Charlie

            I just left Shoprite when I saw Charlie walk into the store.  I looked at him but he did not see him and when I got to my car I started to remember the days when Charlie was a boy.  When he came over and played with my brother the two were always happy and ran around the yard.  But sadly, Charlie’s days as a child changed and when he was still very young, became a father.

Ten Years Ago

            My brother and Charlie decided to have a sleep over and my brother asked my parents if he could dye he and Charlie could dye their hair.  I remembered that night (with help from my parents) the two dyed parts of their hair blue and they allowed me to join them.  We all laughed and loved our new look.  Just before the sunset we walked to the convince store down the block to buy milk for my parents.  One of the workers really liked Charlie’s hair and he had this huge grin on that showed almost all his teeth. 

            I will also never forget the time when my mom took my brother and I to school and Charlie was hiding his face when everyone was lining up for the day.

“What’s wrong?” asked my mom.  Without lifting his hand, Charlie said, “I got braces,”

“Can I see them?” my mom asked and slowly Charlie took his hand away. 

“You got braces?” the kid behind Charlie asked and he closed his mouth, “that’s really cool,” the kid said and Charlie smiled, showing his braces.  The other kids in his classroom thought it was cool and Charlie quickly became comfortable with his new braces. 

            I was always afraid of growing up and I’m sure some of my friends and the other kids at our elementary school were too.  To this day I’m still growing up and learning the ways of the world but I felt bad for Charlie because he had to grow up when he was still a kid. 

Four Years Ago

            Charlie’s mom was in the hospital and I heard it was really bad.  Her body had a bunch of problems and it seemed as if this was it.  There were just too many complications.  One night I overheard my parents talking Charlie and his siblings. 

            Charlie was the second oldest in the family, at this time he was seventeen, his younger brother was ten, and his younger sister was eight.  His older brother was already in his early twenties but I could not remember since I rarely saw him when my brother and I went over to his house to play.  My parents were worried about Charlie because next year he would be taking the SAT’s (he was left back in first grade) and his younger brother and sister were very young to lose a mother and his father traveled too much for work.  I overheard them saying that Charlie might stay home but his younger siblings may be separated among their relatives. 

            A few days later we heard about his mother’s passing.  My family and I went to the funeral and I saw Charlie sitting with his younger siblings.  On his lap was his younger brother who kept crying and wanting his “mommy”.  When I saw his younger brother I had to walk out as quickly as possible.  I felt so sorry for those children and I wonder why God took their mother.  They know that they would never see her again and his brother would not stop crying and asking his “mommy to wake up”. 

           

Present

         

            Ever since his mother’s death, Charlie took it upon himself to help around the house.  I would see him once and awhile at the grocery store with his younger siblings and I knew he picked them up from school every day.  My brother called him to hang out, but he was never free.  His father continued working and traveling all over the place while his older brother did nothing.  Charlie had to balance being a high school student and a father. 

            It’s the summer of 2012 and Charlie seemed to have done a good job.  His father still travels and his brother is still a jerk, but his younger brother just graduated from middle school and Charlie is taking courses at a community college while having a part time job.  I know life is hard on Charlie and I wish that he didn’t have to worry about being a dad and could worry about being a college kid, thinking about his future.  

Believe

            I could not fall asleep.  I lay awake in bed but I did not know what I was thinking.  I knew everyone was asleep.  My parents were asleep down the hall and across the hall my younger sister was asleep.  I peeked out the window and saw the snowfall outside and I looked down at the snowman that my sister and I built. 

“Santa will be coming tonight,” she told me earlier that day. 

“Santa is not coming,” I said in my head.  But I did not tell my sister that because it would crush her.  Then I realized how much I missed those days when I believed.  That was when I heard a noise on the roof, like a bump. 

“It’s probably a giant piece of hail or something,” I thought and I laid myself back down to try to go back to sleep.  Then I heard footsteps on the roof.

            “A robber!” I thought.  I quickly got up and grabbed the bat from the corner of my room.  I ran into my parent’s room to wake them up but they would not budge.  I kept hearing the footsteps and I slowly walked down the stairs.  I got my bat ready to hit the robber and hopefully knock him out but when I got downstairs I saw something even more amazing.

“Santa?” I said and he turned around.  He was wearing his bright red suit, with a long white beard, a red nose, rosy cheeks, and he had deep blues eyes.  He did not look surprise or mad, but happy and a bit, sad? 

“This is a dream,” I said in a soft voice to myself.

“Hello there, Faith,” he said to me with a huge smile.  Then I remembered why I was downstairs and I picked up my bat and got ready to hit him.

“How do you know my name?”

“I know every child’s name,” he said with a ho-ho-ho. 

“I’m not a child, I’m twenty one,” I said in an angry voice. Then he looked at me with sad eyes. 

“I know.  You grew up a long time ago.  The spirit of Christmas has left you, hasn’t it?”

“Just get out,” I told him, my voice filled with more rage. 

“Faith, you are down here on purpose.  I do not show myself to just anyone.  Deep inside your heart, you still believe in me, even if it so small as a grain of sand, you still have some belief,” I did not say anything but gave Santa an angry look and was preparing to hit him.  Then I launch at him and was about to hit him in the head but instead some force struck the bat and the next thing I knew I was sitting on the floor and my bat was across the room. 

“What are you?” I asked.

“I’m Santa,” he said laughing with more ho-ho-ho’s. 

“I do not believe in Santa,” I said.

“Why not?” he asked.

“Because, a man can not travel the whole world in one night on a sleight with flying reindeer.  It’s impossible.  It can only happen in a dream,”

“So, seeing is believing, is it?  But it’s the opposite.  You are studying philosophy, I’m sure you know about Descartes.  You know his dream argument,”

“Yes, we can not trust our sense,”

“Yet, you trust your senses?  Descartes was a wonderful little boy.  You know he got that idea from me.  He saw me one night, just as you see me now,” There was a silent in the room as I was trying to collect my thoughts. 

“Faith, every year I make it a resolution to appear to one adult and only one adult to bring back his or her Christmas spirit.  This year, it is you,”

“Why me?”

“Because for so many years, you have forgotten me and the meaning of Christmas.  Look at that bat across the floor, where did you get it and who gave it to you?”

“I got it for Christmas when I was fourteen from my father,”

“Correction, you got it from me.  Do you not remember?  To Faith, from Santa?”

“My father told me he got it from me,”

“That because your father thinks he bought it for you but in reality, he did not.  I made it.  Faith I want you to come with me to one destination,” and in a blink of an eye, I found myself on Santa sled and Santa took me to a house on the other side of America, along with a few stops to delivery toys. 

“This house belongs to a man about your age.  His spirit of Christmas is very strong and do you know why?”

“No,” I said with my arms folded.  This dream kept getting stranger and stranger. In a blink of an eye, Santa and I were standing in the living room.  Instead of a tree, there was a plant, decorated with about five ornaments and some lights. The stockings on the wall were just regular socks.  Across the room, was a grown man who fell asleep in a chair and next to him on a couch was a little boy, about my sister’s age.  There were two older children sleeping on the floor with pillows and blankets. 

“This family has a huge Christmas spirit because they do not have much.  This is their house, just this one room.  That man, Bradley, was a young man I visited three years ago.  He had no Christmas spirit and I brought it back.  Since they can’t afford much, they leave me only a glass of milk.  No cookies and nothing for my reindeer,” Santa walked over to Bradley and woke him up.  Bradley smiled at Santa and looked at me.

“So you are the one he choose this year,” said Bradley. 

“Yeah, I guess,” I said. 

“If he picked you then you must be special.  He only picks one adult every year.  Last year he picked a woman in her fifties,”

“One year I picked a man in his eighties.  I usually do not pick seniors since their Christmas spirits are just as huge as children,”

“What is your name?”

“Faith,”

“Faith, I’m Bradley.  I want you to know, Santa is not just a figure for children and he doesn’t just watch over children.  He watches over all of us, starting from the moment of our first Christmas.  Many adults think it is silly to believe in Santa, but there are times that Santa is here for us instead of the children because the children do not need help to believe, the adults do.  Santa gives back our childhood and our Christmas spirit.  If it wasn’t for Santa, I would had never been a good guardian to my brothers and sister,”

“Faith, it’s time to go.  I need to finish my rounds,”

“Faith, before you go.  Remember to believe.  Seeing isn’t believing.  Believing is seeing,” said Bradley.

            On my way home, I had to think about what just happened.  I always wanted to ride in Santa sleigh and I always wanted to see Santa but now that I do, what does it mean?  Does he really exist?  I climbed into the front seat, next to Santa.

“Santa, how do I get the spirit of Christmas?” I asked. Santa gave me a smile.

“Trying doing a little ho-ho-ho,” and I said ho-ho-ho but in a very low voice.

“Try louder, like this!” and Santa gave a huge ho-ho-ho.  I was a bit shy but then I gave out a big ho-ho-ho.  Then I felt something.  I felt happy and excited.  I felt as if I was a little girl again and I gave out another ho-ho-ho and then Santa joined me. 

“Faith, you got your Christmas spirit back,” said Santa and he put something in my hands.

“If your Christmas spirit ever feels low just look at this,” and inside a small box, I found a ring with a fancy S on it. 

            “Faith get up!  Santa came last night!” said my little sister jumping on my bed.  I opened my eyes to the harsh light of the morning sun as my sister drew back my curtains.  I got up and walked down stairs with my sister.  At the bottom of the tree there were presents of different colors and a new train was under the tree going around it. 

“I knew it was just a dream,” I thought. 

            My sister and I opened all our presents with our parents taking pictures and waiting for the smile on our faces.  I was happy to get a book about Socrates and Plato along with a new laptop.  Besides that, I also got other stuff that I wanted.  That was when my sister noticed it.

“Faith, what’s that?” and I look down onto my right ring finger.  It was a ring with a fancy S on it.