Back for these holidays, the Snapshots series, an end-of-year gift from journalists from Duty, offers fiction texts inspired by archive photos sent by readers to the editorial staff. Today, a text from Jessica Nadeau and her son based on a photo by Diane Ippersiel.
It was Christmas Eve. Like all children in the world, Raphaël and Abigaël hoped to catch Santa Claus. Their parents had long gone to bed when they heard a noise coming from the fireplace.
“It’s much too early,” said Raphaël, who had spent the evening making clever calculations to determine the precise moment of the old bearded man’s passage. First they saw feet coming out of the chimney. Much smaller than they had imagined. Then a red dress. And beautiful big white hair. Mother Christmas! ? !
The children were a little disappointed, but Mother Christmas there, at their house, was still not nothing. “Santa Claus and all the elves are sick,” explained Mother Christmas, in a soft and resolute voice, despite the worry that was gnawing at her. It is a very contagious and even fatal disease, but children and women are immune. This is why I need your help. Since you had the most beautiful Christmas decorations on Earth, I figured you were the perfect candidates! »
The challenge was significant. We had to go get a giant Christmas candy cane from the top of Everest. Raphaël and Abigaël were about to board Santa’s sleigh when they thought of the yeti. They had to bring him a gift so that he would let them climb to the top. So they took a beautiful gingerbread house, which they had not even tasted yet, and flew towards Everest.
The yeti had seen the light of the sleigh in the sky and was waiting for them. He was there, acting tough, when they landed a few kilometers from the summit. The yeti was very impressed by the amount of detail in this beautiful gingerbread house and accepted the gift, although he did not quite understand what use it could be for him. But he warned them: if they wanted to climb to the top, they would first have to undergo a series of tests.
First test: snowball fight. No matter how fast the children went, the yeti was always faster. But Abigaël was aiming incredibly well: she hit the yeti with a perfect ball which exploded in its face. The yeti laughed with pleasure. It wasn’t every day that he could have fun like this.
Second test: a competition for the most beautiful snow castle. It was in the bag, said the children who had been practicing for years in the backyard. Their fort was the most beautiful of all: a suspended walkway, a turret, attack posts with snowball cannons and a secret sliding exit. They even managed to steal the yeti’s panties to hang as a flag.
The children and the yeti were having so much fun that they didn’t notice the time passing. But Mother Christmas called them to order. There were only a few hours left before dawn, we had to save Christmas!
The yeti didn’t want to leave the children anymore. He helped them climb to the top where they found the giant Christmas candy cane with tempting colors. Raphaël and Abigaël really wanted to bite into it, but Santa Claus and the elves needed it to heal. Before saying goodbye to the yeti, the children built him a snowman so he wouldn’t feel too alone. Then they took the path to the North Pole.
Santa’s kingdom was even more beautiful than anything they had imagined. But the atmosphere was sad. Santa Claus was crying his eyes out and the elves, in despair, were banging their heads against the walls. We had to act as quickly as possible.
In Mother Christmas’s kitchen, Raphaël and Abigaël reduced the immense candy to powder and made it into a gigantic cake. The smell attracted the sick to the kitchen. They ate everything, like true gourmands. They were still licking their fingers when they began to realize that they were healed. Hooray!
But there was no longer a second to lose. Dawn was already breaking. Santa used his magical powers to stop time and gave orders left and right to keep the global delivery running smoothly. He had to beat his own record.
Given the urgency of the situation, he asked Raphael and Abigail to help him. He would pilot the machine and the children would go down the chimneys to deliver the presents. It would go faster since they were smaller. Santa Claus didn’t want to say it, but his big belly was causing him more and more problems in the chimneys. But be careful, the children had to bring him the cookies, all the same! Raphaël and Abigaël were the happiest children in the world!
While having their coffee the next morning, the parents wondered why Raphaël and Abigaël had not yet gotten up. “Get up, children, it’s Christmas morning,” exclaimed the mother as she entered the twins’ bedroom. They had barely had time to slip under the duvet and pretended to be asleep. They were tired, but far too excited to fall asleep. And then, all these adventures had whetted their appetite.
While eating their pancakes with maple syrup, they told their parents about their magical Christmas night. “You had sweet dreams, I see,” said the father, laughing heartily with the mother. Clearly, the parents were just too old to understand, said Raphaël and Abigaël, who promised themselves to always keep their childish hearts.
Jessica Nadeau and Milan Demers (9 and 3/4 years old)