Four years old and ’twas the night before I got to tear into teasing treasures of loot. A drawn silence stirred me. My brother, Ian, too was wide awake.
A whispery magic was in the air. It’s him.
Remembering the very clear instructions about staying in bed, we crept past my parent’s bedroom to the top of the stairs at maximum sneaky.
The front room was faintly lit by a warm stream of light coming from under the French doors to the living room.
He’s in there.
A feeling of complete and utter awe. We almost asphyxiated ourselves trying to hold in our overpowering giddiness.
While the glow seemed to beckon me to fling open the doors and behold the man himself, a fearful happy instinct held me at bay. If I did announce myself, would Santa smile at us rule breakers and with a twinkle of his nose turn my brother and I into candy canes or something, and if so, how would I explain that to my parents the next morning?
With these questions and the natural sense of obedience that I’m famous for, the stairs were as risky as I was prepared to get.
How long were we listening in abject wonder I can’t say but, startled by the door handle moving and our discovery imminent we fairly flew back to bed wheezing with delirium and somehow passed out.
Dawn. Barely. Christmas. Open season, baby!
Pounding down the stairs, which to me at that time seemed as long as a ski slope, we leaped into the living room.
It was all true.
Santa Claus had been there. Not just because the room had been transformed into a glorious extravaganza. No. I had listened to him rustling and bustling. I had heard him taking care of business. The atmosphere still crackled with his recent presence.
A delicious ambrosia where fantasy and reality are one and the same. The very best that life has to offer. I have never forgotten how it felt.
A Merry Christmas from the Millers to all of you,
Douglas Miller lives in Greater Sudbury. A rotating stable of community members share their thoughts on anything and everything, the only criteria being that it be thought-provoking. Got something on your mind to share with readers in Greater Sudbury? Climb aboard our Soapbox and have your say. Send material or pitches to [email protected].