In the mean time, though, I thought I would share with you a new regular tradition in my family. On Christmas Eve, Santa leaves my son a letter on the tree, usually depicting some adventure the big man went on during the year. I thought I'd share with you this year's letter. It's pretty fun.
So, enjoy A Letter from Santa, 2011.
Hello again, my dear friend! When I didn’t get a letter from
you this year, I was concerned. Had something happened to you? Were you angry
with me? But then, I saw you at the Bernardo Winery, and was gratified to know
that not only were you well, but you were happy and telling jokes. I still
smile at that candy cane you pulled on me.
Thinking of letters reminds me of something that happened this
year. Just a few weeks ago, in fact. Our letter carrier, a young elf named
Jeffery, came running into the workshop in a panic. I was called down
immediately, and managed to calm Jeffery down enough to get the full story out
of him. He had gone down to the receiving room, where all the letters to Santa
from all over the world arrive, to pick up the latest deliveries and bring them
to me. However, when he got there, there were no letters!
What had happened?
As we watched, new letters arrived. Jeffery assured me that
new letters had arrived after he noticed before, too, but there should be a
pile of letters he had yet to sort. And that the whole pile disappeared from as
he made his last delivery. We quickly set about searching the room when I
discovered a small, elf sized hole in the wall under some discarded present
boxes. I took one sniff of the foul odor that came from its depths, and knew
instantly what had happened.
Goblins.
Yes, there are goblins in the North Pole. Goblins are elves
that end up on the naughty list and never get off. They are very, very bad. And
for many years, the goblins have been trying to ruin Christmas for everyone.
They’ve done everything from trying to wreck my sleigh to kidnapping Rudolph to
even stealing my magic sack one year. This year, they were trying to stop
Christmas by stealing all the mail. Without that mail, I won’t know what the
little boys and girls of the world want, and if I don’t know that, I can’t
deliver it.
There was no other choice. We needed to go into the
underground tunnels the goblins live in, and try to recover the mail. I told
Jeffrey the news and he agreed with me. He pulled down his cap and said he was
ready to go. Just then, we saw something out the window. It was a friend of
mine, one you might remember. It was the polar bear from last year, the one
with the bicycle.
He asked what was going on, and when we told him, he agreed to
come along and help out. Polar bears don’t like goblins. So, with the same
magic that allows me to slide down chimneys’, I got the three of us into the
hole and down to the goblin tunnels.
It was dark down there, but Jeffrey had been smart enough to
bring along a candle. He lit it with elf magic and we made our way down. It was
dark and scary in the tunnels, but I kept on going. I knew I had to get those
letters, because children like you were counting on me. Eventually, we could
hear something in the caves ahead. It was the goblins! They were laughing and
carrying on and bragging about their plan and how they had ruined Christmas.
Lights up ahead showed us where they were. When we peaked
around the corner, we could see them, throwing the letters in the air and
dancing on the pile. I shushed the polar bear and Jeffrey. Mr. Bear nodded and
me and pointed his noise into the room with the goblins. I nodded at him, and
he moved off.
With a mighty roar, he charged into the room. The goblins were
so startled that they dropped all the letters and started running away from the
polar bear as fast as they could, screaming the whole time. Jeffrey and I
laughed and laughed to watch them, and the polar bear chased them down the tunnel.
Jeffrey and I quickly gathered up all the missing letters and put them into
Jeffrey’s mail sack. We carried them all back to the receiving room. Jeffrey
smiled, and then sighed. This would put him behind schedule!
That was when Mr. Polar Bear came back. We told him the
situation, and he said he would stay and help Jeffrey sort the mail, and make
sure that no more goblins stole it. I said I would have a repair crew in to fix
the hole in the wall, and we all agreed to meet for hot coco later that night.
It was all quite the adventure, but in the end, it all worked
out okay, and Christmas was on schedule.
I hope you enjoy your presents this year, and I look forward
to seeing you again next year. Just make sure to try and write me. I thought
the goblins still had your letter, and I’d had to think they had done it again
next year.
Much Love,
Santa Claus