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Happy Holidays!
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EPILOGUE: JUST BELIEVE
As years went by, I went along with my dad to visit his friends when he went ice fishing. They all remembered me from the strange dream they had where I accompanied them on the Polar Express, but my dad and I insisted that they had wild imaginations. After all, I wasn't even born yet…
I never again rode the Polar Express. Two years after my adventure, stayed up until 11:55, hoping it would come around. It never did. I figured, after two disappointments, that I only needed one ride, anyway. I already believed.
My mother never heard the bell. I tried many times to help her hear it, but she refused it. So I figured it was better to leave that kind of thing alone.
All my friends at school couldn't hear it, either. They were too busy showing each other their new iPod nanos and touch-screen phones they had gotten. But I didn't bother with them. It was too late to get them to believe.
Eventually, Susan was no longer able to hear it, either. She's slowly starting to get the sound back, but it will take a long time before she will hear the full effect again.
As for me and dad, well…we always hang our bells, side-by-side, every year. And we are able to hear them as clear as the first time they rang for us.
Susan and I are now grown-up with families of our own, and Mom and Dad are kinda old (but not so old that they're senile). Dad tells my kids, nieces and nephews the story of his ride on the Polar Express, me chipping in some information now and then when he forgets.
One of my sons, Jess, is a bit skeptical about the whole thing and doesn't believe the train actually exists. I just laugh and share a smile with Dad, because I know that he will soon experience the full power of that magical train.
All he has to do…is believe.