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- Story Listed as: True Life For Adults
- Theme: Fairy Tales & Fantasy
- Subject: Seasonal / Holidays
- Published: 12/21/2012
THE SANTA CLAUS WAKE
M, from Baltimore, Maryland, United StatesTHE SANTA CLAUS WAKE
At the age of six on Christmas Eve
I saw the tantalizing touch of the splendors to come;
on the door the obligatory wreath,
in the glass of each window
the solitary glow of a single yellow candle,
in the cellar stacks of seasons greetings cards,
received in batches the past fortnight
scotch taped and symetrically arranged
around a huge Coca Cola portrait of a jolly St.Nick,
and out of reach on a closet shelf, packed in tins
mom's homemade cookies.
Through the four weeks of Advent
we boys neatly made our beds,
meticulously set the table,
diligently obeyed every parental instruction,
and fought over taking out the trash.
With the omniscient St.Nick
nice was in...naughty was not.
Each of us followed up our Santa lap time
with a letter to the North Pole,
an opportunity to resubmit and supplement our lists of toys
which in our nervousness in his red coated presence, we neglected to request.
Up until the age of nine...
when doubts fuzzied the fundamental belief
that Santa Claus in a single night
trimmed and decorated and lit our tree,
assembled our minature village and Lionel train garden,
delivered and arranged nearly a year's supply of gifts,
then washed down with a glass of milk
a chocolate chip, snickerdoodle, and sugar cookie
before heading out to make five hundred million more
house calls before day break...I was like every other kid
a blissfully gullible guy.
We had no fireplace, no mantle,
so we hung our stockings diagonally
up along the staircase.
We pestered dad...querying him as to just how
Santa would make it in without a decent chimney.
"you boys just worry about being good
and getting to bed early and he'll be here."
Then after double checking mom left out enough milk and cookies,
I and my brothers filed up to bed for the longest night of my life.
Snug in our covers, Robert was soon sawing logs.
Of the three of us, he was the happiest
and happy people seemed to easily slip into sleep.
My other brother tried faking sleep like me,
but I could tell by his breathing that he was awake.
We remained silent hoping we might hear Santa's arrival
and fool him into thinking we were in zz land.
I heard muffled bumps and creaks and fretted
over him burning his ass in our furnace
though that chimney was too narrow for even a mouse.
As the eternal night finally failed in the faint morning light,
my one brother and I mustered up enough courage
to tiptoe down two flights to the basement.
I flipped the switch.
"WOW! HE CAME! HE CAME!"
"sssshhh!"
"Wow! he came! he came!"
The cellar had been transformed into a toy wonderland
under a fresh cut pine glistening with lights, ornaments, and tinsel.
The tree stood in the middle of a sawbuck supported platform
on which a choo choo and track encircled a Tom Sawyer era town.
"Mom and dad aren't going to believe this!"
After an hour of rummaging around I said
"Let's get everybody up so we can dig into the rest of these presents!"
We scrambled upstairs passing the tea table where we saw that the cookies had been eaten.
We woke up Robert and our tiny sisters then crashed into our parents' bedroom.
In our euphoria we didn't notice they seemed a little more tired than usual.
"Mom and dad! Quick! You got to get up! Come on! You got to see this! it's incredible!"
We paraded down in our pajamas,
mom and dad carrying our sisters,
Robert immediately saw his cool new car
but was crestfallen when it wouldn't run.
Dad said he couldn't understand why it wouldn't start,
the batteries were new but in those days before lithium they didn't last long.
Earlier before anyone was up, I turned on the car and forgot to turn it off
as we checked out other gifts. Within that hour the batteries died.
My brother and I played dumb,
no way we'd admit to anything
that might incite the wrath of dad
on that beautiful day.
by L DOUGLAS ST OURS
June 2010
THE SANTA CLAUS WAKE(L Douglas St. Ours)
THE SANTA CLAUS WAKE
At the age of six on Christmas Eve
I saw the tantalizing touch of the splendors to come;
on the door the obligatory wreath,
in the glass of each window
the solitary glow of a single yellow candle,
in the cellar stacks of seasons greetings cards,
received in batches the past fortnight
scotch taped and symetrically arranged
around a huge Coca Cola portrait of a jolly St.Nick,
and out of reach on a closet shelf, packed in tins
mom's homemade cookies.
Through the four weeks of Advent
we boys neatly made our beds,
meticulously set the table,
diligently obeyed every parental instruction,
and fought over taking out the trash.
With the omniscient St.Nick
nice was in...naughty was not.
Each of us followed up our Santa lap time
with a letter to the North Pole,
an opportunity to resubmit and supplement our lists of toys
which in our nervousness in his red coated presence, we neglected to request.
Up until the age of nine...
when doubts fuzzied the fundamental belief
that Santa Claus in a single night
trimmed and decorated and lit our tree,
assembled our minature village and Lionel train garden,
delivered and arranged nearly a year's supply of gifts,
then washed down with a glass of milk
a chocolate chip, snickerdoodle, and sugar cookie
before heading out to make five hundred million more
house calls before day break...I was like every other kid
a blissfully gullible guy.
We had no fireplace, no mantle,
so we hung our stockings diagonally
up along the staircase.
We pestered dad...querying him as to just how
Santa would make it in without a decent chimney.
"you boys just worry about being good
and getting to bed early and he'll be here."
Then after double checking mom left out enough milk and cookies,
I and my brothers filed up to bed for the longest night of my life.
Snug in our covers, Robert was soon sawing logs.
Of the three of us, he was the happiest
and happy people seemed to easily slip into sleep.
My other brother tried faking sleep like me,
but I could tell by his breathing that he was awake.
We remained silent hoping we might hear Santa's arrival
and fool him into thinking we were in zz land.
I heard muffled bumps and creaks and fretted
over him burning his ass in our furnace
though that chimney was too narrow for even a mouse.
As the eternal night finally failed in the faint morning light,
my one brother and I mustered up enough courage
to tiptoe down two flights to the basement.
I flipped the switch.
"WOW! HE CAME! HE CAME!"
"sssshhh!"
"Wow! he came! he came!"
The cellar had been transformed into a toy wonderland
under a fresh cut pine glistening with lights, ornaments, and tinsel.
The tree stood in the middle of a sawbuck supported platform
on which a choo choo and track encircled a Tom Sawyer era town.
"Mom and dad aren't going to believe this!"
After an hour of rummaging around I said
"Let's get everybody up so we can dig into the rest of these presents!"
We scrambled upstairs passing the tea table where we saw that the cookies had been eaten.
We woke up Robert and our tiny sisters then crashed into our parents' bedroom.
In our euphoria we didn't notice they seemed a little more tired than usual.
"Mom and dad! Quick! You got to get up! Come on! You got to see this! it's incredible!"
We paraded down in our pajamas,
mom and dad carrying our sisters,
Robert immediately saw his cool new car
but was crestfallen when it wouldn't run.
Dad said he couldn't understand why it wouldn't start,
the batteries were new but in those days before lithium they didn't last long.
Earlier before anyone was up, I turned on the car and forgot to turn it off
as we checked out other gifts. Within that hour the batteries died.
My brother and I played dumb,
no way we'd admit to anything
that might incite the wrath of dad
on that beautiful day.
by L DOUGLAS ST OURS
June 2010
- Share this story on
- 12
Shelly Garrod
12/24/2022Thank you for sharing your precious Christmas memories. The anticipation of Santa's arrival on Christmas morning brings much joy to little ones around the world. This was very sweet. Happy Short Story Star of the Day! Merry Christmas.
Blessings Shelly
Help Us Understand What's Happening
Shirley Smothers
12/24/2022Sweet recollactions. I have a few myself. Thank you for sharing this great tale with us. MERRY CHRISTMAS!
ReplyHelp Us Understand What's Happening
Lillian Kazmierczak
12/22/2022What a great recounting of a childhood Christmas morning! It was always fun to be the first person up and at the presents. Your Christmas mischief made the day even better!
ReplyHelp Us Understand What's Happening
Lillian Kazmierczak
12/23/2022I really enjoyed this memoir! Congratulations on short story star of the day!
COMMENTS (3)