Santa Rocks

[Chaos Mage]

It was a bleak looking Christmas Eve.  The weather report hadn't mentioned snow flurries or any of the like for over two weeks!  It seemed like the weather was going to be warm, but there was so little snow, that the children would not be able to go outside to play in any of it. 

People say this and that about Christmas, everyone has their own reasons for what they do during the holiday season.  Young Chuck was a teenager that had lost his mother to cancer some years before, and had been living on and off with his abusive father for three years.  Mostly, Chuck spent his time spotting out places where he could steal tvs, or steal vehicles that didn't have the security keys.  This Christmas, Chuck went out to look for a place that would be an easy target.  He choose an upperclass apartment that had few decorations, but a large fifty two inch plasma supersound television.  He called his friend, and they began to wait for the woman to leave for her Christmas Eve party...

Meanwhile, at the North Pole, Santa was in the midst of a blaring blizzard.  "Check the sleigh, make sure it's got the bells on to tinkle tink perfect!"  And the elves were almost being blown over by the wind, they held onto their little leperchan hats and checked over the sleigh, jingling the bells and adjusting the scanner equipment.  The sleigh was already packed full of Santa's Magick Sack, the trunk was loaded down and very heavy.  It wasn't in the garage, they had to get an early start this year because there were just getting to be too many people in the world.

Santa rumbled up towards his sleigh, and the Reindeer were moving into place.  "Come on boys!!  Get those harnesses tight!  We don't want to lose Blitzen again like we did last year.  Hoh hoh!!  Poor Blitzen, spent two days jumping from roof to roof in New York!  Hoh hoh haa!!"  And the elves began to pet the Reindeer and and tighten up the harnesses, putting in the bits and tightening the straps.  Some of the elves came up and held food dishes up to the Reindeer, and they smiled and ate passionately.

Lucard, the chief elf of sleigh preparation this year came up to Santa Clause and gave his report on the sleigh.  Santa listened to the report, and with a glimmer of foresight, he said, "Change the positions of the Reindeer this year, they are getting too worked into the same routine, it's time we snap them out of their funny trance."  And Lucard went, and told the elves to change the positions, and they had to undo all the harnesses and move the Reindeer around.  Santa stood there, arms crossed above a massive stomach, his red and white suit shimmering with the Christ Consciousness that radiated from deep inside his perfect heart.

Lucard gave the report.  Santa looked out across the North Pole.  "Blizzard Halt."  he said quietly.  The wind suddenly stopped, but in the sky, it howled ferociously as the clouds were spread into a massive wreathe all around Santa's Fortress.  "This is it.  Keep your guard up, don't let any human into the Chantlar.  I'm counting on you Lucard, keep the North Pole safe until I return."  Lucard nodded.  Santa turned, facing the World.  "This is it..."  and he bowed his head in a solemn prayer, it was almost time to begin.

***
Chuck worked the door, using his wire and screwdriver to undo the bolts from the outside.  He got in quickly, and closed the door behind himself.  To his left, there was a large kitchen with a stove light on, and the leather couch was just a ways ahead of the kitchen cupboard.  He seen the tv, but he also seen a small Christmas tree in the window.  "Maybe I should take that too..."  he thought, "It is very pretty."  He was almost remembering something that his mother had told him about Christmas, but he got busy and began to undo the wires of the tv. 

Just as he was about to lift the tv up and take it down to the van, he turned, and the purest of fear caught him all too much by surprise.  There, standing at the doorway with a golden, glowing white sack, stood the imposing figure of Santa Clause.

"Are you a cop?  Have you been watching me?"  Chuck asked, ready to draw his knife.

Santa set the sack of presents down.  "Chuck... I've been watching you for a long time, your whole life.  I'm a little bigger than a cop Chuck, it really is me."

Chuck slowly drew his blade.  "I don't believe in that crap, I never did!!  Get out of here... or else."  And he lifted the blade samurai style, with the blade down from his thumb.

"Or else what Chuck?  You'll call who?  The police?  Nah, they'd bust ya fer stealin tvs these past three years.  Put the knife down, be a good boy Chuck.  You've been bad long enough."

Chuck screamed.  "How do you know my name!!   No wayy!!  Get out of here, don't make me...  aaugh!! What is this!!"  Chuck was in a state of pure emotional distress, and in his bewilderment, and his innate knowing that this really was Santa Clause, he made a dash to cut open Santa's belly.

"Stop."  Santa lifted two fingers, and suddenly, Chuck was caught in an aura of Christmas Energy.  He dropped the dagger which fell to the floor and disintegrated into snow, and he struggled vainly against the bonds which Santa had just put upon him.

Chuck began to scream, "Why!! Why did you take my mother!! You bastard!!  She was the only thing that protected ME from HIM!!  She suffered so much, I watched her die, I watched my mother die!!" 

Santa dropped his fingers gently to the side, and Chuck fell to the floor in a blubbering, nonsensical mess.  Santa said softly, "Do you believe in me?"

Chuck nodded, beginning to look for his dagger, but there was only a snowballs worth of snow where it had fallen.  "I do now, Santa..."

Santa grabbed the sack of presents, and lifted it up with one hand.  "Then if you believe in me, you'll believe in HIM, who sent me.  Your mother did bad things, so bad things happened to her.  I know it's not fair to you that you were the one who suffered because she died.  Bare it up!!  Do you believe in miracles?  Do you think it's just by chance that I happened to be here just at this moment?  I was almost worried that I wouldn't make it..."

Chuck crawled to his feet.  "It was so horrible Santa... I watched her die..."

Santa said, "You know what?  She remembers that, and it only added to her suffering.  Love is a strange power, the best, Chuck.  When you were standing there, and she began to scream, do you remember how that made you feel?"

Chuck looked at Santa, his eyes dark and shallow, sunk into his head, yet filled with tears.  "I was so afraid for her.  I was disgusted, I lost faith in God..."

Santa came up to Chuck, and looked in the bag for a moment, then brought out a small box.  "She never did.  God is there Chuck, there's nowhere that God isn't.  You were afraid, you loved her more than you loved God.  There's a world beyond all this, you see that television?  You see that stove?  That's only a small thing.  What happened to your mother, was a big thing.  Now I know and God knows, the only reason you started to steal was because you felt like God had stolen the best part of your life away.  You became a thief, and I could show you the future, when you become a murderer.  It won't happen Chuck!  I won't let it.  I won't let you steal life.  Now take this gift, and learn everything you can from it."

Chuck took the box, and knelt down on the ground, while Santa moved to the little Christmas Tree in the window.  Chuck opened the box, and inside, there was a little book, The New Testament.  Chuck knew some of what was in there already, every Christmas, his mother told him the story about the birth of Jesus.  Chuck felt pain his chest, it wasn't a physical pain, it was like a wound that hurt his soul.  "I'll read it, thank you Santa..."  but when he looked up, there were only a few sparkling white snowflakes left billowing in the doorway.

Chuck walked down the stairs of the apartment complex.  When he got outside, he went up to the window of his friend who had the van.  "What's wrong bro?  What took you so long??  Where's the tv!!"

Chuck held up the book.  "I'm gonna see her again.  I'm done with this, you're on your own now.  I'm not gonna let my life waste away and let her moment pass away.  Got to have faith in something more than this, this world, the money...  without guys like Santa Clause, we got no reason to believe in anything beyond the evil that we make up in our own minds.  See ya..."  and Chuck walked down the street, and found a church, and began to read the book...

"According to Matthew... 1. The book of the history of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham:"