Author's Notes: Never mind, we're leaving in about 30 minutes. So here's the last chapter!
Chapter 9: The Magic Never Ends
Once on the ship, all the other kids were gathered around me enthusiastically. "Come on, let's see the bell!" someone yelled.
"Yeah, I wanna see!"
"Yeah, let's see the bell!"
Junko had hold of my sleeve and was dragging me in front of everyone. "Yeah, come on, let's see the bell!"
"Yeah!" Finn agreed on the other side of him.
Aerrow sidled up next to me, looking expectantly. For once, he didn't look uncomfortable in the crowd. Radarr was hanging off his back and peering eagerly over his shoulder. (The hen was nowhere in sight.)
I dug into my pocket . . . and froze. All I could find was the hole in my pocket from earlier that evening.
I felt my smile fall as I stared around at all those eager faces. "It's gone," I said.
Everyone's faces fell. Junko looked uneasy. "Where is it?" he asked.
I felt my voice breaking. "I've lost it. I lost the bell from Santa's sleigh."
"It's gone?" Gareth whispered. Exclamations went up all around us.
"Don't worry," Aerrow said at once. "We'll find it!" He looked over at the door.
"Yeah, we'll find it!" Junko agreed.
"Yeah, we'll help ya!" Finn added. "All of us!"
All the kids were nodding and voicing their agreement, and as a one huge tide they headed toward the door.
But at that moment, we all felt the engines roar to life and the ship lift off the ground. Aerrow ran up to the helm. "Stork, hold it!"
Stork shook his head. "Sorry, kid. Got a schedule to keep."
Junko watched as the town disappeared from our sight out the window. "It's too late," he said softly.
Finn looked at me with pity. "Gosh, that's really too bad." And then, seeming to realize that he might not sound that sincere, he added, "Really!"
I knew they were all trying to help, but now I just wanted to be left alone. I'd never felt so heartbroken. I went and sat down on a chair in the far corner. Aerrow followed with Radarr still on his shoulder. He took a seat next to me, but much to my relief, he didn't try to comfort me with empty words. He just took my hand and said, "I'm sorry." Radarr whimpered his equivalent.
I didn't look up at them, even though I knew I should. I couldn't have swallowed the lump in my throat to say anything anyway.
After all the excitement, the children on board were like most children who have stayed up too late; they were quiet, non-talkative, and sleepy. Compared to the speeding, thrilling journey out, the trip back seemed slow and monotonous.
Being the last one on meant Lark was the first one off.
But before she left, she lingered by the door to the bridge. Aerrow watched me as I went over to talk to her, but he didn't look reproachful.
As I approached, Lark held out her hand to shake. "Thanks for stopping the train for me," she said.
I took her hand and shook it without regret. "Merry Christmas," I told her.
And with that, she turned and left.
As I watched her walk down the plank, a sudden curiosity took hold of me. "Stork," I asked, "what did you punch on her ticket? If you can tell me, that is."
Stork looked down at Lark a moment and then met my gaze. "Some hearts," he said, "are too hardened to be punctured."
One by one the kids got off. I watched Hamish leave, then Eyeball and Dove. We also watched the Sky Scouts leave (much to Stork's relief), as well as Perry and her puppets Lady Ursula and Dr. Ogre and then Horace and the Blizzarians (much to Noob's disappointment). Each time Stork would call out the terra before we got there.
Finally, he called over the intercom. "Terra Nimbus. Next stop, Terra Nimbus."
Aerrow, Radarr, Finn, Junko and I were all clustered together. As soon as Aerrow and Radarr stood up, Finn said, "Hey! Where ya goin', dudes?"
Aerrow pointed toward the door. "This is our stop," he said.
"Oh," Finn said, sounding disappointed in the answer. "Okay. Merry Christmas."
I stood up. "You can't go!" I said at once. "You can't go back there!"
He looked surprised at that. "My present is there," he said simply.
"And that's all that's there," I added. "You deserve better than that."
Finn thought about it and then said, "You could come home with me."
"Or me," I put in.
Aerrow looked back and forth between us. "And then what?" he asked. "Where will we end up then? An orphanage? If that happened, what would happen to Radarr?"
"We won't let that happen," I insisted.
"We're just kids," he said. "If that's what the grownups want, they're going to try to make it that way."
I shook my head. "It shouldn't be this way," I insisted.
"Don't worry about us," Aerrow insisted. "We'll be alright."
Radarr chirped in agreement, standing up on two legs and nodding.
A bit my lip. I just didn't like it. But Aerrow was right. There wasn't a whole lot we could do.
"Well, uh . . ." Finn shook Aerrow's hand. "Good luck to you, dude. And you, too," he added, ruffling Radarr's fur.
"Yeah," Junko agreed, pulling them both into a hug. "Merry Christmas, guys."
When he set them down, Radarr climbed up on Aerrow's shoulder. It was my turn. I stepped up to them and gazed at them a moment, wishing they didn't have to go. Then finally, I hugged them tightly. "Have a wonderful Christmas," I whispered.
"You, too," Aerrow answered. And he hugged me back.
As soon as Stork and Aerrow disappeared from the bridge, I went out on the deck to listen to their parting words. Junko and Finn joined me. "Watch your step," we heard Stork say. "You don't want to fall off the plank. Could break every bone in your body."
Yes, great parting words.
"And merry Christmas," Stork added.
Aerrow, however, seemed to be staring over the vacant lot from which we had picked him up. There, by the dumpster from which I'd first seen Radarr crawl out of, was his present. "Look!" Junko said excitedly, pointing. "Santa's been here already!"
Aerrow muttered something to Stork, perhaps a responsive, "Merry Christmas," and then went running to the present, Radarr scampering behind him. We all watched as Aerrow ran to it and held it up to show us. "Look, look!" he cried. "Santa got here!"
"Isn't that amazing?" Junko gasped.
I smiled. "It is amazing," I agreed. But not unbelievable.
As Stork headed back inside and was on his way up to the helm, we watched Aerrow rip open his present. (It was, after all, midnight, which meant it was Christmas.) Once he had his prize, he smiled and held them up for us to see, Radarr running around his feet excitedly.
I could hardly believe my eyes. Finn spoke first. "He wanted . . . weapons?"
"Energy blades," Junko defined, leaning down and squinting at them.
"Sounds like Aerrow," I agreed. Friendly, kind, brave . . . and not someone you want to cross.
That's when I knew he would be okay.
After a couple more stops, in which Noob, the Greemus hippies, Chuckie, and a couple others got off, it was my turn to get off.
As I got up and was about to head toward the door, I turned to say goodbye to my new friends first. Junko smiled sadly at me. "Hey, I'm sorry about the bell," he said. "It was a really special present."
"Well, you know what they say," Finn added. "It's the thought that counts. You still got the first gift of Christmas."
I nodded. "Yeah," I agreed. It didn't make me feel that much better, but it did feel good to know they cared.
"Well," Finn said awkwardly, waving, "see ya."
"Yeah," I said to both of them, ". . . see ya."
"See ya," Junko agreed. And he wrapped me in a warm hug.
Stork was watching the ongoings from the doorway. Then he checked his watch and rolled his eyes. "If you kids are done spreading germs around through direct contact, we can leave any day now."
Junko finally let me go, and I waved one last time to the guys before I turned to leave.
As Stork and I headed down the plank, he said, "Watch your step," just like he had with Aerrow.
Once we were at the bottom, I turned to him and said, "Thank you." If not for him, I would never had gotten on this crazy ride.
"No," Stork shot back at me, "thank you."
Now that I'm older, I think I know what he meant, but at the time, I was greatly puzzled yet pleased.
Just as I was starting to walk toward my house, Stork added, "The one thing about ships: It doesn't matter where they're going, doomed or not. What matters is deciding to get on." And with that, he winked at me.
I nodded and smiled at him. It was the greatest truth I have ever heard.
Once I got back to the house, I heard Stork shout something at me. I stopped in the doorway and turned around. "What?" I yelled back.
Stork cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled even louder. "Merry Christmas!" He waved.
I saluted and stood there smiling as he disappeared inside the ship and watched as the plank went up.
But just before the Condor Express took off and disappeared into the sky, I could just see a man in a loudly-colored robe sitting on top of the ship. He smiled broadly at me and waved before transforming into a bird and taking off into the air alongside the ship.
And just like that, Arygyn and the Condor Express were gone.
How could I ever keep a memory of this night? I dug into my pocket one last time, the pocket where I had put my bell . . . and felt the hole. That's how I felt in my heart right now . . . like I had this wonderful thing within it, and now there was only a hole. I wondered if I would ever see Aerrow, Radarr, Junko, Finn, or Stork ever again. I knew, somehow, that I would never again see Arygyn or the Condor Express.
An end to the magic.
But I believe, I thought to myself. Doesn't that count for anything?
I sighed and closed the door as quietly as I could. As soon as I turned around, I looked immediately at the Christmas tree in the living room to my right. There were still no presents, nothing in the stockings, and the cookies were undisturbed. Santa may have made it to Terra Nimbus, but he hadn't yet been here.
As I headed up the stairs, I heard the stopped clock in the living room start ticking again.
The first thing I heard in the morning was Lynn's voice. She was on my bed, shaking me. "Wake up! Wake up!" she cried. "Santa's been here! Santa's been here!"
I glanced at the lock. It was around eight in the morning.
Lynn leapt off my bed, running to the door and shouting, "Hurry up! Hurry up!" I heard her run to our parents' room and shout, "Mom, Dad, wake up! Wake up! Santa's been here! Santa's been here!"
As I sat up in bed, I looked out my window at where the Condor Express had landed the night before. The snow was not disturbed at all, as it should have been if the ship had really come.
But it had been there last night. Right?
I jumped out of bed and grabbed my robe that was hanging on my bedpost. As soon as I did, I heard a ripping sound and saw crystal pieces go scattering across the floor.
Wait a minute. Wasn't that supposed to happen last night when I went out to the ship?
I pulled my robe off the bed and felt the hole that I had torn in the pocket just now. It felt even bigger than it had last night. That meant I had only widened it, right? But then how did the crystal pieces get back inside it?
Downstairs I could hear Lynn shouting, "Mom, Dad, look! He brought us all kinds of stuff!"
There was nothing to do but head downstairs if I was going to satisfy my little sister. I'd have to puzzle things out later.
Once all the gifts had been unwrapped, I felt that I'd gotten plenty of presents, whether or not they were from Santa, whether or not what happened was all a dream. And I still refused to believe that was the case. It had been real. It was just besides the point right now.
With everything open now, Lynn was looking at her things excitedly. "This the most beautiful, most wonderful Christmas ever!" And since my thoughts were still filled with last night's adventure, I had to agree.
"Wait," Lynn said as she peered around the tree. "Look. Here's one more." She came out from behind the tree holding a small present wrapped in candy-striped wrapping with a number seven holly-green bow. "Has your name on it," Lynn said, handing it to me.
I set down the doll I had been playing with and began to unwrap it, wondering what gift could be so small.
As soon as I opened the box, I froze. It couldn't be! Slowly, delicately, I pulled it out and held it up.
The silver sleigh bell shimmered in the light coming in through the window. It was the most beautiful thing I ever saw! I rang it just to be sure. And there it was . . . the most beautiful sound I ever heard!
Lynn was as fascinated as I was. She took it in her hands and rang it as well, he face lighting with the happiest of smiles. I could tell she heard it, too.
At the bottom of the box was a note. I pulled it out and read it. It said, "Found this in the seat of my sleigh. Better fix that hole in your pocket." And it was signed, "Mr. C."
Lynn glanced at the note and looked up at me, her eyes shining with questions. I vowed to myself that I would answer them in absolute honesty.
But first, Mom came over. "Oh, what a beautiful bell!" she said when she saw it. "Who's it from?"
"Santa," I said, handing it to her.
"Santa?" she repeated doubtfully. "Really?" She took the bell and rang it. "Oh, that's too bad," she said.
"What's this?" Dad said as he came up next to her. He took the bell and rang it himself. "Huh. Broken," he said. He handed it back to me. "Sorry about that, hon."
When they had rung the bell, they hadn't heard a sound.
I rang it for Lynn and myself one last time when Mom interrupted us, saying, "Come on, kids, we don't want to be late!" We were going to visit relatives for Christmas dinner.
Lynn grabbed her new teddy bear and ran upstairs to get ready, but I stayed behind a moment, looking the bell over before carefully setting it down on the table and heading upstairs myself.
As the years passed, I did eventually get to see Aerrow and Radarr again, as well as Junko, Finn, and Stork. And I'll have you know that they are all doing just fine. But that's another story.
At one time most of my friends could hear the bell, but as years passed, it fell silent for all of them. Even Lynn found one Christmas that she could no longer hear its sweet sound. Though I've grown old, the bell still rings for me, as it does for all who truly believe.
Author's Notes: That is it. The end. And right on time! Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. Hope you all enjoyed it, and may you all have a very merry Christmas!
