Chapter 1:
Letters to the North Pole was a common occurrence; so when a bag of them arrived at the house of St. Nicholas (Santa Claus for all of you purist), he quickly took the bag inside. Usually Santa had his team of elves to rummage through the pile, giving him a compiled list of what each boy and girl wanted for Christmas. The good and naughty list was also made, this being Santa’s guide of whether or not to bring a toy to the home of the expecting child. Today, however, the bag was smaller than the previous deliveries. With a hot cup of coco ,Santa sat at his desk to begin the work himself.
It was the usual as usual: a videogame, a doll, an action figure, a horse (which he substituted with a stuffed one), a new pet, and a remote control car. However going through that small pile, Santa discovered something that nearly twisted his white mustache into knots. It was a letter that didn’t ask for a toy; the lad who wrote it wasn’t asking anything for himself. Blinking his eyes in disbelief, Santa grabbed his spectacles and read the letter again:
Dear Santa,
Hi this is Michael. Thank you for the toy truck last year---I really like it! But this time I don’t want anything for myself. What I am asking for is something I hope you can do. It might be easy or it might be hard, but you’re Santa and you can do anything---well, almost anything. Here is what I want: I want a new heart for my dad. He’s not sick like in the hospital or something, he’s just --well-- I love him, but…...
The letter went on for some time: two pages to be exact. Santa read every word and after finishing he sat back in his chair flummoxed over the entire ordeal.
"I have never read of such a request---no, not ever!" said Santa , looking over the letter again. "I’ll have to show my wife immediately."
Old Saint Nick rose from his chair and hurried into the kitchen where Mrs. Claus (a jolly woman herself) had finished baking a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies. Upon seeing her husband, her immediate thought was to protect the cookies, but once Santa explaining his reason for rushing into the kitchen she was quite relieved.
"A strange request you say?" said Mrs. Claus. " What is it this time: a real dinosaur or is it a real tiger from India?"
"Neither." said Santa presenting the letter, "It’s a request that challenges my soul and may require me to break a few rules. Here, read it and you will be as fascinated by it as I was."
Santa handed the letter to his wife; and after reading it, she gave him a surprising look.
"A new heart?" she said , "Can such a thing be done? There is no power on earth that can do such a thing."
"On earth no, my dear," replied Santa, "But you and I know that there is One in heaven that can."
"Well, what are you going to do?’
Santa stood with a big smile on his face which meant he was up to something. Mrs. Clause knew this and knowing her husband for many years, read his mind perfectly.
"Don’t even think about it," she said pointing the wooden spoon at him, " You don’t have the time and its too risky to leave the North Pole when its so busy around here--its only a month before Christmas Eve."
"I must try, my dear," said Santa humbly. "When I was reading his letter I was convicted to the heart. Those many years ago when I traveled to bring the news of hope, the news of redemption, the news of the gospel I came with the story of Christ on my lips and I told every household who would invite me in. Indeed I left a toy or two for the youngsters, but the center of it all was Jesus. But over the years the toys took His place and not only did I forget Him, I’ve forgotten myself. This boy’s letter reminds me of the right way of doing things. I am being foolish, dear ? If so I’ll speak no more of it."
Mrs. Clause stood silent for a moment. She knew that he was right.
"No, you’re not foolish." she said giving him a hug. "I was there too. So, what’s the plan?"
"Well, I’ll have to go undercover for awhile alone, but I will be back before Christmas Eve.
And with that Santa prepared for the journey.
Chapter 2:
Now all of this was a new adventure for Santa. He had never left the north pole before so close to Christmas eve and if he ever had the urge to do so, he quickly pushed it away from his mind. Again it was November twenty-forth; this gave Saint Nicholas one month to fulfill Michael’s request. Taking into consideration that he might not be back in time to deliver the presents for all the boys and girls around the world, his wife was appointed for the duty in the event of such a circumstance. After finding Michael’s address, Santa gathered his provisions: a change of clothes, some money for a hotel, and batch of his wife’s homemade chocolate cookies, and the most important thing of all: his Bible. He also changed his appearance leaving his classic read suit in the closet in exchange for a pair of slacks and a heavy brown jacket for the journey.
Santa decided not use the main sleigh, but he had a smaller one that one reindeer could draw. Going into the stable he found Donner, Blitzen, Comet, Cupid, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, and of course the most famous reindeer of all Rudolph. Each animal had its strengths and weaknesses. Vixen was strong, but not fast. Donner was not quiet motivated about traveling alone, and Dancer would never fly without Cupid by his side. Dasher had a temper about him and Rudolph would have stood out with his nose. The best choice, in this situation was Blitzen a well rounded reindeer.
After hooking Blitzen to the small sleigh, Santa gave his wife a kiss on the cheek.
"You be careful and stay out of trouble." she said beaming with admiration, "God be with you."
With the crack of his whip, Blitzen stood on his hind legs and started to trot briskly over the snow. Faster and faster he went sending snow fiercely into the air. Blitzen huffed and puffed knowing that he had to reach his speed to lift the sleigh alone.
"Come on Blitzen you can do it! Up into the heavens and spare not one once of strength!"
The reindeer with one mighty burst pulled the sleigh into the air. Higher into the field of clouds did Santa fly, gliding over some of them as if they were snow themselves. As he traveled, Santa frequently read over Michael’s letter again and every time he did he was reassured that he was doing the right thing. Over the plains, deserts, and seas went the sleigh until Santa came to Michael’s small home town. The town sign read:
Moondale: Population 1000
"This is a small town isn’t Blitzen?" said Santa looking over the landscape, "God, I’m here show me what to do."
The winter snow had already fallen in the town so drawing the sleigh down the unpaved lane was easy enough. Now there were two problems that immediately entered Santa’s mind: one, what was he going to do with Blitzen, and secondly how would he introduce himself to Michael’s father. Santa’s mind began to work, but he couldn’t come up with an idea. However passing through the icy roads he found the towns post office with a sign in the window stating that help was wanted temporarily. All though on a mission, Santa was not one to be idle. Riding up to the post office, Santa left Blitzen outside. Inside was a young man (about thirty-five) preoccupied with sorting out the town’s mail. With a grunt and then a harder grunt, the young man’s attention was captured as looked upon a hefty, jolly looking man.
"Oh, excuse me, how can I help you?"
"I wanted to work here temporarily," said Santa pointing at the sign, "I’ll be here for about a month."
"Where are you from?"
"North from here," said Santa with an esoteric smile, "Can I have the job. I can see by all the boxes and letters that the Christmas season is bringing a lot of work for you. I have a sleigh that can get through all the snow and I’ll work for free and still give an honest day’s work."
"Well, you’re an odd one," said the man surprised," but I have to pay you something---it’s the law. The job starts at ten dollars an hour and you’ll get paid weekly directly from me. By the way my name is John Harvest."
Suddenly there was a prick in Santa’s brain.
"Harvest, where have I heard that name before?" he said to himself.
His train of thought was broken as John Harvest asked for his name.
"My name," said Santa thinking quickly, "is Nicholas Noel. It’s a pleasure to met you."
"Good. You start tomorrow at six."
"I’ll be here." said Santa.
He left the post office with that question in mind and pulling the letter from his pocket he read the name of the boy.
"Michael Harvest!" said Santa surprised, "I’ve just met the boy’s father!"
