Minnie and Winnie and Santa Claus

MINNIE AND WINNIE - SANTA CLAUS









Minnie and Winnie crept slowly down the stairs. Minnie went first, shining her torch on the steps below, careful not to make a sound.

They entered the kitchen and whilst Minnie poured out a glass of milk, Winnie took out a handful of cookies from the cookie jar and put them on a plate.

‘Shall we do it?’ whispered Minnie.

Winnie nodded her head in agreement and together the two little sisters walked silently down the passage to the family room.

‘Is it true that Santa Claus is not real?’ whispered Winnie to her sister. ‘Belinda next door says so.’

‘Belinda next door says a lot of things,’ said Minnie scornfully. ‘Ignore her.’

‘So Santa really exists?’ asked Winnie.

‘Of course he does. Isn’t that why we are leaving him some milk and cookies?’ replied Minnie.

They pushed the door open and entered the family room.

‘Oh my my,’ said Minnie faintly, her eyes wide open in amazement. Her torch light showed a big figure dressed in red putting parcels under the Christmas tree.

‘You are Santa Claus,’ Winnie said.

‘I guess I am,’ said Santa with a smile. ‘And you must be Minerva and Winifred.’ He pulled a red book out of his coat pocket and flicking through it he said, ‘Let’s see, Sage, Sims, Sloane, Small. Here we are. Minerva refused to brush her teeth three times in the last month, otherwise good. Winifred did not put her toys away twice in the last month, otherwise good.’ Santa chuckled as he saw the surprised look on their faces.

‘You really are Santa Claus,’ said Winnie.

‘I sure am. And I am very busy tonight.’ He took the glass of milk from Minnie’s hand and drank it thirstily. ‘Hard work climbing up and down chimneys,’ he said with a wink. He took a couple of cookies from Winnie’s plate and started munching.

‘Thanks girls,’ said Santa. ‘Off you go to bed now and don’t say a word. This is our secret and you never saw me, right?’ Santa pushed the girls gently out of the room. ‘I have work to do. Goodnight girls. Be good!’ And he closed the door.

Minnie and Winnie looked blankly at each other, still not believing what had just happened.

‘We never said goodnight,’ said Winnie.

They looked at the door and pushed it open again. Minnie shone her torch around the room, but there was no one there. They walked over to the Christmas tree but there were no presents there for them from Santa.

‘But Santa was right there a second ago,’ whispered Winnie. ‘We just saw him leaving us presents under the tree.’ She looked blankly at her silent sister. ‘Didn’t we?’

Minnie said nothing but stared slowly around the room. There was no room to hide. There were no presents for them from Santa under the tree either.

‘Maybe we imagined seeing Santa,’ she said slowly.

‘Maybe we imagined that he drank our milk and ate our cookies,’ said Winnie.

They looked at the empty glass and the half empty plate.

‘May I ask what you two are doing down here?’ exclaimed a stern voice from behind them. ‘Don’t you know that it is the middle of the night?’

Minnie and Winnie jumped with fright, startled by their mother’s appearance.

‘We came down to leave some milk for Santa,’ said Minnie slowly.

‘And some cookies too,’ added Winnie.

‘I can see that,’ said their mother as she glanced at the empty glass and plate they were holding. ‘A midnight snack is it?’ she said teasingly.

‘We didn’t have it, he did,’ said both girls together.

‘Who’s he?’ asked their mother.

‘Santa of course,’ said Minnie. ‘He was here.’

‘Putting presents under the tree,’ added Winnie.

Their mother walked over to the Christmas tree and searched all around it.

‘There are no presents from Santa here,’ she told them.

‘But there were. And Santa was here,’ insisted Minnie.

‘But somehow they’re gone now,’ added Winnie in a soft voice.

‘I think it’s been a long day and you need your rest,’ said their mother. ‘Come on. Let’s go to bed now.’ And she gently led them away to their bedroom.

The girls said nothing more as their mother tucked them in.

‘Goodnight Minnie. Goodnight Winnie,’ said their mother as she kissed them gently on their foreheads. ‘Get some rest. It’s going to be a big day tomorrow.’

Mrs Small got back into bed, and as she did her husband stirred, rubbed his eyes sleepily and slowly sat up.

‘Are the girls asleep?’ he asked her with a yawn. ‘I’ll go and put Santa’s presents under the tree now.’

‘You should be more careful Gary,’ said Brenda. ‘How come the girls didn’t recognise you downstairs?’

‘What are you talking about Brenda?’ asked Gary. ‘I haven’t been downstairs yet.’

‘Then who did the girls see near the Christmas tree earlier?’ asked Brenda in surprise. ‘I thought it was you in disguise.’

Gary shook his head and they looked at each other in alarm.

‘Is there an intruder in the house?’ asked Brenda.

‘Dressed as Santa in disguise!’ added Gary.

They both got out of bed and crept stealthily around the house, checking every room. All the external doors and windows were locked, and there was no one else in the house. They looked in silence at the presents under the Christmas tree, but there were no presents for the children from Santa.

‘They must have imagined it.’ Brenda said slowly. ‘There is no other explanation.’

Gary nodded his head in agreement. ‘They were rather excited about Santa’s coming. And we were watching that Santa movie before we went to bed.’

Satisfied with their reasoning, Brenda and Gary went to bed. Santa’s visit had been imagined by Minnie and Winnie.

They were woken early on Christmas Day by the girls jumping on them in excitement, asking if they could go downstairs to open their presents.

‘How about we have breakfast first?’ asked their mother.

‘No, no, no,’ said Winnie breathlessly. ‘I cannot wait for a minute longer. I have to open my presents.’

‘Fine then,’ said their mother. ‘Let’s go and open the presents.’

Brenda and Gary walked down the stairs slowly; smiling at the children’s high spirits and watching them race down the stairs ahead of them.

When they entered the family room Minnie and Winnie were on their knees, pulling out the presents from under the Christmas tree.

‘Hey mummy, daddy, look at this,’ said Minnie excitedly. ‘I have a present from Santa. He did leave me something after all.’ And she dragged a big parcel into the middle of the room.

‘Me too,’ shrilled Winnie. ‘I have got one too.’ And she put hers next to her sister’s.

Brenda and Gary stared at the two presents on the floor and then gazed silently at each other. There had been no presents from Santa when they checked the house for intruders earlier that morning. Where had these two presents come from? There was only one explanation and they didn’t want it to be the answer.

Could Santa be real after all!