One Magic Night by Deborah Walker Wright

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That night I woke up to hearing my baby sister Lucy,  age 4 whispering to me, age 8, that she needed to go to the bathroom. Today that would be as simple as sliding out of bed, padding to the bathroom and doing your business and then padding back to a big soft bed. Not so in our old house in Indiana! We had a one seater out house and if you had to go outside, it was a chore. So my response was "Let's go!" It was Christmas vacation from school and we were so hyped up about Santa coming and what presents he would bring us so going to the outhouse wasn't that big of a deal! We pulled our coats and boots and hats on and headed down the basement stairs and out the back of the basement into a truly white December night. The air was so still and cold, we felt breathless! The stars were twinkling all around us and we hurried to our duties. As we walked back up the sidewalk to the basement door and our warm house, we saw some falling stars. Lucy caught her breath and whispered, "Is that reindeer and Santa flying up there?" I gasped cause just at that moment, we heard bells! Were we seeing and hearing stuff? Two girls frozen in space and time stood for two seconds and then we ran as fast as we could to the safety of our house where the big coal stove warmed our little house and our parents and brother, Larry slept. Running through the basement, running up the stairs and jumping into our warm fluffy bed, we laid there breathlessly holding hands. Our hearts beat fast and we knew we had just seen Santa. The next morning while Mommy made pancakes and sausage, we told her the story and she assured us that was indeed Santa making sure everything was ready for Christmas! Mommy believed, we believed and everyone who didn't believe was just plain dumb. That year we opened our toys and remembered the night Santa saw us and knew we were ready! We heard him several times through the years while we shared the same bed until I grew up and got married. Christmas was never as sweet as those years we spent listening and hoping and knowing! And, until her death four years ago, Mommy still believed! 

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