The Story

The Story

“Who is making that noise?” came a voice from the other room. Annie and Jeff looked over toward the door quickly.

“Was that Dad or Mom?” Annie whispered.

“I don’t know…” Wolf whispered back, frowning a bit, “it didn’t sound like Dad, or like Mom…”

“You’re right,” Annie said, “Do you think there’s somebody else in the house?”

“But who would that be? If somebody came in, Mom and Dad would know, right? Besides who would come over in the middle of the night? Especially this night!”

“Yes, even Patty or Tommy would just come in, right?”

“Yeah, you’re right. Who would just come in and yell, from the other room? “

“I’m scared now, what if it’s a burglar?”

“I don’t think a burglar would talk to somebody in the house they were sneaking into, do you?”

“You’re right. Plus, Mom or Dad wouldn’t just say that, they’d come right in here, and then we’d be in big trouble too!”

“You’re right, we better get out of here!” Annie whispered. They both jumped up, and tip-towed very quietly back toward their bedroom.

Behind the doorway came a sigh of relief. “This job gets harder every year,” Santa smiled. “But it’s still so much fun…” he quickly continued into the living room to put the toys under the Christmas tree.

Annie and Jeff watched, peeking from the other doorway.

After Santa went back out through the doorway, the kids sat down by the tree.

“So, you were right.” Jeff said. “There really is a Santa.”

“We’re lucky he didn’t see us! Let’s get to bed!” off they went.

It took almost an hour to get Dad out of his costume and makeup, but that story was told every Christmas for the rest of their long and happy lives.