B14: The day I met Santa Claus

"My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that?" – Bob Hope

Source: Freepik

The day I met Santa Claus

“Hello! Yes, I am on my way”, said Rene on the phone to her sister. She was walking on the road dodging the festive crowd.

“Why are you sounding so frustrated?”, asked her sister.

“It’s the 25^th of December, Christmas Day! I was working the whole day, trying to convince clients and now rushing through the crowd to get all these festive things for home. (got a push) And what am I getting? (dodging another push) No gifts and only pushes!!! Where is my Santa Claus?”, answered Rene with various voice modulations.

“You do know Santa Claus doesn’t exist and you are 24 now, so grow up!”, said her sister.

“Don’t I deserve happiness? Or surprises!?”, asked Rene in a voice of disappointment. 

“Get the shawl for Grandma’s gift and dog food for my ‘Toby’ (her pet dog) and come home fast. The bus from the market to our colony will also be crowded with passengers, and you will destroy all the cupcakes on the way home. So, hurry up and be careful, I have to go to bake the Christmas cake”, ordered her sister and then hang up the phone.

 Source: Alamy

Rene already had two bags of snacks in her hand, her office bag with her laptop in it, and her purse. The streets were crowded as it was the early evening of a holiday. Families were either out for dining, end-moment shopping, strolling, or looking for a place to stay as few of them were tourists. Rene had a bad day at work, she couldn’t complete her target sales and then had to run all these errands as her sister was managing everything else along with family relatives and kitchen work at home.

She entered the very first shawl shop she saw and started searching. Her sister and mother had already given her the description and things required to be in that shawl, she just had to search for the shawl which matches all the descriptions perfectly and tick all the boxes. Rene went into the section where all brown shawls were placed in the order of different shades from light to dark. She wanted syrup brown, now distinguishing this shade from various other slightly similar shades was a huge task.

She was carrying a sample piece of the shade to easily compare. But getting the same wasn’t the only criterion, the borders should be of maroon color and no flower print, only symmetrical designs. The first shop disappointed her as only the color scheme matched but not the designs, don’t get me started on the material. They want a pure soft silk shawl and not a woolen one.

Rene left and walked a few streets down to finally find another shawl shop. With her fingers crossed she entered inside, here again, she found the colors but no design or material. Frustrated she left the shop. Rene kept complaining and babbling about how this could have been ordered online or personally purchased days ago. She had to get the dog food as well. Across three random shops, Rene found another shawl shop with a giant Santa Claus poster at the entrance. She made a puppy face as if praying for the cutout to help her out.

Source: Alamy

In this shop, there was no self-service, Rene had to describe the shawl she was looking for and then the salesman would search the type from the Excel sheet in the computer to save time for all. Rene mentioned all the details to be included in the shawl. The salesman entered those and waited for the results to come. He found two such shawls matching all of Rene’s descriptions. He asked Rene to wait and went to bring those to show her. Rene was finally happy and relieved.

The salesman came in with the shawls and placed those in front of her. Rene opened the first one and saw huge designs printed on the shawl, the designs that should be small were mentioned in the description list, but Rene rejected the first shawl. She opened the second one and that was it. The shawl was perfectly colored syrup brown with maroon borders and had small symmetrical designs. A big smile came on her face, a joy of victory. She asked the salesman the price and it again perfectly matched her budget. The shawl ticked all the boxes as if the description was given after looking at it or if it was made for her grandmother specifically. Rene left the shop with the shawl and went to buy the dog food.

The dog food she was asked to bring was a highly-known brand and easy to find. Rene got it from a shop next to the shawl shop itself. It was late already; the sun was setting down and it was getting more and more cold outside. Rene had to reach home before 7pm to not get late for special evening snacks and dinner. She had to catch the bus as well. As soon as Rene left the retail shop, she saw an old weak poor man with clothes all dirty and torn. He was shivering and so was his dog beside him. The dog had curled itself and tried to give itself warmth and comfort. Rene stood still outside the shop, staring at their struggle on this happening and freezing day.

Rene walked towards them and stopped at a distance of a few inches away from them. She kept staring at them, the pair did not bother anyone on the road, they were busy comforting themselves. Rene noticed that she didn’t speak a word and started searching for things inside her bag. First, she handed a bag of cookies to the old man, who was confused as to what to do while she stood with a hand straight at him offering a bag of food to him. He hesitated but when Rene made a gesture of offering again, he accepted it, still confused. She looked at the dog who was now looking at her with eyes of hope and pain. Rene couldn’t ignore it and she opened the packet of dog food and poured some for the dog. She then kept the bag beside the old man, assuming he would serve the dog its food timely. She then started walking again.

Source: PxHere

A thrill-chilling wind passed through Rene making her shiver from toe to head. That was a signal or an alarm of nature for sending her a message. It didn’t take more than a few seconds for her to realize. She turned back again and wrapped the old man around with the brown shawl she purchased a few minutes ago. For the dog, Rene had a small shawl in her purse, which she had purchased a week ago for herself. The old man smiled and the dog barked at her, both expressed their gratitude in the manner they could. Rene stood up and the wind passed through her again but this time she didn’t feel the shiver because she saved someone from it. Rene felt spiritual, that joy in her then was more than the joy of the festival she had all day.

The phone rang and it was her sister again.

“Hello”, said Rene with a cheerful voice.

“What happened to you? Why do you sound so happy now? Did you meet a celebrity?”, asked her sister in curiosity.

“Yes! I met Santa Claus”, answered Rene.

 

This Christmas, instead of expecting a gift for yourself from Santa be someone else’s Santa. For a day, be a Santa for a person or animal who really needs one in their life and see how beautiful impact that will leave on them and a peaceful one on you. A good deed brings good karma.

Source: Popular Science

‘I saw a Santa Claus’, said I,  
They laughed and made fun of me,
I turned and looked back at him,
I couldn’t see if Santa was a
She/He/It/Them, young or old,
But Santa definitely was kind,
Brought a smile,
Helped a needy and relaxed a stressed,
‘Have you seen a Santa?’, asked I,
They said, ‘NO’,
Well, you will find one, if you seek kindness.

 

-by,

Humaira Kazi.