa’s sleigh.
I
know lots of kids had tried to catch Santa. They either fell asleep or
they tried hiding behind the Christmas tree. Santa always found
them. That’s why nobody ever saw him. I was hiding outside. Nobody
would ever suspect that a little girl would wait behind the holly bush
for Santa. They all thought I was asleep in my bed with my little
sister, Rhonda.
I
kept my eyes on the sky, looking for the first sign of Rudolph’s nose
lighting up the sky. Finally I heard it. It was barely a swooshing
noise. I knew I heard Santa’s sleigh slide to a stop up on my roof. He
had flown in from the other side of the house and I hadn’t seen him
coming. I knew I had to move fast. I had set the ladder up next to the
chimney earlier that day. I jumped up and started climbing the ladder
as fast as I could.
When
I got even with the roof I peeked over the top. There it was! Santa’s
sleigh was sitting there with a big ole bag of toys in it. The
reindeer were busy eating the candy corns and they didn’t even notice
me. Santa was no where to be seen! I knew where he was though. He was
in my house.
I
only had seconds before he came back. I crawled over the edge of the
roof and I was ready to jump into the back of his sleigh…“PAM!” I heard
a whispered yell behind me! My eyes popped out of my head as I looked
back and saw Rhonda trying to climb over the roof behind me.
“Wait
for me!” She whispered desperately. I couldn’t believe she had
followed me again. I grabbed her arm and pulled her into the sleigh. I
had just enough time to jump in when Santa came back. He was in the
sleigh and taking off before I even knew what was happening.
Rhonda
and I huddled in the back floorboard. We giggled to each other as we
felt the pull of the reindeer taking off from our roof. We did it! We
were riding in Santa’s sleigh. It was great. The wind was whizzing by
and the stars were streaking past. It was even better than riding the
roller coaster at Camden Park.
“Ho,
ho, ho,” we heard Santa laughing, “are you two having fun back there?”
Our eyes got big as saucers. He knew we were there.
We
laughed and I stood up, “yes, Santa. This is great!” I told him as I
helped Rhonda stand up. We hung over the front seat so we could see him
and the reindeer better.
“Thank
you for the ride, Santa,” Rhonda said. She was holding a doll that she
had pulled out of Santa’s sack. I looked down at the houses as they
passed beneath us. We were going so fast the Christmas lights on the
houses streaked behind us in a blur.
“You mean you knew we were here?” I asked.
“Yes, Pam, I knew you were there. I got word about what you were up to when you put the ladder up this morning.”
I
just looked at him and blinked. I was astounded. The words to the
song danced in my head. “He knows when you are sleeping. He knows when
you’re awake. He knows when you’ve been bad or good, so be good for
goodness sake...”
“That’s
why I came to your house last. So I could take you on a little ride
before I went back to the North Pole. Not many people know this but
every year I pick one lucky boy or girl and I take them on a ride in my
sleigh.” Santa told me with a big jolly laugh.
“Ho,
ho, ho, now there's the surprise,” he said looking at Rhonda. “I
didn’t know you were bringing the little one,” he said as we flew over a
mountain and started to turn back toward our house. I felt my stomach
lurch from the force of the sleigh just like being in the last car on
the Big Dipper when it went over the big hill!
“I tricked Santa,” Rhonda giggled.
“Yes,
you did, Rhonda. You have the distinction of being the first little
girl to trick Santa Claus. I should have known. You follow Pam
everywhere she goes.”
“Yeah,” I said rolling my eyes, “everywhere I go.”
We
flew back to the house. We passed over my hometown. I saw the store
and my school. There was daddy’s car lot and even granny’s church. We
saw everything in my hometown and then we were sitting in the front
yard.
“So, how was it?” Santa asked.
“It was the bestest ride ever!” Rhonda and I chimed in at the same time.
“Can we pet Rudolph?” I asked.
“Sure,
but you have to hurry, somebody will see us if we are here too long,
plus Rudolph and the other reindeer are tired. It’s a long, hard trip
they made tonight. They’re going to sleep until almost Easter I’d bet.”
We
petted the reindeer and Santa gave us a big hug. Before he left he
gave us a little candy cane pin. “The only people who have that pin
have ridden in my sleigh,” he said. “You are in a very special club.”
“Gee, thanks Santa,” I said.
“Yeah,
thank you Santa Claus,“ Rhonda said also. Then we backed up a couple
of steps and we started to wave goodbye. Before we had even started to
wave Santa’s sleigh was out of sight. Rhonda and I looked at each
other.
“Nobody is ever going to believe this.” I told her.
“Nobody,”
she agreed nodding her head. I took her hand and we went back in the
house and went to bed. Nobody ever knew about that night – until now. I
still have my candy cane pin and so does Rhonda.
6. The pretty porcelain ornaments the my mom bought me for my first married Christmas - I still have ALL of them.
3. I need a sticker and an oil change.
4. Pudgy needs to go to the vet
5. I have got to lose weight.
6. a friend died the day before yesterday
7. a blogster friend needs our prayers right now
8. I can't wait to see my nephew
10. I wish I could travel. I can't even go for more than a very short drive anymore.
Nebraska was a really good movie about nothing.
The Family was enjoyable. A mafia family in protective custody gets "made". It's funny.
I thought The Miller's was funny. Not great but funny.
The Conjuring was one of the best scary movies I've ever seen!