Hey! Um...I apologize if I don't get my facts straight. I'm not a very keeps-her-facts-straight kind of person, and I'm sorry if I can't...it's a weakpoint I have. But I will try my best.

Um...and sorry about the whole Miley Cyrus deal again. She's not dead, some idiot decided to spread a rumor around that she died in a car accident or something. So, don't worry. She's fine.

P.S. The chapter title...got that from Charlie the Unicorn (which I do not own).

Enjoy!

-

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: SHUN THE NON-BELIEVERS

They brought out the reindeer first. They were very, very jumpy, and I silently giggled to myself. Those reindeer could take out those elves if they weren't careful.

They lined up the reindeer in front of the sleigh, but didn't hook them up. Then I saw why. They brought out the harnesses and that kind of stuff next. And lining that stuff were silver bells.

The elves shook them, and everyone cheered. But…something was wrong. My brow furrowed as I cocked my head to hear the bells. Maybe my hearing wasn't as good as I thought it was. Or maybe everyone was being too loud.

But I slowly realized after a few seconds that it had nothing to do with the former or the latter, and had everything to do with…something else. And that something else was preventing me from hearing the bells.

"Aren't those bells the most beautiful sound?" Shannon asked us.

Gee, I wouldn't know…I can't hear them!

I looked at Dad, and he looked just as frustrated as I felt. He shook his head, indicating he couldn't hear it, either.

Well…at least I wasn't alone.

After the reindeer were hooked up to the sleigh, it got really, really quiet. And then we all started singing.

"OH…YOU BETTER WATCH OUT…YOU BETTER NOT CRY…YOU BETTER NOT POUT, I'M TELLING YOU WHY…SANTA CLAUS IS COMING…TO TOWN!"

The doors on our left opened, and Santa Claus came out.

Or…at least, from what I could tell, he did. All those annoying little elves started standing on each other's shoulders, blocking my line of vision. I was about to push them over, but that would have been very rude. So I stayed where I was.

Dad was having the same problem I was. He kept jumping up and down, trying to see Santa. But the elves were too tall for him.

"He's here!" Shannon squealed. "He's here!"

"Where?" Dad asked.

"I see him!" Billy pointed. "He's over there!"

I wasn't listening now. I had stopped trying. No matter how hard I tried at something, it always ended up in failure. Always, always, always.

The conductor was wrong. I still didn't believe in Christmas. I still couldn't hear those stupid bells or see stupid Santa.

I still hated Christmas with a burning passion.

"I can't see him," I said to myself. Then I said it louder. "I can't see him."

"I CAN'T SEE HIM!" my dad shouted, no one but me hearing him. "I CAN'T SEE HIM!!"

"Join the club," I said.

But then Dad's attention went to the sleigh. He followed something that fell into the air, and then on the ground right by his feet. He picked it up and shook it in his ear.

One of the bells. It had fallen off the sleigh.

Dad kept shaking it. I thought I heard the bell whisper Doubt…doubt…doubt…

"Okay…okay!" Dad said, almost crying. "I believe." He said it a bit firmer. "I believe." And now he whispered it. "I believe."

He shook the bell again. My face broke into a smile. Dad continued to shake the bell in his ear, a big smile on his face.

And I knew.

He finally heard it.

He believed.

"You hear it?" I asked him.

He nodded. "Yeah. Do you?"

My face fell when I realized what my answer would be. I had been so busy being happy that my dad finally believed, that I hadn't figured out until now that I still couldn't hear anything.

I tried to say something, but nothing came out of my mouth. No sarcastic remark seemed good enough to fit the moment. And what was more, I couldn't seem to make one up at all. And as I realized this, the person I had been for all thirteen years of my life--the person that loved to hate Christmas--sort of…melted away. Like the Winter Warlock in "Santa Claus is Coming to Town".

The person who was revealed after that was a person I was surprised that I knew. She had been trying to work her way out of me the whole time I was on the train. She was trying to turn me into the person I should have been thirteen years ago. The person I was trying to be for the remainder of my life.

Okay...so maybe the conductor was right after all. Maybe I wasn't the same person.

But even if I had transformed, I still didn't hear that bell.

I shook my head. "No," I said.

My dad's smile disappeared just as fast as mine had. "You don't?"

I shook my head again. "No…but it's okay," I said, trying to keep my voice level. "I mean…you can hear it. And…that makes me happy that you can. I don't need to be able to hear Santa's sleigh bells or whatever. It's fine."

"It's not fine," Dad said. "We went through all that…and you still can't hear?"

"Seriously. It's no big deal." I fought to keep my tears back, knowing that if at least one escaped, more and more would follow it.

"Maybe not…but, still," Dad insisted. He looked at me and put the bell in my hand. "Come on. Just…close your eyes and open your mind. Please. Just…believe."

I squeezed my eyes shut and hoped against hope that this would work. I opened up mind and thought as hard as I could, I believe…I believe…I…believe…

I shook the bell, and the sweetest ring I've ever heard came out. Dad and I looked at it and then at each other.

It had finally worked.