The believer

By Carlee Dunham
Castalia, Ohio
Age 11
Honorable Mention

Once upon a Christmas Eve, a young boy named Charlie did not believe in Santa Claus. He simply told his parents he did not want to have a Christmas this year.

His younger sister, Faith, was getting milk and cookies for Santa. She was just so excited.

When Faith kept bugging Charlie about Santa, he got very angry. He got so angry that he pushed the milk and cookies off the table and blamed it on young Faith Marie.

The kids were talking in their room and Faith mentioned Santa again. Charlie screamed so loud that Faith’s breath was taken away.

She did not want to tell her parents what he had done, but there was no choice. She was so hurt and felt like Charlie did not love her. All she wanted was for her older and bigger brother to believe in Santa Claus. She believed and loved Santa so much.

Their parents tucked them into bed and kissed them goodnight. Before they left, their mom whispered very quietly to keep believing.

Charlie said nothing. He did not want to believe in something that he thought was not real. They fell fast asleep quickly.

Then, out of pure silence, Charlie heard a very loud noise. He looked through his house and he saw nothing. So he rushed outside to look. Then, he saw it: A big man in a red suit and nine reindeer.

He couldn’t believe it, he did not want to believe it. He was in pure shock. He climbed up to the top of the roof and he didn’t see what he thought he saw before. He slipped and fell down the chimney. He looked up and saw Santa.

Then, in a blink of an eye, Santa was gone and he heard his little sister’s voice.

He found many presents under the tree for his whole family. All he could say was that he believed. From then on, every year he passed his story down to his own children and had an excellent Christmas.