Christmas, 1958 - Barbarosa, Texas
I was eight years old and Christmas excitement was building. Magic was in the air.
During the weeks leading up to Christmas, some of my classmates had declared that they didn't believe in Santa and that only little kids believed. I figured the ones that were being quiet were like me and knew better. But, I didn't dare speak up because I was scared of being laughed at. I realized that some of Santa's feats seemed unreal but Mom and Dad had explained that Santa had "Magic Dust" and anything was possible with a little "Magic Dust". "Magic Dust" was how Santa got into our house even though we didn't have a chimney. "Magic Dust" is how the reindeer could fly so fast that they could get Santa all over the world in one night. Without the "Magic Dust", it would truly be impossible for Santa to accomplish so much. I figured that my classmates who didn't believe in Santa, wouldn't understand about "Magic Dust" either so I kept quiet.
Well this Christmas, Timmie told me that he didn't believe in Santa. I warned him that if an elf heard him that he wouldn't get anything for Christmas. He should be worried because we had had a lot of elf sightings recently. My Dad had really keen eyesight and had spotted them. Elves were samll and very sneaky. There were thousands of them and they spent the last few weeks before Christmas checking up on kids to be sure that they were being good. I wanted to see an elf, but I always turned to look just a little too late. Timmie claimed that Dad was just tricking us.
This particular Christmas, I had written Santa a lengthy letter that listed all my Christmas wishes. Mom and Dad said that there were lots of kids in the world and that it was wrong to burden Santa with too many wishes. Maybe, I asked for too much and wouldn't get everything on my list, but that was ok. If only Santa would start at the top of my list and notice the big star that I had drawn next to the BB gun.
Christmas was almost here and Timmie was still declaring that it was all make-believe. He is such a fool. Now, he was claiming that he had seen the presents in Mom and Dad's bedroom closest. He dared me to come look. I didn't believe him for a minute, but since he dared me I might as well go along. I wouldn't want to miss the opportunity to make fun of him when it turns out that he is wrong. So, we snuck into Mom and Dad's bedroom and right up to the closet door. I was having second thoughts about sneaking around because if an elf caught us we probably wouldn't get anything for Christmas. I hesitated but stayed as Timmie boldly pulled back the door.....
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