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| On Christmas Eve assembled, In nearby Hancock Park, Three children from New England, Bright eyes gleaming in the dark. |
| “Does it seem like Christmas
Eve to you?” Whispered the eldest child. “There's still no snow and the forecast For tomorrow's ‘fair and mild.’” |
| The second eldest answered, “Well, we've got our Christmas tree, With lights and balls and tinsel. Now, that’s real Christmasy.” |
| “We got a lot of Christmas
cards,” Admitted the eldest child. “And Grandma sent us Christmas cookies,” Said the second boy, and smiled. |
| “And our socks!
Don’t forget our socks! We finally got them hung . . .” “Shhh! Not so loud or we’ll get caught.” “And the Christmas carols we’ve sung, |
| Dad brought home the
turkey, And Mom’s been cooking and cooking!” “Let’s get to bed.” “How can you sleep?” “He won’t come, if anyone’s looking.” |
| “If you wake up first,
you wake me up!” Said the second and jumped into bed. “Whoever wakes up gets everybody up!” (That’s what the eldest said.) |
| “You, too!” said the
second to the youngest, Just to be sure that he’d heard, For all the time the others had talked, The youngest had said not a word. |
| The youngest boy climbed
into bed And thoughtfully rubbed his nose, And pulled on his ears, and hugged his knees And artfully wriggled his toes. |
| Then he asked, in a voice
that quavered, Filled with doubt and woe, “How will Santa land his sleigh On a roof that has no snow?” |
| At first, both his brothers
were dumbstruck, But then, the eldest child, Who, eight years old, knew everything, Sat up in bed and smiled. |
| “Now, that’s ridiculous!”
said he, with a grin, “What a silly thing to say. In Southern California, Santa won’t come in a sleigh.” |
| “He won’t come in a sleigh,”
the second agreed. Said the first, with considerable poise, “He'll prob’ly come in a big rig.” “Yeah! Filled top to bottom with toys!” |
| “Out here, Santa comes
in a big rig. ’Member we went to the store And Santa asked us what we wanted? ’Member the whiskers he wore? |
| If you were worried,
you should’ve asked him. He would have told you how.” Said the second child. “Now, go to sleep. He’s on his way right now!” |
| “How’d he drive a big
rig up on the roof?” The little one wanted to know. “He won’t drive it up,” the eldest boy said. “The reindeers will give it a tow!” |
| “That's it, boys!
Now, no more noise!” Said their Dad, who’d appeared at the door. “Get to sleep, if you want Santa to come. Now, I don’t want to hear any more!” |
| The children slammed
their eyes shut, ’Til their father walked off down the hall, But then, when they were quite sure he’d gone And wouldn’t hear through the wall, |
| The second boy said,
“See what you did?” “Be quiet! It’s all right. Just go to sleep!” said the eldest. And the youngest said, “Good night!” |
| Despite the excitement,
the older boys Were asleep in less than a wink. But the youngest boy couldn’t sleep at all. All he did was just lay and think. |
| “Santa Claus doesn’t
drive a truck. He just only has a sleigh. And back home, there’s always plenty of snow, ’Specially on Christmas Day. |
| And even if it melts
by morning, It always falls during the night. And Santa can land on the least little snow — Even if it snows real light” |
| But although he fretted
and tossed and turned, He just could not understand How, lacking snow on the rooftop, Santa’s sleigh could land! |
| He believed that Santa
Claus would come, For they’d all been good little boys And mostly didn’t fight or cry, And mostly shared their toys, |
| So, he felt quite certain
that Santa would come, But he just had to know How Santa Claus could land his sleigh On a roof that had no snow. |
| Quietly, he crept out
of bed And went down to the Christmas tree. Then he crept behind the draperies, Where he could wait and see. |
| “Quick, wake up!
He didn’t call us! He’s already up and gone!” “What time is it?” “It’s five past six! Get up quick! C'mon!” |
| Both older boys donned
their slippers and robes. Then, the eldest one thoughtfully said, “We’d better wake up Mom and Dad. They’re prob’ly still in bed.” |
| “Mom? Mom?
Wake up! Wake up, Dad! It’s already Christmas day!” “Oh, what are you two doing up? Go back to bed! Go play!” |
| “But it’s already Christmas
morning!” “Where’s . . .” “He’s already gone to the tree!” “I wonder if Santa found our new house?” “I hope so!” “C’mon! Let’s go see.” |
| All together, they went
to the parlor, Where, to both boys' enormous glee, They found the youngest boy asleep, Curled up ’neath the Christmas tree. |
| “Now, there’s a sight!”
said their father. Said their mother, “He looks so sweet! Oh, quick, take a picture before he wakes up.” But the child woke and sprang to his feet! |
| “Mommy! I saw Santa!”
he yelled. “He does it with magic, you know!” “What do you mean?” his mother asked. “I mean about the snow!” |
| “Snow?” asked his Dad,
“in Hancock Park? It couldn’t have snowed last night.” “But, Dad, Santa Claus has magic! I know it with all my might!” |
| “With all your might?”
his father laughed. “That’s quite a lot, I guess!” “Did you really see Santa,” the second boy sneered And the youngest boy answered, “Yes! |
| And he doesn’t drive
a big rig, And he does just have eight reindeers, And he just only has a great, big sleigh.” And his eyes brimmed bright with tears. |
| “So, how did he land
his ‘great, big sleigh’ Without any snow on the roof?” Asked the eldest boy and the second one said, “Yeah, we’re waiting to hear some proof!” |
| “It’s secret magic,”
the youngest boy said. “I’m not allowed to say.” “You’ll have to do better than that,” said the first. Said the second, “C’mon! We ain’t got all day — ” |
| “Perhaps you were dreaming,”
his mother said. “Yeah. You made it all up in your sleep!” Said the second boy and the eldest boy grinned And the youngest boy started to weep. |
| “Now, look, boys,” said
their father, “After all, you were both still in bed, As you should have been —” “I got my bike!” Well, that’s what the youngest boy said |
| And from that moment
on, the discoveries Of who got what and from whom And whose toys were best and all of the rest Of Christmas day filled the room. |
| For Santa Claus had come,
indeed, And there seemed no end to their toys And their stockings were filled to the tippity tops, For they mostly had been good boys. |
| As for how Santa landed
on a roof, Without snow, in a sleigh, Only the littlest boy ever knew And he would never say. |
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