DEATH AWAITS ON THE EVE

It was the time of Christmas. Everyone was excited, especially kids. Christmas was the happiest time for children, as they believed Santa Claus visited their house at midnight to gift them. So, before sleeping, they usually keep an enormous bag or sock beside their bed.

  I was not a Christian to celebrate Christmas, but I sure was ready to receive gifts. Although I did get Christmas gifts each year, I never believed that Santa Claus existed. All I thought was that these gifts were kept next to my bed by my parents themselves.

  However, every time I asked my parents about it, they never acknowledged that they kept the gifts. This always resulted in an increase in my desire to find Santa Claus.

  Christmas was just about to come. I was very happy on the outside, but I had another goal to fulfil. I already decided that I would be awake the whole night, waiting to see who would keep the gifts beside my bed. Was it really Santa Claus, or just my parents?

  Everyone at home was asleep at night, while I was waiting for the clock to hit midnight. I wanted to clear out my curiosity once and for all. It was said that Santa Claus didn’t stop at a house on Christmas Eve if children are awake. So, I made to bed and acted to be asleep, waiting patiently.

  Thinking about all this, I didn’t know when I slumbered. I must have been sleeping for a couple of hours—or just a few minutes. Only some time should have passed by when I heard some noises outside the house. Hearing closely, I realized that they were noises made by bells.

  I thought that Santa Claus arrived. Quickly I tripped to the window of my room. And to my astonishment, it was indeed Santa Claus. He was dressed in red and was riding his reindeer high in the glistening moonlight.

I immediately got out of the house and started following him. Fortunately for me, the reindeer were going at an average speed. I knew Santa Claus would stop at some or the other house and that I could meet him there.

  It would have been two minutes since I started following him. My eyes were fixed on the sleigh. But suddenly, it vanished. The sleigh and the reindeer were gone, just like that.

  I looked in all directions, but no marks of Santa Claus were to be seen. It was only then that I realized I was standing in the middle of the road. My excited brain had bought me there. I was walking towards the footpath only when a loud sound passed my ear in a flash. It happened so quickly that I didn’t understand what just happened.

I must have fallen down for a moment, or probably not. I started to sweat suddenly as fear gripped me. The whole area had become strange and lonely out of the blue. It was dark as the street lights dimmed. There was an urge to return home and I started walking back towards it.

  Within a minute I was in front of my gate again where I saw my uncle Neil. I was very pleased to see him after an uncanny night. He, too, called for me as I approached him. But he seemed very surprised to see me, more surprised than I thought he would be. He asked, “How did you end up here, beta?”

  “What do you mean, uncle—” I suddenly recollected something. My body gave a shiver when I realized the fact. Uncle Neil had died three years back. Whom was I speaking to, then?

PART #2

I looked up and saw no one there. Just like Santa Claus, my uncle vanished.

  I was utterly baffled by then. Nor could I understand what was going on. The whole atmosphere around me was inanimate. Frighteningly inanimate.

  Then unexpectedly, I saw an old man walking towards me. He was an alcoholic but didn’t seem perturbing. I wanted to ask if anything happened in the past few minutes, but his eyes didn’t let me. There was something in them, something with a deep meaning.

  After observing me closely, the man bought out a gift box. Handing it over to me, he said, “Take this, son. This is your Christmas gift from Santa Claus.”

  I took the gift. But I couldn’t let the man leave with my head full of questions. “Where is Santa Claus?” I asked. “Does he even exist?”

  The old man smiled. “Yes,” he answered. “Look at the sky, you will see him.”

  I looked at the sky. To my surprise, Santa Claus was there. He was riding his reindeer…in the same way, in the same direction. My heart was filled with questions. I looked back at the road, but there were no whereabouts left by the man.

  Three vanishes was the most I could take in one night. Taking the gift box with me, I went back into my house. As I made myself to bed, sleep took over me.

The next day, when I woke up, I immediately opened the gift box. There was a letter in it. It read:

“Your Christmas gift: Life.

From,
Santa Claus.”

  I didn’t understand it at first. While having my breakfast, I heard my parents talk about an accident that happened last night. A fast-moving car had hit an old man. I went out for a walk to see what had taken place. And what I saw left me shocked.

  It was the same spot I’d been to last night. And that old man who died was the same man who presented me with the gift box.

  I couldn’t comprehend the complex situation. But slowly things started to work out in my brain. Last night, Santa Claus gifted me “life”. I gradually understood its meaning. The truth was that I was killed that night, not the old alcoholic man.

  I first heard a loud sound on the road while walking towards the footpath. Yes, it was of a car. It hit me. Blood poured out of my body. I was dead on the spot. That was the reason I could see my uncle Neil. And that was the reason he asked,

  “How did you end up here, beta?”

  Once the car hit me with extreme speed, my soul moved into the dead society’s dimension. No surprise that things were lonely and dark when I was dead. But this wasn’t my end. Santa changed everything. He gifted my life back. He returned it to me as a Christmas gift.

  Still, the world has its own rules. If death is written in your life, it should happen. It will. Giving my life back, another life had to be taken in my place. And that place was taken by the old man. He, who didn’t have a goal in his life. He, who didn’t have anyone to enjoy with. He, who spent his whole life as an alcoholic. The man ended up giving his own life, just to save mine.


The first half of the first part is taken from my childhood theories. The rest is the imagination I’ve spun in my mind. Hope you liked it! 🙂

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Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of my imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or persons is entirely coincidental. || Contents of this story should not be reproduced in any manner without permission.