Author's Notes

This was just a little idea that popped into my mind on the night before Christmas Eve, and I had to get it out of my system. Plus, I haven't updated in a while, so I figured all my readers, as well as myself, could use a little Christmas treat.

Something To Believe In

The snow drifted downward, first in little puffs, then growing into larger chunks. Tomorrow the streets would be covered in the cold blanket of white, and all the parents in the cul-de-sac would shove the older kids out the door to shovel away the blanketed driveways. It was the way it was every year.

Throwing his bundled arms around his shoulders, Eddy shivered in the sudden freeze, teeth chattering against the stubbornly-worn sweater instead of the more common winter coat. His parents got him a new one every year and always tried to make him wear that stupid thing…but he hated it. It made him look like a marshmallow. Puffing hot air onto his mittened hands, he rubbed them together rapidly, attempting to warm his body in whatever way he could. He hated admitting weakness despite his young age, so he trotted onward, shoes shuffling in the freshly fallen snow. Slight tears melted in his eyes and froze upon hitting the freezing air; turning to glance back at his house, he stared daggers at his supposed home. He spent every Christmas there since he was born - tree decorated, stockings hung, and presents wrapped (though always articles of clothing). But it was different this year.

Turning his attention away from those thoughts, he saw Edd’s house across the street and thought about what it must be like to celebrate Christmas in a new house, in a new neighborhood…where nobody really knew you or your family. Sure, he and Ed had quickly befriended him, and the rest of the kids in the cul-de-sac liked him well enough, but did anybody really know how he felt? Anger glinting in his vision, Eddy raced to the boy’s house, halting only a few feet away to gather a small ball of slush in his hand and slam it against his foggy bedroom window with full force. Only a couple of minutes passed before he saw hands reaching for the window pane to slide the sheet of glass upward, permitting the sharp air to enter his sheltered abode. Looking this way, then that, a tiny Edd finally looked down to see Eddy, face bright red, glaring up at him in obvious rage…but something else was there too. Was it…despair? Confusion?

“Eddy?” Edd squeaked, voice cracking with the sudden chill. “What are you doing here? You do know it’s Christmas Eve?” he questioned, clasping his hat to his head for fear the forceful gales might take it for their own.

Eddy simply stared up at him, anger and sadness evident in his eyes, words escaping his cluttered mind. “So…what'cha doin’ for Christmas?”

Edd blinked, puzzled at first, but then he understood. Idle talk was Eddy’s way of crying for help; if anything, that’s what he’d come to learn during his short, six-month stay in the cul-de-sac.

“Would you like to come in for some eggnog and cookies?” Edd called down to him. Glancing back at his house for just a moment, Eddy decided they probably wouldn’t miss him for a couple more hours. Parents only noticed their children on Christmas until it was time to wake up and open all the presents. Yes, he was safe…for now. He watched Edd slide the window back down and scurry downstairs, reappearing at the front door a few seconds later.

Stepping inside the house for the first time, Eddy realized the monotonous white walls housed a rather homey interior. The living room stood in immaculate fashion, three stockings hung lightly on brick, and a comfy rug placed gently on the carpet. But there was still something…odd about the house. There was this empty, deserted feeling Eddy just couldn’t shake, and seeing an ashen fireplace and feeling cold within the floors, he knew there was more to this kid’s life than he let on.

“I apologize that Mother and Father aren’t home,” Edd began as he shut the winter frost outside of the house, “but they won’t mind that you’re here as long as we stick to the downstairs area.”

Motioning for Eddy to follow him, Edd led the way into the kitchen. Eddy let his prying eyes drift around the room; yellow sticky notes covered every inch of it, notes scrawled in mysterious blue ink and staring him down as though they could sense an intruder. Opening a sky blue refrigerator door to retrieve a carton of eggnog, Edd proceeded to gather two small glasses and two small plates from the cabinetry, setting everything on the light green counter in ornate display.

Eddy watched him pour the silky cream into the glasses in awe, wondering how this tiny boy of four years of age could do so much. Didn’t his parents teach him how to act like a kid? Not a drop of eggnog escaped the carton onto the counter, and once he started placing reindeer cookies on the plates, no crumbs collapsed onto the tiled floor. Here he was, crying about some fat guy in a red suit, while this kid couldn’t even have a proper Christmas!

“Spill it!” Eddy cried out in agitation, causing Edd to peer up at him, completely perplexed. “Toss it, eat it, do something, for crying out loud!” Eddy scrambled to his side, grabbed a cookie from the red plate and stuck it between Edd’s teeth, the small gap abnormally noticeable.

“Go ahead, bite its head off!” Eddy yelled violently, forgetting his own problems for the moment and focusing all his energy on the poor boy in front of him, who was so afraid to do wrong…and on Christmas Eve!

In that split second between right and wrong, Edd’s eyes flickered with hesitance, looking down at the cookie thrust strangely between his well-kept teeth.

“Do it!” Eddy roared enthusiastically, before Edd slowly bit down, chewed the sugary substance, and swallowed thickly, eyes scrunched shut in disbelief. His mind raced frantically.

You always offer your guests first, always!

Obviously pleased with himself, Eddy snickered in triumph at the frowning boy licking his lips in disgust before him. Regaining his composure, Edd opened his eyes slowly and breathed deeply before continuing to pour the eggnog.

“Why aren’t you with your family on Christmas Eve, Eddy?” Edd asked, silently putting aside the cookie incident of five seconds ago.

“Eh, Christmas carols give me a headache,” Eddy fibbed, waving a hand as if it were no big deal.

“But, Eddy…! Christmas is a time to spend with those you love most!” Edd held his hands clasped together, a dreamy look coming over his face.

Eddy thought about it for a moment and wondered about his own family…as well as Edd’s.

“Oh, yeah?! Well, what about your family? Where are your parents?!” Eddy retorted, arms extended at both sides to exaggerate the empty house in which they stood. Edd shifted uncomfortably, tapping a foot against the yellow-tinted tile in apparent embarrassment.

“They’re…out.” That’s all he said. Eyes glued to the ground, Edd solemnly dodged the touchy topic.

“What do you mean, ‘They’re out?’” Eddy dug deeper, determined to understand his new friend’s plight.

Edd looked up in dismay. “I wish I could tell you….”

“What do you mean? Why can’t you?” Eddy pressed further.

“Eddy, there’s a reason you came here tonight, isn’t there?” Edd pushed his slipping hat up above his eyes, purposefully changing the subject.

“I told you! I hate-”

“It’s not the carols, Eddy, is it?” Edd said gently.

Eddy stopped a moment, reflecting on what had happened earlier that day. He parted his lips to say something, then thought better of it, only to open them again to finally speak.

“Do you…” he faltered, “do you believe there’s a…Santa Claus?”

Taken aback, Edd’s eyes widened in surprise. “Why do you as-”

“Just answer the question!” Eddy demanded impatiently.

“Well, what do you believe?”

“All I know, is my brother said he ‘aint real!” Eddy spewed, lifting a glass of eggnog and sipping in obstinate submission, stealing a frosted cookie from the plate closest to him and promptly sinking his teeth into it.

Edd grabbed his own glass to sip, pondering Eddy’s words. “Do you believe everything your brother tells you, Eddy?” He chose his words carefully, as not to rile Eddy’s already tried temper, since he guessed how much his brother meant to him.

“No,” Eddy said stubbornly, lowering his glass. But Edd knew better.

“Eddy, I know you look up to and respect your brother, but doesn’t it matter what you believe?”

“Reindeer flying; around the world in a night; a big, fat guy coming down your chimney…it’s all a load of bunk, anyway,” Eddy seethed. Then he looked up. “What do you think?”

Edd exhaled before replying. “I believe in Saint Nicholas, but I know there’s no ‘fat guy who comes down your chimney.’” A single tear glimmered in his eye, wavering ever so slightly.

Eddy’s expression shifted. “What?”

Edd looked lost in thought, glancing in the direction of the screen door, outside the kitchen. “The first Christmas I remember, I was home alone,” he began. “I pledged to stay up all night, just to catch a glimpse of ol’ Saint Nick.” He smiled to himself.

“I fell fast asleep at only nine o’clock. I’m never one for staying up late.” Edd let out a small chuckle at that. “I woke up in exuberance, so excited at the prospect of finding that special gift under the tree, but when I climbed nimbly down the staircase and scrambled into the living room…there was nothing under that tree.”

Eddy suddenly felt numb inside, as though everything in the world were a lie, to leave this boy family-less and gift-less on Christmas. That in itself must surely prove the non-existence of Santa.

“What did you mean when you said you believed in ‘St. Nick?’” Eddy queried. “Who’s that?”

“You don’t know the story of Saint Nicholas?” Edd asked, as if it were a crime not to know. Eddy just shook his head, and Edd’s heart raced with excitement.

Maybe this was that special gift he’d been waiting for all along…it had just come late, that was all; a belated holiday present, to re-instill the Christmas spirit in his frostbitten heart. And as Edd set down his glass and the cookie he’d absentmindedly been nibbling on, he extended his hand with that inviting grin of his.

“I’ll tell you all about it.”