Monday 15 December 2014

Close Encounters of the Santa Kind

The year is 1978, Every Which Way but Loose and Superman were on at the cinema, and it's Christmas Eve. Although this story may seem 'beyond belief', I assure you, it is in fact very true. It's proof (if any were needed) that Christmas magic isn't just for cheesy Christmas24 films but it happens everywhere in real life too (probably even where you live).

Sam was just five years old at the time, his dad worked at the local hospital in the A&E department, and was sadly working the night shift that year. This meant he and his mum were alone for the first time in Sam's life on Christmas Eve. It was difficult not having his dad there as usually he'd been able to swap shifts or take time off so they could be together.

Sam was asleep in his mum's room, having used the excuse that he was missing dad not being home. Five year-olds will use emotional blackmail as quick as you like if they think they can get away with it. Clearly Sam had. However, events were about to put all thought's of missing dad completely from his mind. Sam woke up with a start after hearing a loud bang. His mum was also sat bolt-upright in bed and looking at the ceiling. They had both heard a very loud something on the roof. Of course, being a young boy at that time, Sam naturally assumed it was Father Christmas and was about to let himself get very excited, but mum wasn't looking excited, in fact she was looking terrified and seemed convinced it may be something far more sinister.

She told Sam to stay in bed as she got up and cautiously crept up to the window and peeped through the curtains. Sam was both excited and to be honest a little afraid, but only because his mum seemed so shaken by it. Although Sam thought it could easily be Father Christmas, he also knew that it may be a burglar. His mum stood at the window and just stared, not moving and not saying a word. Sam asked her what was out there, but she completely ignored him and just carried on starring out the window towards the roof.

When she eventually came back to the bed she was shaking and had a mesmerized look on her face. Sam wasn't sure whether curiosity had just got the better of him or if he was just feeling brave and protective (he was after all the man of the house that night); either way he leapt out of bed and ran to the window. What Sam saw, all but it briefly, was indeed Father Christmas! There was no mistaking it, there he was in all his glory, there was his sleigh and all the reindeer. He only caught a glimpse, as almost as he got to the window they had flown off his roof and into the sky – it was just like you'd see on a Christmas card or a classic Santa film.

Sam felt a wave of excitement wash over him and incredibly special to have witnessed something that most kids would long to see. His mum on the other hand thought she was losing the plot. She'd immediately phoned her mum and told her what they'd seen, but Nanny Doris tried to make light of it, and said she must have just had too much to drink that night. Although she couldn't help feeling a little concerned for her daughter, as Sam's mum sounded really quite shaken by the whole thing. In truth, even Nanny Doris was a little concerned for Sam's mum's sanity.

Years passed and Sam and his mum never really talked again about that night or what either of them had seen. Sam was now in his first year of secondary school, (year 7 in new money) and his class were given the task of having to tell a Christmas story. So Sam told the one that I've just shared with you. His friends laughed at him and took the mickey of course, none of them believed his story. Things got even worse, when an upset Sam had shouted at his classmates and told them he was serious. They really didn't know what to think of Sam after that.

However, when he was leaving the classroom that day, one child (who Sam didn't recognise) came up to him and said, “You know what, I thought that was a great Christmas story. They say if someone really believes they may, at one time in their life, experience what you did.” That child then patted Sam on the shoulder and left, Sam never saw him again. Who was he? I didn't remember ever seeing him in class, or even around the school before.

As it fresh in his mind, when Sam got home that day, he had to ask his mum what it was that she had seen on that Christmas Eve. He wanted to check with her that he wasn't the fool that all his classmates seemed to think he was. As they had never talked about it, Sam didn't really know what she had seen that night. All he could remember was how quiet and shaken up she had been, and how mesmerized she had appeared. Sam wanted to know what she saw, to in fact see if I had imagined the whole thing, as so many kids do.

His mum's usual smile, that she greeted him with when he got home from school, faded from her face. She told Sam that it had been a very difficult Christmas Eve that year because dad wasn't around, but at the same time, quite a miraculous one. 

She looked down in embarrassment, then looked up at Sam and said, “Well, I hope you don't think I'm mad, at least no madder than you think I normally am, but I saw Father Christmas and his sleigh and reindeer on our roof and getting ready to taking off. Once you were asleep I even got dressed and got the ladder out the shed to have a look at the roof. The snow-covered roof had animal prints all over it and disturbed snow, where the sleigh had been sitting.” With tears in her eyes she smiled, and asked Sam what he had seen. He told her that he too saw the sleigh and reindeer as it took off into the sky. He had even heard the sleigh bells in the sky that night, and his mum admitted that she had as well. She and Sam shared a truly unforgettable and magical experience that night . . . and if you truly believe you just might too.

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