THE BELL STARTED ringing, and Megan opened her eyes.
“He’s here! He’s here!” she exclaimed, jumping up.
Megan threw off the covers and stepped into her slippers. She
grabbed the video camera and ran over to the window. She moved
the curtain aside and pressed the on button. She saw fog and thick
white snow in the viewing screen. There was a whirring sound.
“Oh, my gosh,” she gushed.
The world had become quite still. There was only a thick fog and
a light like a distant train coming toward her. Then she saw Santa
and his reindeer in the sky.
“It’s Santa,” she whispered excitedly.
Megan kept the camera on as Santa and his sleigh floated down
through the sky. Then the house shook and the crystal horse on her
dresser crashed as pictures fell off the wall and the bedside lamp fell
to the floor. The house groaned and shook, and Megan thought it
might just come apart. Then she heard a man scream out a swear
word. Megan kept the camera glued to the image floating against
the fog and snow.
“I can’t believe it, I can’t believe it,” she whispered, feeling her
legs shaking and a strange warmth all over her body. “Santa is real
… he is real!”
The pounding hooves became louder and louder as the
the whole house shook again, and she felt something under her feet.
Megan knew then Santa had landed because she heard the creak of
the roof and the heavy drumbeat of hooves. Reindeer hooves! Her
softball trophies and bowling trophies and her bulletin board fell
from the wall. The windowpanes shook. The lights flickered. Megan
kept her eye to the camera, feeling her hand shaking. This was the
moment! Now was when Santa would pull up outside her window. The
snow was thick and the fog was like a grey veil. The house sounded
like it was splitting apart as Megan saw reindeer crash through the
white, filmy snow and smoke like phantoms.
The reindeer seemed to be trying to stop and the windowpanes
were shaking again, and she heard snorting and a man’s voice. It
sounded oddly like her father, but of course all men sounded like
her father.
“I can’t believe reindeer are on my roof!” Megan screamed, squealing,
talking to the camera. And then the nine reindeer streamed past
her, shaking snow, snorting, smoking, slushing, lunging, eyes wild, fur
wet, and antlers high. Then a sled broke into view with a large man
in a brilliant white beard, standing up and pulling back on the reins
with all his might, screaming: “STOP! STOP! STOP, YOU DUMB
BASTARDS!”
And the reindeer locked their legs, and the terrific shaking
stopped. Megan couldn’t speak. She just couldn’t speak. She had
Santa’s voice on tape as the sled slid to a halt with the reindeer snorting
and shaking their heads. They stood in front of Megan with their
fur slicked and steaming, puffing smoke from their nostrils like locomotives.
“The reindeer are pooping,” Megan whispered, moving her camera
down the length of the nine large reindeer stepping on the poop, then
centering on Santa and what looked like one of his elves. “Santa has
an elf with him,” Megan whispered, staring at Santa as he wiped his
brow, shaking his head, looking like an astronaut getting out of the
command module, taking a step onto the roof with a loud thump.
“Shit!”
Megan exclaimed to the world in tearful joy, “Santa Claus has
just landed on my roof!”
Just then Santa Claus paused, and she wondered if she had been
too loud. He looked directly at her window, and she stepped to the
side. “He might have just seen me,” she whispered, feeling like the
TV character iCarly, explaining to her viewers what was happening.
She peered around and saw Santa moving again with his elf. “His elf
has a beard and is smaller,” Megan continued in a low voice. “Santa
is just like you think he would be … maybe a little fatter … a little
older, kind of dumpy looking.”
“HO HO …” He coughed and began spitting.
“Santa has a cough,” Megan whispered.
“Uhhh,” Santa groaned.
Megan followed him as he picked up an enormous sack of toys
form the sled.
“He has the presents!” she whispered feverishly.
Santa approached the chimney with the elf and stopped at the
base and looked up. Megan thought Santa shook his head and the elf
said something. Santa shook his head again, and the elf held out his
hands for his boot. Santa pushed up then grabbed on to the sides of
the chimney like a man hugging a tree. Megan zoomed in and couldn’t
be sure, but Santa did not look happy on the side of the chimney.
“He’s starting to climb the chimney,” Megan whispered, keeping
the camera pointed out her window.
Santa slowly started to climb the chimney with the presents over
his shoulder, almost like there were steps. Megan followed Santa to
the top of the chimney, where he paused and wiped his brow. He
seemed to be waiting for something.
“I better get down to the living room. He’s going to be coming
down the chimney, and I want to see him come out,” she whispered,
turning off the camera. Megan then left the window to run down
stairs and wait for Santa Claus.
Real Santa
