Every year, I waited for him to come, but he never came. Each Christmas, as a little girl, I would wait for Santa to arrive. I built many traps, yet somehow he always managed to escape them. And each Christmas, I got disappointed when I was given a note saying, "Better luck next time, from Mr. C"
I loved playing this little game of chase the Clause as a kid. However, when I turned twelve, I started to question his existence. During the twelve days before the big day, I always went to the library, grabbing each and every documentary of the history of Santa Clause I was able to find. But none of them had an answer. Even on the map, I couldn't find the location of the North Pole. And I was old enough to know that the Santa in the mall was fake.
Ever since my Mother died, Christmas was a very different feeling. My Father was Jewish, and couldn't keep the Christmas spirit without her, for she celebrated the holiday since she was a Christian. The Christmas Tree would be a reminder that she was always with us no matter what. But it just didn't feel the same. She wasn't right there with us, and always lit up the holiday season. Sure we had Grandma, but.. She always made us feel uncomfortable, and forced us to read a transcript of the Torah.
"Why don't you teach your kids the tradition of our culture?" Grandma would say, with a thick Yiddish accent.
"It is only fair to the kids that they can believe in whichever religion they prefer" my Father answered.
However, my little sister Veronica (we call her Vika), always loved Christmas, and getting presents from Santa. She was eight years old, and still believed in the legend about the fat jolly man. At age seven, I already had the feeling that it was logically impossible for one man to give Christmas to all the children who celebrated the holiday, all around the world.
And like every child, I waited.
I woke up at exactly five minutes before midnight, hoping to hear the sound of Santa's sleigh.
Yet the only sound I heard was my breathing.
Until this one Christmas Eve, I was whisked away on a magical train.