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時間：2005-05-07 23:34

   欣賞故事‧
   摘自天下文壇   畢泠  2005-05-07 23:34
http://yuhsia.com/ccb/index.pl
1 ‧欣賞故事‧練習詩文‧..... 歡迎大家一起來練習寫故事，作詩、填詞 ......

THE YEAR THAT SANTA DISAPPEARED ... for just a while

adapted with permission by Amy Friedman from a story by Kate Phillips and illustrated by Jillian Gilliland

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Long ago, so long ago that few remember, a wicked wizard lived on the far side of the sunset. There he prepared evil spells to destroy happiness and laughter, pleasure and joy. One day he was bored by his old spells, and so he rubbed his hands together and said to himself, "Hmmm, what next?"
He thought and thought. "Who creates so much happiness? Who ruins all my plots?" He frowned darkly and thought some more. And suddenly the answer came to him, clear as the bright crescent moon. "It's obvious!" he cried.

Indeed, it was such an astonishing revelation that the wizard almost smiled. "I must capture Santa Claus!" he crowed. "Then millions and millions of people all over the world will be completely miserable!"

Now, the task of capturing Santa Claus was simple, for he was a trusting fellow. Besides, this was late in the fall, and Santa had a lot on his mind. Part of his brain was working triple time trying to file everybody's wishes. He filed "I wishes" and "I wants" and "If-only-Santa-will-bring-me's" in one part of his brain. In the other he placed "Just-maybe-Santa-wills" and "If-only-Santa-woulds," and he walked along the road humming merrily to himself. He was minding all this business, peering inside store windows and browsing through stores and market stalls.

Now, remember, in the fall Santa looks just like everyone else. There he was, minding the world's business, walking along wearing his coat and suit and shiny shoes when all of a sudden -- WHOMP -- he stepped into the wicked wizard's trap.

SWOOSH, he was swept into the wicked wizard's invisible steel web. Up, up, up he went, whisked off the street, whooshed off the Earth, whirled and twirled and swept away to the far side of the sunset.

"Gotcha!" cried the wizard as he rubbed his hands together and danced up and down. He felt -- well, he almost felt happy now that he had captured Santa Claus.

Santa stared at the wizard. He felt sad. One part of his brain thought of all the people who would be so disappointed come Christmas Day, and another part of his brain thought about all the chores he had yet to do. Another part of his brain thought about how sad he would be not to see his dear wife that evening, and yet another part of his brain thought about how strange it was to be there, on the far side of the sunset.

Then he thought about the dismal time ahead and about his bright red suit trimmed in white fur hanging limply in his closet back at home, and he thought about his reindeer standing idly in the snow, and he about the anxious elves who were awaiting word from him.

Santa drew in a deep breath and stared at the wizard. "How could you do this?" he cried.

"It's wonderful, don't you think?" cackled the wizard.

And then Santa had a magnificent, glorious notion. He breathed in so deeply that all the buttons popped off his double-breasted dark business suit. He let all the air out in one tremendous sigh, looked down at his shoes and shook his head. "You win, wizard," he said. Then he wiped a tear from his eye and said, "Could you leave me for just one moment? I want to be sad all alone."

The wizard was suspicious for a moment, but he thought, "Oh well, what joy can he bring now?" and so he skipped off to his spell room to cook up some more wickedness.

The moment the wizard was out of thought range, Santa smiled. His eyes sparkled. His lips twitched. And he closed his eyes and thought. "Oh wizard," he said to himself, "you think you know it all! How foolish of you."

What the wizard did not know was that Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus knew how to communicate with each other through loving-thought waves. They did not need to see each other. They did not need a phone, a radio, a writing pad. They did not even need to speak to each other, for they had been sending each other loving-thought waves for many, many years, and they always understood each other.

So Santa sent his dear wife a message by loving-thought wave:

"I'm trapped on the far side of the sunset and I'm not certain how soon I can get free. Here is what you must do. You and the elves must sew thousands of suits exactly like mine. You must make them in all shapes and sizes. You must make them for fat men and thin men and tall men and short men and old men and young men. You must make them for women, too -- tall and short and thin and fat and old and young. And you must fashion boots and beards and send these all over the world. Tell people they will have to take my place, just this year. They will have to make dreams come true."

Of course Mrs. Claus got the message, and in a moment she and all the elves were hard to work. Within days, thousands of Santa suits and boots and beards were traveling all over the world. Soon there were thousands and thousands of men and women wearing those suits and boots and beards, and there were Santas everywhere, on every street corner. Santas rang bells and Santas propped children on their knees; Santas sang carols and Santas laughed and offered joy. Everywhere people looked, there was a Santa.

Now, back on the far side of the sunset, the wizard looked down, and when he saw all the Santas, he ran to see the real Santa Claus. "What have you done!" he cried.

"I sent a message by loving-thought waves," Santa said.

And this so upset the wizard that he breathed in much too hard, and the next moment he was falling, down, down, down, spinning out beyond the Earth's atmosphere, beyond the black holes. And no one ever heard from him again.

Then Santa Claus was free, and he returned to Mrs. Claus. "Hmmm," he said, "with all this help I can finish work a little earlier. We'll have a little time to put up our feet and relax this year." And so they did.

Now, all the new Santas so loved their new jobs that the next year they begged Santa to let them work again, and every year since they have begged Santa, and Santa Claus never says no. Ever since, the real Santa visits everyone, everywhere in the world every year, but only Mrs. Claus knows exactly who the real Santa is.

COPYRIGHT 2004 UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE
    天下文壇天下文壇畢泠  2005-05-07 23:34
http://yuhsia.com/ccb/index.pl