THE VISIT BEFORE CHRISTMAS
by Dahn
Batchelor
Many years ago, in a small
town far away, there lived a small boy called Jonathan. For the first six years
of his life, he had dreamed that at least on one Christmas Eve, Santa Claus would
come to his home and leave a toy for him under the tree.Calling
that plastic one-metre-high tree a Christmas tree is akin to calling a
telephone pole a forest.But since he
was a fatherless boy and his mother only had one leg (she lost the other in the
same car accident when her husband was killed) she was a welfare recipient and
for this reason, she could only afford the small tree with some trinkets and it
was for the boy’s sake that she put it up each Christmas.
Two days before Christmas,
she and her son went to the city to visit a friend and while they were there,
her friend said that she was going to take her daughter to visit Santa at a
large department store and suggested that perhaps Jonathan might like to see
him also. As
they walked towards the department store, Jonathan’smother wasn’t too happy
with going there considering the burden she would face if her son asked Santa
for something that was beyond her means to obtain. Nevertheless, she ‘finally
agreed, especially when she saw tears in her son’s eyes when he thought she
would say no.
They arrived at the store
ten minutes before it was to close and when they got to Santa’s Village in the
middle of the store, they saw Santa waving goodbye to the last child who had just
talked with him. As he was standing up and stretching his arms, he saw the two
children on the winding path leading to his chair.
He immediately sat down and
said in a loud voice, “HO, HO, HO! and which of these two beautiful children am
I going to see first?”
Jonathan always remembered what his mother
told him about ladies first so he motioned to the young girl to go ahead of
him. When she and Santa concluded their talk together, he waved goodbye to her
and then motioned Jonathan to come to him. Jonathan was very nervous because he had never seen Santa before and didn’t know what to say to him.
“Sit on my lap and tell me
what your name is, my boy” Jonathan was extremely nervous and
excited at the same time. He was nervous because he was convinced that Santa
didn’t bring him toys because Santa thought he was bad. Despite that, he was
also excited because he thought that maybe Santa would give him another chance.
He whispered his name.
Santa asked, “And
Jonathan, what would you like for Christmas?
Jonathan looked Santa
right in his eyes and said, “You never brought me anything before so I don’t
expect you to bring me anything this Christmas either.”
The old man looked at the
young boy and tears began to form in his eyes. Then he said with a feigned surprised
look on his face, “You mean to tell me that I have never visited your house at
all?”
“Never!” exclaimed the boy.
“I guess it’s because I am bad.”
Santa smiled at the boy and
said, “My boy. I could tell right away when I saw you let the girl go ahead of you. You are a good boy. That is the act of a
considerate boy and a considerate boy who is also a good boy.”
“Then why haven’t you
visited my home on Christmas Eve and left me a toy?”
The old man knew right away
why the boy didn’t get a toy at Christmas time. He could tell from the way that
his mother was dressed that she was in dire financial means and since the boy’s
father wasn’t with them, he assumed that she was probably caring for her son on
her own.
Santa motioned one of his
assistants to approach him and then he whispered, “Ask the boy’s mother to give
you her address.” Then he turned to the boy on his lap and after stroking his
hair, he said, “I will visit you tomorrow night and leave you a toy. Now you
tell me what you would like me to bring you?”
The boy smiled and
whispered what he would really like for Christmas. The old man was startled, “You mean that’s all you want?”
The boy cried out, “Yes,
that is all I want. Please….”
Santa interjected, “Then
you will get your wish.”
While the boy was leaving
the old man in the chair, his mother asked him, “What did you ask Santa to bring
you?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“But you have to tell me,
Jonathan.”
Jonathan looked up at his
mother and said, “Santa said that I wasn’t to tell anyone.”
As she led her son out of
the store in the company of her friendand her friend’s daughter, she wondered
just why the old man told her son not to tell anyone what he wanted for
Christmas.
Santa meanwhile changed
into his street clothes and then walked directly to the office of the general
manager. When he was seated in front of the manager’s desk, he told the manager
what his plan was.
The manager’s eyes lit up
and then he said, “It’s a great idea and once it is done, we will inform the
news media. It will be great publicity for our store.” “NO!” exclaimed the other man. “We must
never tell anyone what we are doing
“Why not?” asked the manager.
" For two reasons. The first reason is the
most important one. It would embarrass the boy’s mother and probably him also.
But the second reason is also important.” The old man paused and then said,
“You would have hundreds of children coming here with the same story and what
would we do for them that we haven’t done for this boy and his mother?”
The manager rose from his
chair and reached for the old man’s hand and as he shook it, he said, “Leave
everything to me. I will arrange everything and it will be at the store’s
expense.”
“And” said the old man before
he was interrupted. ”it will be done very secretly.” replied the manager.
Jonathan and his mother
took the bus home the next day and before they began walking down the street to
their left where their home was, she looked at the setting sun in the distance
and then wondered why Jonathan wouldn’t tell her what he wanted for Christmas..
Was it because he didn’texpect anything? Jonathan’s mother was
distraught. For the past six years she
has never had enough money to buy a present for her son. Buying him clothes was
the most she could afford on her meagre income. The next day was December 24th
and the snow fell quite heavily so by the time it got dark, most people were
inside their homes. Jonathan and his mother were asleep when she received a phone
call at nine in the evening. The man on the phone said that he was from the post office and that a special delivery was
being made at ten that night.
“Who is the delivery for?”
she asked
The voice on the other end
of the receiver asked, “Do you have someone there by the name of Jonathan?”
“Yes, I do. He is my
six-year-old son.”
“Then,” said the voice
firmly, “You better get him up at that timebecause he has to sign for it.”
“I am his mother,”
exclaimed Jonathan’s mother angrily. “I will sign it for him.”
The voice paused and then
said sadly, “I’m sorry Ma’m but unless the boy signs for it, the delivery can’t
be made.”
“Very well,” replied the
boy’s mother, “I will have him at the door when you ring the buzzer.” With that
having been said, she hung up the phone.
When it was fifteen minutes
before ten, she woke up her son and when ten o’clock arrived, so did whoever
was making the delivery.
When the sound of the
buzzer was heard, Jonathan’s mother motioned to her son and said, “Someone is
making a delivery for you.”
Jonathan jumped up from the
chair and exclaimed, “It’s Santa. He kept his word. He’s coming to visit me.”
“Nonsense!” exclaimed his
mother. It’s the postman.”
“No. It’s not. It’s Santa.
He said that he would come and visit me.”
The
buzzer rang again and before the third ring, Jonathan opened the door and there
before him was the man he recognized from before as Santa Claus. “Santa!” cried
out the little boy with excitement. “You kept your word.” As the old white bearded man
dressed in a red suit and carrying a bag over his shoulder entered the hallway,
he smiled at Jonathan and said, “Jonathan, my boy. People, who break their
promises, impair confidence in those whom the promise was made but if you keep
a promise, you enrich the relationship you have with the one you have given
your word to.”
When the three of them were
in the living room, Santa began to open the bag and brought out various toys. He
smiled and said, “These are the toys I forgot to bring you in previous years.” Then
he said, “Oh, there is something I also forgot.” He left the room and went out
the front door and in seconds, he returned with a large cardboard box. He
looked at Jonathan’s mother and said, “Your son told me that he wished that you
both had a bigger Christmas tree and I just happened to have one in my sleigh.”
As he brought it out, he
said, “You know, no one has ever let me put up a Christmas tree. Could I help
you put up this tree?”
“Of course,” replied
Jonathan’s mother.
And put it up the three of them did. When it was finally finished, it
had coloured flashing lights, silver bells and golden glass balls hanging from
the branches.
Then Santa said with a
smile, “You know, Jonathan, good boys are supposed to be asleep when Santa comes in the middle of the night.” Jonathan was no fool. He knew that if he went
to bed right away, he would still be on Santa’s good side so while about to be
piggybacked up the stairs by his mother he asked, “Will I see you next year?”
“Of course my boy but only
when you visit Santa’s Village like you did yesterday.”
“You mean you won’t come to
our home again like you did tonight?”
Santa laughed uproariously
and then said, HO! HO! my son. I only visit one home before midnight each year and
tonight was the only visit I am making before midnight this year. Next year, I
will make a another visit before midnight to the home of some other child
however, I will bring you another toy when you are asleep.”
Jonathan was pleased as punch, not only for
the toys and the tree, but most importantly, for the visit he received as
previously promised to him.
The old man looked at them
both and while putting his finger to his lips, he said, “Remember, this visit
must be a secret between us.”
Jonathan and his mother
nodded their heads in agreement.
As Santa was opening the
door, Jonathan cried out, “Santa, do yo have a present for my mom?”
Good Lord! I almost
forgot. I am getting so forgetful in my old age.” cried out the old man. “Of
course I have a present for your mom.”
He reached into a pocket
and pulled out a red coloured envelope. He handed it to Jonathan’s mother and
whispered, “I generally only bring presents to children but it gives me great
pleasure to hand you thi one.”
Then with a quick turn, he
opened the door and quickly closed it behind him. Jonathan’s mother opened the
red envelope and stared at the letter. It was written by the manager of the
department store they had visited in the large city. What was in it was brief.
It said; “Please visit my office between December 27th and the 30th
as I wish to offer you a position in our store, one I feel that you can handle
well. While you are living in our city, I will see that you and your son have a
nice house to live in.”
She ran to the door but
before she opened it, she heard the old man outside yell,“On, Cupid! On Donner and Blitzen! Away!”
She opened the door and
both she and Jonathan looked outside in every direction. Not only was there no
sign of the old man in the red suit, but strangely enough, there wasn’t any sign of footsteps on the snow-covered sidewalk leading to the street
or any signs that there had ever been a vehicle on the street that night had
just been driven away Jonathan was confused. He knew that
Santa Claus had been in their house otherwise how else could the tree and the
presents been brought into the house? But if he was there and it wasn’t all a
dream, then how did he disappear so quickly?
He didn’t come into the house through the chimney so his sleigh couldn’t
have been in the roof. Jonathan
turned and faced his mother and asked, “Was he really here? Is Santa Claus for
real or did I just imagine that he was here
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