Father Christmas' sledge

In Mexico there once were 13 poor brothers sitting by their Adventy calendar. Jose, the youngest brother turned the last stone. On the back they had painted Father Christmas with their mother's cheap nail varnish. Then they sat quietly waiting.

But as you know, Father Christmas had a very long journey in front of him before he reached Mexico. First he went to Norway, Sweden and Finland delivering presents to the Scandinavian children. Next day he got up early to drop presents down the chimneys in English houses, so that the British children could have their presents for breakfast.

Then he did The Netherlands, France, Germany, all of Europe and America. It was already January when he arrived, exhausted, in Mexico. He had only a few pages left in the thick present's book. On the bottom of the last page were the names of the 13 brothers. When he knocked on their door, they threw themselves at him so that he fell into the tiny living room. Father Christmas sat down on the floor and put his hand down in the sack to find the Christmas gifts.

He gave a present to the eldest brother, one to the second eldest, one to the third eldest and so on until it was Jose's turn. Jose sat on the edge of the bench, shaking with expectation when Father Christmas pushed his arm down into the sack to get his present. Father Christmas searched and searched the bottom of the sack while his face became redder and redder. When he pulled his arm out of the sack his hand was empty.

"I don't have any more presents," Father Christmas said wery upset. But then he pulled himself together and said firmly: "It's not that easy for me either. Just think of all the children who are to be given presents. Every single child in the whole world! That can make an old Father Christmas mixed up, you see? I can tell you a couple of stories from the North Pole if you like."

Jose shook his head slowly while tears rolled down his pale cheeks. Father Christmas turned and went towards the door. He couldn't stand watching the sad boy. It hurt him so badly that he would gladly have given his right arm to make him happy again. At that moment he caught sight of the sledge. He turned and ran into the living room.

"Jose," he shouted and knelt before the boy. "You can have my sledge!" Jose got up from the bench. "Don't you need it?" "No, no," Father Christmas shouted happily. "I'm finished with my job. You take the sledge and I can ride home on Rudolf's back. You would like it wouldn't you?"

Jose smiled and dried his tears. "It can fly as well," Father Christmas said taking Jose by the hand towards the sledge. He loosened the harness and gave it to Jose. "Sit down and shake the reins. The sledge will rise. Pull the reins and it slows down and lands. To steer all you have to do is lean in the direction you want to fly." Father Christmas smiled broadly when he saw how happy Jose was.

The little boy sat on his sledge, lifted the reins and shook them carefully. "Don't get so worked up that you forget to breathe," Father Christmas said and chuckled. "And remember, it is only you who can fly it." Father Christmas swung himself on the back of Rudolf the reindeer, waved to the poor family in Mexico and rode home to his castle at the north pole.

Jose's brothers were quite jealous that evening, and their dad immediately started to speculate the possibilities of earning money with the sledge. The next day he took Jose and the sledge to a circus in town. Jose's dad spoke to the director and got his pockets filled with money. Jose was to start working the same evening.

In the beginning Jose thought it was quite fun to drive the sledge in front of so many enthusiastic people. Besides, he was happy that the money he made was to be used to build a decent home and pay for food and clothes for the rest of the family. And as the weeks and months went by, money flowed to the poor family. They took out a loan, bought a villa and expensive cars. They even bought a house by the sea and speedboats, and everything they wanted.

When Jose had been with the circus a year he asked the director if he could go home. "Home?" the director said looking as if he didn't know what Jose was talking about. "The circus is your home. Your family wants you to stay here for ever and make money for them."

The circus went on a tour in Mexico. Every place they came to welcomed Jose as a star. He appeared on TV nearly every day, and everybody thought that Jose must be very happy being so famous. They didn't see how sad he looked while he flew his sledge, and didn't hear him crying in bed at night. "I want to be at home with my family," he mumbled down in the wet pillow. "I want everything to be as it was before."

On his birthday Jose decided to run away from the circous. He sat on the sledge, pulled the reins and steered out of the window. "Now you have to help me, dear sledge," he shouted when they were high over the clouds, just beneath the stars shimmering close as snow crystals. "Fly me to Father Christmas, please."

The sledge steered towards the polar star. It flew over America, Canada and Alaska. It was terribly cold and the sledge was covered in white frost. Then the sledge landed on the ice at the north pole. A red cap hung outside Father Christmas' castle. Jose pulled it and heard the doorbell playing "Jingelbells" inside.

When Father Christmas saw it was Jose, he smiled from cheek to cheek. "I've been thinking a lot of you," he said. "How are you manageing with the sledge? Are you enjoying yourself?" Jose entered the ice castle and brushed the snow from his shoes. "It was fun for a while," he said. "But now I want you to take the sledge back." Jose stood in front of the fireplace and told Father Christmas everything that had happened.

Jose became so sad while telling about his selfish parents and brothers who thought only of money and expensive things, that he started to cry. Father Christmas came to him and hugged him close to his big red coat. "I'll let you wish for a new present," Father Christmas said. Jose looked seriously into Father Christmas kind white bearded face. He held his hands up to him and said: "I want you to give me hands that make people kind and happy when I touch them."

Father Christmas smiled even broader when he heard that wish. He held Jose's hands in his and squeezed them. Then he closed his eyes and rubbed them with his thumbs. After a while he opened his eyes again. "So, now you have hands that can make people happy and kind." "Thanks a lot," Jose said and looked at his hands. They were just as pale as before, but felt a little warmer. "Such a beautiful wish deserves to be fulfilled. But now you must go home and try them out," Father Christmas said.

Jose was given some warm clothes for the journey home. He borrowed Rudolf who carried him on his back under the polar stars pale white light. With his cheek close to the reindeer's neck he could se the white mountains in Alaska, the great woods of Canada and the shining towns in America.

Late at night Jose landed outside the big mansion that his parents had bought. Jose gave Rudolf a hug and waved him off back to the north pole. He yawned turned towards the door and knocked. A servant opened. "Who are you?" he asked distrustfully. "I'm Jose and this is my home," Jose said. "I'm very tired so please let me in."

"Get lost, you beggar," the servant said slamming the door in his face. Jose collapsed on the doormat and slept there until early morning. He woke up when the door hit his back and somebody pulled him up. "Are you still there, you filthy…. But isn't it Jose?" Jose's father looked astonished at his youngest son. "Where is the flying sledge?" he asked. "I gave it back to Father Christmas," Jose replied.

The father carried him into the living room where his mother sat with the 12 brothers. "Look what I found outside the door," his dad said. "Jose has come back, but he has given the sledge back to Father Christmas."

"What?" his brothers shouted. "Where shall we get our money from then?" His mother was also distressed and rose from the Chesterfield chair. "My dearest little boy. If you don't bring the money we can't afford the loans and I will have to sell my furs." Jose went to his pale, stiff mother and gave her a special hug. At the same time he touched her cheeks with his magic hands. It was as if she melted.

"Jose! Oh, how I have missed you," she said and hugged him hard. Jose smiled, now he knew that his magic hands worked. He gave his father a hug, and then his brothers one by one. His dad's face looked bewildered. "How good it is to have you back," he said. "After all, it was very sad all that time you worked at the circus. I can't imagine what I was thinking about."

"Oh yes, you do," Jose said seriously. "You sold me to the circus because you were poor and wanted all the things that rich people have. But did you become happier?" His parents and 12 brothers shook their heads. "We had to be cruel to you to become wealthy, and that only made us cold and hard," his mother said. "But after you hugged me I suddenly realised how stupid I have been."

"Yes, it was as if your hands made my body warm," his dad said. "Please tell us what it was like at the north pole with Father Christmas?" So Jose told them the whole story about how he had suffered at the circus, how he escaped and about the journey on the frozen sledge. He told them about Father Christmas' ice castle and the way he made his hands magic. His parents and brothers were so touched by the story that they all hugged him and shouted. "Never, never, never will we be nasty to each other again."

It happened, of course, that their father started to speculate. "Couldn't we make some money with Jose's magic hands?" But all Jose had to do was to cuddle his father's old face in his hands. Then he would smile happily again.

© Martin Nygaard