by Max Elliot Anderson –
“I just can’t do it,” Santa Claus said with a trembling voice.
Another large man stood in the shadows, his face warmly lit by flickering orange flames from a stone fireplace in Santa’s workshop. “But you have no choice. Children all over the world are counting on you, and it’s only three more days ‘till Christmas.”
Santa shook his head. “Why me?”
“Because you’re…Santa Claus.”
Everyone knows the story about Rudolph; how Christmas would have been a disaster for all the children in the world if Santa and the other reindeer hadn’t had that red nose to guide his sleigh. But what most people don’t know is there could have been an even bigger disaster that night. Even to this day, Santa is still embarrassed. He doesn’t like to talk about it much, but sometimes Mrs. Claus teases him anyway.
Santa and Mrs. Claus live at the North Pole. Of course, everybody knows that. But there are some other things everyone doesn’t know, until now.
First, Santa has a brother. His name is Harold. Santa calls him Harry for short. It was Harry’s idea to build the workshop in the first place. He was very good with a hammer, nails, and saw. Harry knew something about his older brother, and it had to change before Christmas Eve.
One day at lunch, Harry cleared his throat, wiped his white beard, and said, “Today’s as good a day as any to get started on our little problem.”
Santa nearly choked on his sandwich. He cocked his head to the side, closed one eye, and looked over the top of his gold-rimmed glasses. “And what would that be, Harold?”
His brother lowered his head slightly and looked straight at Santa. “We both know the answer to that question, but I have an idea.”
Santa opened his other eye, took a deep breath, and sat up in his chair. He reached over and picked up his coffee cup to take another sip. “Let’s hear it.”
“After we finish lunch, we’ll climb up to the top of the highest tree.”
Well, it’s a good thing Santa’s cup was only half full because his hand began shaking so hard, he sent coffee flying all over the table.
“Santa, dear,” Mrs. Claus said, “what’s gotten into you?”
Beads of sweat formed on his cheeks and forehead, sending droplets cascading into his beard. With a cloth napkin, he wiped them away. His face turned every shade of red. After a short gulp for air, he said, “You know what happened the last time.”
Harry nodded. “I sure do.”
“I nearly fell to my death.”
Harry shook his head. “That’s because we didn’t pick a strong enough tree.” He smiled to his brother. “Not only are you the oldest, you’re also the…biggest.”
Santa set his empty cup back on the table. “I’m certainly not doing that again.”
Harry shifted in his chair. “Fine. Then I have another idea.”
Santa wrinkled his face. “I hope it’s better, that’s all I have to say.”
“Trust me,” Harry said.
Santa grunted. “Last time I did that, I fell out of a tree.”
“Just get your coat and hat, and follow me.”
The brothers backed away from the table, dressed in their warm clothes, and headed for the front door. Outside, a freezing blast of air changed Santa’s drops of sweat into small ice bumps. The bothers’ breath turned into small white clouds. Their boots crunch, crunch, crunched in the frozen snow until they’d come around the side of the workshop where Harry had already placed a wooden ladder.
Santa stopped, gazed up, and shook his head. “Oh, no you don’t.”
Harry looked up at the roof. “What we’re going to do is climb up there, walk to the top, sit down, and slide off into this gigantic snowdrift.” He pointed to a drift that nearly covered to the top of the workshop window.
Santa gulped. “But what if I fall off?”
His brother could hardly keep from laughing. “That’s the idea.” He poked a finger into Santa’s big belly. “Besides, you have plenty of padding, and the snow will catch you.”
Santa looked down at his feet. He took an extra deep breath and let it out slowly into a large cloud of steam. “You know why I can’t do that.”
His brother nodded. “Sure I do. For as long as I’ve known you, you’ve always been afraid of heights.”
Santa looked up again and raised the palms of his hands. “Well then?”
Harry clenched his fists. “Come on now, brother. How’s it gonna look to all those kids if Santa’s afraid of high places?”
“There’s probably plenty of children who are, too.”
“But they look up to you. How could Santa be too afraid to fly to their houses?”
“Fly?” All the color drained out of Santa’s face. Even his rosy cheeks turned
whiter than his snowy beard. He slumped down and sat in the snow drift. “You never said anything about flying.” Santa buried his face into his hands. “Oh, dear, oh, dear,” he groaned. “Whatever am I to do?”
Harry plopped down beside his brother. “Well, how else did you expect to deliver all those gifts in a single night?”
Santa shook his head. “Never thought about it I guess.”
Harry put a hand on Santa’s shoulder. “I know. You’ve been so caught up in schedules, the elves, and making all those toys.”
Santa looked up at him. “And I left the other details up to you.”
“Right,” Harry said. “So now we gotta get to work.”
Santa stood up and tried to walk away, but Harry reached out and grabbed him by the wide black belt around his red coat. “Where’d you think you were going?”
Santa turned around. “Why can’t you do it? Deliver the gifts, I mean.”
Harry threw his head back and roared with laughter. “Let me ask you something. If you were a little kid, all tucked into your warm, soft bed, and you heard that in the middle of the night, some guy named Harry Clause was going to land on the top of your house, what would you think?”
Santa pointed to his own chest. “Me? I wouldn’t think anything of it.”
His brother shook his head. “Santa, really. You might be older than I am, but sometimes I wonder about you.”
“Why, what’s the problem?”
His brother stood and took a couple steps away, then he looked up at the sky. “Well, for one thing, these kids know that you know if they’ve been nice or if they’ve been naughty. And we all know about that list you keep and how you check it all the time.”
Santa shrugged. “So?”
“Well, they also know that you know when they’re awake or asleep, right?”
Santa nodded.
“Kids already worry about a monster in the closet or under the bed, don’t they?”
“Uh huh.”
“Then what do you expect them to think when they hear ‘hairy claws’ on their rooftop? They’ll probably hide right under their bed or in the closet.”
“I see what you mean.” Santa chuckled. But the more he thought about it, the harder he laughed until his big belly really did shake like a bowl full of red jelly. Tears ran down his cheeks and quickly froze there. “Hairy claws!” He slapped a knee and turned to his brother. “You do have a funny way of saying things, I’ll give you that.”
Harry smiled. “Funny, but it’s true. And if that wasn’t enough, we can’t spoil Rudolph’s big night.”
“Rudolph?” Santa asked. “What’s he got to do with this?”
Harry covered his mouth. He realized he’d said something he shouldn’t have. Not yet anyway. “Oh, it’s nothing, really. It’s just that he came to me the other day.”
“What for?” Santa asked.
“It seems some of the others wouldn’t play with him.”
Santa clenched his fists. “I’m gonna have a talk with those reindeer.”
Harry shook his head with a smile. “Don’t say anything just yet. I think Rudolph is gonna have a big surprise for you.”
“Bigger than me finding out I have to fly my sleigh on Christmas Eve?”
His brother continued smiling. “Could be. Now let’s get to work.”
It took nearly an hour, but Harry was finally able to encourage his brother to climb the ladder. Now they sat together at the top of the workshop roof.
“There,” Harry said. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
Santa’s voice trembled. “Maybe not for you.” He looked down toward the ground. “Now what?”
“Now we slide down, off the side of the roof, and plop into the drift.”
“You first,” Santa said.
Harry got into position. “No problem. Here I go.” Like a toboggan, Harry pushed himself forward, glided down the low roof, and sailed off the edge. Only a few inches more and he flopped onto his back, looking up at the sky as he started laughing. “Okay,” he called up to his brother. “Your turn.”
The quiver returned to Santa’s voice. “I’m not so sure about this.”
“Well, you can’t stay up there all day. Just think about those children who are scared of something. If they know that Santa isn’t afraid, then maybe they won’t be either.”
A bit of confidence came to Santa. “You’ve got a point there.” Then he did something that surprised even him. Santa pushed off, slid down the roof, sailed over the edge, and landed right…on…top of…his…brother.
“Ugh,” Harry grunted. “You’re not just my older brother, you’re bigger, definitely bigger.”
Santa stood and then helped lift harry out of the snow. “Come on, let’s do that again.”
Harry’s mouth dropped open. “Never thought I’d hear you say those words.”
“Neither did I. Now come on, last one up the ladder…”
Santa and Harry made several more trips onto the roof until Santa said, “Thank you for helping me not to be afraid of heights.”
Harry smiled back. “You’re welcome. Next we have to work out a few details about that sleigh of yours.”
“Am I really going to fly?” Santa asked.
“You really are,” Harry answered.
Over the next couple of days, the Claus brothers chose which reindeer would pull the sleigh and in which order they’d be hitched to it. They practiced several take-offs and landings. The elves continued working at top speed to finish all the toys and dolls Santa would need for his big night.
Finally, everything was ready. Christmas Eve had come, the sleigh was loaded, and the reindeer were securely hitched to the front of Santa’s sleigh. But then something terrible happened. Just as Santa climbed up and settled into the seat, a heavy fog rolled in, threatening to cover the moon, the workshop, and everything else.
“Oh, dear, oh, dear, whatever shall we do?” Santa groaned.
By now, Rudolph had crept from the barn and stood in the distant shadows.
“Hey,” one of the reindeer sneered. “What’s he doing out here? Doesn’t he know this is Santa’s big night?”
“Yeah,” another said. “We didn’t want to play with you before, and you sure aren’t comin’ with us tonight.”
Santa sighed. “Why can’t you guys get along together? Don’t you understand it takes all of us, working together, to do such a big job? If everybody does his part, then we all get the credit for it.”
“He’s right,” Harry added. “The elves build the toys, and I make sure everything runs smoothly.” He rubbed his belly. “Mrs. Claus cooks all that delicious food, Santa drives the sleigh, and you guys pull him into the sky.”
Mrs. Claus smiled.
Then one of the other reindeer looked around at the others. “That’s right. We all need to pull together tonight.”
Santa sighed again. “But the fog, what about this fog?”
That’s when Rudolph walked toward the others. He held his head down and inched forward. When he reached Harry’s side, he raised his head high enough to whisper something into his ear.
“Excellent, excellent!” Harry called out with delight. “We have a solution.”
Santa raised his eyebrows. “We do?”
A small tear ran down and off the end of Rudolph’s nose, followed by a smile. After his tear reached the ground, something amazing happened. Rudolph’s nose didn’t just turn a little bit red; it shined like a runway beacon at the world’s buzziest airport.
Harry quickly hitched Rudolph to a special strap he’d added at the very front of the sleigh.
“Hooray!” the other reindeer shouted together.
Santa winked at Mrs. Claus, smiled to his brother, and took the reigns in his hands. He gave them a snap and said, “Giddy up!”
The sleigh, Santa, and all those presents lurched forward. Then the sleigh lifted off from the snow and whooshed high into the night sky. A strong north wind helped push them along on their journey.
At first, Santa was a little afraid to look down. But after a few minutes of flying, he got used to it. As his sleigh drifted in front of a round, golden moon, Santa called out, “Ho, ho…ho boy am I ever up high!” He grabbed the reins a little tighter and guided his reindeer toward the first house. A smile came to Santa’s face.
He chuckled. “Hairy claws,” he said with a laugh. “Indeed.” Then he threw his head back as he bellowed, “Ho, ho, ho!”
the end.
Question Time:
- What is something most people don’t know about Santa?
- Why didn’t Santa want to climb the ladder?
- How did Santa overcome his fear of heights?
- What happened on Christmas Eve?
