Saturday 20 December 2014

Santa of the Evening

It was 24th December and Santa Clause had been her all time favorite character. But now she was a grown up and she believed that Santa is for kids, so this time she decided to become one. She was a reader, a novel nerd. Someone who had nobody except the books. Each book was an individual friend of her. She believed that books can make good human beings. 
She stood in front of the mirror which reflected the bookshelf behind her back and murmured "people can become humans by reading books. Nobody will break anybody's heart, nobody would lie, love will be in the air" She giggled. It was her perception of books and life mixed together. According to her, reading was magical. She thought that books can change people or maybe improve people. She chuckled while she stood and stared deep into the mirror.
"It is Santa's time. But how will I look with a white fake beard? Neaahh!! Not good. Ugly. Too ugly. I will... No ! Let me change first" she said it all to herself.
Few minutes later she again stood in front of the same mirror with her long and straight hair lying open in a red colored dress.
"Mirror mirror on the wall! Who's the Santa of us all?" She laughed and said "Me."
She got ready. She looked simple but beautiful. Simple as she just left her hair open and beautiful because she had only kohl in her eyes and Santa's dress on her elegant body.
In the evening she walked till the church with a red colored bag filled with little gifts. So SHE WAS GOING TO BE THE SANTA OF THE EVENING.
She reached the church and stood outside the gate. She went and gave gifts to children who exited the church gates. She was happy and made everybody happy too.
Few hours later she started noticing something. A little boy, whom she had given a present, came to her and gave her a present. He smiled "A return gift." She saw him in wonder and said "Santa gives gift. They don't take gifts." The little boy pointed towards his red santa cap and repeated her words. He handed her the gift forcibly and walked away waving his hand.
The girl still in shock looked at the gift, it seemed to be a book, she was able to feel it. But before that she noticed something written on the cover which read as "This is", she looked around in amusement in order to complete the sentence. She got nothing. She decided to open the gift with her thin fingers and then she discovered a book by Rhonda Byrne "The Secret." The sentence was completed; "this is The Secret."
She thought that how the boy knew that she is a reader. She missed a lot of her little santas. She kept the book inside murmuring "obviously ! I know that this is the secret. How foolish label."
She again started giving presents and then she was full off amusement when she again saw a little boy coming towards her. He gave her another book and ran. He didn't give her even a second to say anything. The wrapper had "of" written on it. She thought deeply "Of? another sentence or continuation. Ermm..! This is The Secret of?"
She unwrapped the book and discovered that it was a book by Sidney Sheldon "The Best Laid Plans".
She again framed a sentence "This is The Secret of The Best Laid Plans...?" 
She was furiously charmed when she saw three more little kids coming towards her and offering her different books with wrappers of different colors. They all started shouting "Take mine", "Take this one." But her eyes spotted a book held by a boy who was six or seven years old, he was extremely quite. She took the book from his hand which had "Pick" written over it.
She uncovered the book and discovered "The Colour Purple" by Alice Walker.
So this was a mystery that was going on. It went like "This is The Secret of The Best Laid Plans. Pick The Colour Purple"
She looked for a book covered with purple color wrapper. It had "And you will be" written over it. 
She became curious. Her excitement about completing a hunt touched the sky.
She again unwrapped the book and discovered "Beloved" by Toni Morrison.
She repeatedly spoke the sentence "This is The Secret of The Best Laid Plans. Pick The Colour Purple. And you will be Beloved...?"
It was 11:55 PM and she was thinking about who it can be when she glanced at a book in the hands of a little girl. It was strange that till now only little boys came up, she thought that strange things lead to strange endings. She gave a gift to the girl and took the book from her. The little girl went after giving a flying kiss,
The girl saw "To me" written on the wrapper, she uncovered the book and found Durjoy Dutta's "Till the Last Breath".
She smiled and read out loud "This is The Secret of The Best Laid Plans. Pick The Colour Purple and you will be Beloved to me Till the Last Breath."
The girl turned around, delighted, and there he stood behind her, tall, fit and bold dressed in red. A Santa Clause.
"The only clause I never studied in grammar." She murmured and ran towards him. She knew who he was.
And the church bell rang:
We wish you a Merry Christmas
We wish you a Merry Christmas
We wish you a Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year...  
Kenneth ©

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