Posted by Lisa Laree to Catching the Mosquito
I was…maybe…four? Five? I’m pretty sure this was before Barbie
entered my life, as my prime toy was a baby doll with a slightly misshapen head
from lying too long on the furnace vent.
Baby doll didn’t have a name, but she was my baby doll. I believe my younger sister had one as
well; if memory serves me correctly, mine had fuzzy black hair and hers had fuzzy brown hair. Before the bunk beds; we were
sleeping in a double bed in the single bedroom in the ancient three room, one
bath farmhouse.
But it was Christmas Eve and magic happens on Christmas
Eve. We looked out of the living room window
and saw a blinking red light in the sky.
It was three or four years later that I realized I could see that same
blinking red light on the radio towers on the hills south of the house any
night of the year, but that night, clearly, Rudolph was leading Santa around in
the area and we needed to go to bed and go to sleep immediately, before he got
to our house.
We each put one of our knee socks on the coffee table for
Santa to fill. Then, jammies on, teeth
brushed, goodnight kisses and a tuck in and we were on our way to dreamland,
knowing that when we woke up, we’d see what wonders had been left for us.
Except I was too excited to sleep. I laid in bed for the longest time, light from
the living room illuminating the hall to the bedroom. Mommy and Daddy were still up. They needed to go to bed, too, right? I closed my eyes and held them closed, but
when I opened them again the light was still there. And…the sewing machine was running. I could hear it all the way in my bed.
I clamped my eyes shut again, hoping Santa didn’t come while
Mommy and Daddy were still up. But I
could hear the sewing machine running and running, even while I held my eyes
closed and willed myself…and my parents! … to GO TO SLEEP.
But inevitably my eyes opened and…the light was still on and
the sewing machine was still running.
Was that sleigh bells in the distance?
Was Santa getting close? If he saw
the lights still on, wouldn’t he just skip our house altogether?
Nobody could see Santa!
He wouldn’t risk that!
I rolled over and closed my eyes and wrapped my pillow
around my head so as to block the sound of the sewing machine. Holding my eyes tight and my pillow tighter
I waited…and waited…until my arms got achy.
I let go of the pillow and opened my eyes. The light was still on, and the sewing
machine was still running.
Santa had surely passed the house by now. Tears began to slip from my eyes. He was so close when we went to bed! He had so far to go! He couldn’t wait around for the house to go dark
and quiet. We were going to wake up
tomorrow and have nothing, because he couldn’t stop if anyone was still up and
about.
Heartbroken, I cried until I fell asleep at last.
The next morning, to my surprise, there were presents under
the tree and nuts and candy in the knee socks.
And, among the presents…were new outfits for the baby dolls: little gingham dresses with lace trim.
I didn't put it together until years later... I'd heard Santa's elves working.
