The festive lights of Canton, Mississippi’s square burned through the gloom of the falling mist. It was late Christmas Eve and most of the residents had gone to bed. They hoped for a visit from the North Pole’s most famous resident (and dreamed of all the joy that Christmas brings.) Two dark figures were silhouetted as they headed quickly toward the mansions along Peace Street.
Edward Willingham II and his dog Peyton hurried to get out of the cold, miserable rain. There was nothing special about this night to the beaten-down man. Christmas had died five years ago along with his wife JoAnne.
Edward and JoAnne had had it all. He was a successful banker in town. She was the glue that held the city’s social scene together. But emergency heart surgery had ended all that. She had died three times on the table due to uncontrolled bleeding and then slipped into a coma. She died the fourth and final time three months later after Edward had to make the painful decision to pull the plug. That decision had cost him more than just the love of his life — It also cost him his son and granddaughter. The father and son disagreed violently about taking the brain-dead woman off of life-support. Security had to be called to break up the fight between the two grieving men in the hospital that sad December day. Now he didn’t even know where they lived.
Edward unlocked the five locks on his door and disarmed the security system. He reset it and went into the old mansion. Any semblance of it being a home had faded with JoAnne’s death. Now it was a big, dark, empty bachelor pad, full of empty cans and broken dreams. He went to the kitchen, got a snack for Peyton and a glass of bourbon for himself. Like every night, his green recliner was calling to him like a siren song. He once again gave into its temptation and Peyton jumped into his lap. He sat in silence, missing his wife and dreamed about what his granddaughter looked like.
Just as he was nodding off to sleep, he heard a thump on the roof. He quickly grabbed his shotgun and prepared to dust off the Castle Doctrine. But when he ran outside, he saw nothing. Then suddenly, he heard bells and he looked quickly to the northern sky. There he thought he saw something fly quickly away. As he stared at the sky, a scroll of paper fell out of the sky and hit him in the head.
Startled, he ducked down and saw something in the grass. It was old-looking parchment with a red ribbon around it. He grabbed it with his free hand and he and Peyton walked back into the house.
A flick of a switch turned on his office’s lights. He sat down at his desk and carefully took the ribbon off so he could unroll the scroll. It was blank. “Odd,” he thought. “Why would a blank scroll just fall out of the sky?” And as he started to roll it back up, he noticed words begin to magically appear on the paper.
“Santa’s List.”
Edward, who did not believe in Christmas, felt his jaw drop. What kind of joke was this? He ran back outside and heard bells yet again. And then he saw it — a small sleigh being pulled by actual flying reindeer. Edward thought of the drink he had been drinking and shook his head to clear it. OK, so unless what he was seeing was a complete figment of his imagination, Santa was real. And then he paused for a moment and thought — and I HAVE HIS LIST.
Edward ran back into the house and unrolled the list again. It read:
“Santa’s List.”
Number one — Give a bear to the precious girl with no hair. 242 State Street, Jackson, MS
He turned on his iPad and quickly looked up the address. It was the state’s children’s hospital. A sick little girl would not be getting her present. And at that moment, a man who did not believe in Christmas vowed to finish Santa’s list. “C’mon, Peyton. We have work to do.”
So the old man and his dog hopped into his Lexus SUV and headed into the night.
He found a big-box discount store still open and quickly purchased the biggest bear he could find. He then discovered a Santa suit on discount and bought it, too. If he was going to be Santa, he had to look the part. He and Peyton drove south down I-55 to the hospital. Santa Edward stopped at the nurses’ station and gave little Jennie Jenkins her precious bear.
He unrolled the scroll and saw the request marked off. Then another request appeared:
Number two — Help out Mike and give him a bike. 6754 Whispering Pines Lane, Brandon, MS.
At another store, a groggy worker helped Santa Edward load up the bike into the back of the SUV. Santa Edward delivered it with a big red ribbon on little Mike’s carport.
The scroll once again magically marked off another thing off the list. Then the next item appeared:
Number three — Little Riley Jane really wants a video game. 4564 Oak Hollow Lane, Madison, MS.
Santa Edward returned to the store and quickly loaded a Nintendo Wii into his backseat. He drove to Madison and dropped the gift off at the brick home. He then sat in the cul-de sac waiting for the scroll to reveal his next mission.
Number four — Jemal wants a brand new football. 213 Wiley Post Circle, Jackson.
Santa Edward dropped off a brand new Rawlings football to a very deserving child. He pulled into a gas station in Ridgeland to fill up his tank. He looked at his watch — it was 5 a.m. “I don’t know how you do it, old man, but delivering toys is not for sissies.” Edward said to himself as he pumped gas. He then reached into the front seat and pulled back out the list. The previous four requests were tidily scratched out and now a fifth one appeared:
Number five: She asked for a glove but what she really needs is your love. 293 Bells Valley Road, Florence.
While he did not understand the second part, he went back to the big box store and bought a nice softball glove and tied a red ribbon around it. He started the SUV and he and Peyton headed south down Highway 49 to the town of Florence.
The dawn was breaking when he arrived at the small brick ranch house. The rising sun caused shadows that tickled the land. He pulled into the driveway, killed the engine and quietly tried to get up the front door without being heard. But just then, a light went on and the door flew open.
Standing there was a man and a little girl. “Dad? What are you doing here?” The little girl looked just like her grandmother JoAnne.
Edward stood there stunned, wearing a Santa suit and holding a glove. Tears began to stream down his tired but loving face. As the father and son hugged and the little girl played with her new friend Peyton, the real Santa Claus flew over the house and smiled. Christmas wishes do come true. All thanks to Santa’s List.
