I was awoken by the sound of a loud thump on the roof. “It’s Santy” I thought. I really wanted to get up to greet him but I decided not to as I didn’t want to spook him so I stayed in bed and listened. I heard his footsteps on the roof approach the chimney. I heard the bang of him landing in the fireplace after coming down the chimney. I heard the rattling of the presents he was placing under the tree and I heard the sound of his chewing as he ate the cookies my brother and I left out for him.
My brother, 9 at the time and I, 11 at the time shared a room. Our beds were right beside each other, only a bedside locker between us. He always had a night light on.
Anyway, after the chewing stopped, I expected him to ascend back up the chimney and fly away to deliver presents to another child. I was kind of hoping that’s what he’d do because I was super excited to see what he brought me and I wanted to get up and take a quick gawk but I heard his loud footsteps approach my room. I closed my eyes to pretend to be asleep. He entered my room and approached my brother’s bed.
“Stephen, you’ve been a good boy this year. I’ve brought what you wanted”
He then approached my bed
“Gary, you’ve been a naughty boy this year, I’ve brought you no presents”
I sat up quickly and rubbed my eyes. I got a good look at him. He was like what the media portrays. A large beared man with a red coat.
“That’s not fair” I said. “I’ve been very good this year”
“Ho Ho Ho, is that so?”
He took out a long light green poece of paper and scrolled down through it
“Hmmm, Gary, born March 17th 2000, currently aged 11 has been naughty boy as of this year.
Some naughties Gary committed this year are as follows
Not doing homework Being cheeky to parents Pulling younger brother’s hair Staying up late watching inappropriate films Drawing inappropriate images on classmates books Stealing change from his dad’s wallet Etc”
“I know I haven’t been the best this year but I’ll promise to be good next year”
“Splendid. Then you’ll get presents next year”
“Ah come on Santy, don’t be like that now”
“Ho Ho Ho, young Gary, it’s been a pleasure meeting you, and I hope to bring you presents next year. Now dear boy, go back to sleep. It will be a long night. Goodbye”
He left my bedroom
“Absolute cunt he is” I thought
I gave a gawk over to my brother to see if he was still sleeping. He was but he looked unusually still and as if he wasn’t breathing. I got out of bed and walked over to him.
“Stephen” I whispered “Stephen, wake up”
Not even a peep out of him. I started shaking him.
“Stephen, Stephen, come on boy, wake up will ya”
No good. I was starting to get worried. I ran out to see if I could catch Santy before he left to ask for his help. He was just about to go back up the chimney before I stopped him.
“Santy, it’s Stephen, he’s not breathing”
“Gary, my dear child. Your brother is perfectly fine”
“Look even, he’s not breathing”
“Go back to bed, he’ll be as good as ever in the morning”
“FUCK YOU THEN YOU USELESS FAT CUNT”
“Goodbye, Gary”
He flew up the chimney and I heard the sleigh fly off. I ran to my parents room to tell them about Stephen.
“MAM, DA, WAKE UP”
But there wasn’t a peep out of them either
“COME ON, WAKE UP WILL YE”
No luck. Them and Stephen shared the same fate. My mam’s phone was on the locker beside them so I picked it up and dialed 999. Beeeeeeeeeeeeeep.
I dialed again. Beeeeeeeeeep
Again. Beeeeeeeeeep
Again. Beeeeeeeeeeep
“Fucking useless bastards”
I ran back to my room and threw on a pair of shoes. “Maybe the neighbours could help”. I ran down the hallway to the front door. When I unlocked it I got a bit of a fright. The snow was frozen mid air. Not just the snow though, but the barn owl that flies over my house every night screeching like a banshee. A car driven by a man that looked to be heading home for Christmas. The moths hanging around the light over the front door. Everything. It was like time froze, and everything froze with it except me. I cried out for help in hopes someone, anyone could hear me.
Continued in the comments