Written by Arjun Sahdev

Santa’s round belly, joyous, booming laugh and fluffy beard easily make him the most magical being to kids everywhere. So magical that, for awhile, people believe he is real. But there comes a time in everyone’s life where they begin to realize Jolly Saint Nick is just a figment of their imagination. Unfortunately though, my discovery was rather abrupt and easy to discern.

Christmas Eve, also known as the longest night ever, heightened my desire of catching Santa. Restlessly rolling around in bed, all I could think about was the old man taking my cookies and the presents he would bring me as compensation. I carefully researched and crafted a list, determined to make this Christmas legendary. Would he get me the Thomas the Tank Engine train set that I had been highly anticipating? Unfortunately, I had great plans to catch Santa, sleepiness eventually settled in.

That Christmas morning I ran through the house at 6:00 a.m, jumping up and down and screaming out of pure elation at the arrival of the presents. Looking back at my overwhelming exhilaration, I now feel so bad for my family who had to deal with my uncontrollable excitement so early in the morning, but to me, Santa was

real and this was proof.

Nearly three hours later, my mom and two older sisters unwillingly trudged towards the tree, lined with glistening ornaments, flashing lights and topped off with a grand star. I could not wait to savagely rip the wrapping paper from my gifts. As I stacked my gifts in their own sanctioned off pile, I realized my dad wasn’t with us. My mom had her camera out even though she could barely even use it, which mean something big was about to happen.

Bells jingled and stomps echoed. Santa gallivanted through the halls into the present room with a cheery “ho, ho, ho!” But there was something off about this Santa.

I could see black stubble underneath the lopsided white beard. His skin was brown with patches of unnatural white that looked like sunblock.

“Dad?”  “Silly boy, this is Santa! Now open your presents!”

Instead of obeying the large man I decided to grab his beard and run. The jolly smile immediately turned into a scowl.

And that was the last time brown Santa ever thought of intruding. To this day, I still don’t have any evidence proving Santa is nonexistent, but I do know one doesn’t need to have rosy red cheeks and an army of reindeer to be the most magical man on earth. Sometimes, the most magical people are right next to you, making you smile everyday, and you don’t even know it. Thanks, Dad.