Santa's New Suit

• Patricia Bordos, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2008

It was a crisp winter day at the North Pole, and Santa Clause and his elves were bustling around the big house getting ready for Christmas Eve. Just as Santa was about to put a bow on a wrapped up toy robot, he heard a DING DONG! “Oh! It must be another delivery!” Santa said merrily as he went downstairs. At the door, a little red-headed elf waited with three boxes piled up on top of each other. “Well hello there!” said Santa, opening the door.
“Three boxes of fresh ply wood for Santa Clause?” asked the elf whilst reading his list of deliveries.
“Yup!” replied Santa. He took the boxes and turned back to the house. He set the boxes on a table and headed upstairs to his bedroom to check his Christmas suit. On his way, he went past Mrs. Clause’s corner. Mrs. Clause’s corner had a small wooden table and a rocking chair. On the table were hundreds of reels of wool in all different colours and sizes. In one corner was a tall box filled with materials. Some would say it was a magical box, because no matter how much material was used up, the box was never empty! Mrs. Clause was in charge of making the clothing that children wrote on their Christmas list. Mrs. Clause also had hundreds and hundreds of clothing catalogues on her table. She used these magazines to get ideas and tips on how to make the clothes. As Santa walked past the small table, he spotted a catalogue called Suits Galore. On the cover was a suit that looked exactly like his, except it was dark green instead of red, and the fluffy rims on the hat and sleeve cuffs were red. Santa grabbed the magazine to have a closer look. He could now see that the suit also had tiny white specks scattered all over it. “Wow!” said Santa. “Now that looks like a suit fit for Santa Clause!” He chuckled to himself and went to the closet to find his Christmas suit.
The wind blew fiercely against the walls of the Christmas house, making the window shutters swing back and forth. The elves chucked the last wrapped present in Santa’s bag, then they sleepily turned the lights off in the Workshop and headed home. Up in the bedroom, Santa was looking through the Suits Galore magazine. There were so many suits, yet still the one on the cover was the only suit that sparked his interest. That’s it, thought Santa. “I’m going to need help from a professional!”
Downstairs Santa found Mrs, Clause in the kitchen looking up recipes in her special cook book. He sat down beside her and waited. After a few seconds Mrs. Clause lifted her head. She lowered her book and peered at Santa over her silver rimmed glasses. “Yes dear?” she asked knowingly. She had a habit of knowing what Santa was going to say before he said it. Santa placed the magazine in front of her and said his idea. “I think it would be a good surprise for the children,” Santa explained. He stared eagerly at Mrs. Clause. She stared back. “Well, what do you think?” he asked impatiently. Mrs. Clause thought for a moment, then she smiled and said, “Why, that’s a great idea dear. As long as you’re happy, it’s fine with me, and the suit looks great too!” she replied. Santa smiled and kissed his wife on the cheek. “Thank you honey!” he called down as he was speeding up the stairs. He went to the phone room to order the suit. As the phone rang, he kept daydreaming about his new suit...
The next day Santa Clause waited for his new suit to arrive. He went to feed the reindeer, and he waited. He made tea, and he waited. He checked his naughty or nice list ten times, and he waited. Santa waited and waited all day long for the doorbell to ring and for his special package to arrive. As the clock ticked and the hours passed, Santa became more and more impatient. The night became more cold and damp than the day had been. Santa bustled about under his bed sheets as he tried to get some sleep. He got out of bed and went to Mrs. Clause’s corner to get the Suits Galore catalogue. He flipped through its pages as he lay awake in bed. He still thought the suit he had ordered was the best. “I can’t wait to see the looks on the children’s faces,” he whispered to himself. A smile spread across his face as he thought of all the children in the world. He would soon see their smiling faces when they opened their Christmas gifts. Santa let this thought fill his mind, and he put the catalogue away and drifted off to sleep thinking about Christmas day.
RING RING! RING RING! Santa yawned as he turned off his alarm clock. He got changed into his red suspenders and went downstairs to the kitchen. On his way he checked into the workshop to see how things were going. A chubby elf approached him. He was carrying a silver tray with a plate of cookies and a mug of hot chocolate. Santa took the mug and started drinking. The steamy hot chocolate was nice and warm compared to the frosty winter air. Just as Santa was about to turn to go back to the kitchen, he heard the doorbell ring. Hoping it was his new suit, he quickly ran down the steps to answer the door. Unfortunately it was just another delivery. Santa took the box of supplies. He let out a sigh as he released it down the delivery shute. Was his new suit ever going to arrive? The rest of the day was a bother. Santa worked on toys impatiently as he awaited his new suit. Mrs. Clause came into his office. Santa was hammering away noisily. Mrs. Clause shook her head. “That’s not the way of Christmas,” she said to him. “You must put joy in making the toys for the children, or they shall not receive them with joy!” she continued. Santa sighed. Mrs. Clause was right, as usual. He used to have such fun creating toys for the kids, but all this waiting had made him restless. Just as he was about to keep working, the doorbell rang. Quickly, Santa went downstairs and opened the door. His suit had finally arrived! Santa was so happy. He immediately went upstairs to try it on. It fitted him perfectly! He went downstairs again and stood in the middle of the Workshop for everyone to see his new suit. All the elves oohed and ahhed. Everyone complimented his new look. Later on that day, Mrs, Clause ironed the new, shiny green suit, and Santa Clause put it away neatly in his closet. He was cheerful for the rest of the day, making toys and wrapping presents. He rested well that night, for the next day would be Christmas Eve, and he would visit shopping centres and cities, where children would wait in a straight line for their turn to tell him what they wanted for Christmas.
Santa got out of his red old fashion car. He had eaten a filling breakfast to prepare himself for the day ahead. He was also wearing his new suit, and a bright smile was spread across his face. He had arrived at his first shopping centre. On the third floor Santa found his big chair. Every shop’s chair had a different design and structure, but Santa loved them all! He sat down and waited for the children to come. Soon enough, children started to line up with their parents. “Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!” said Santa. But the children just stared at him. “You’re not Santa Clause!” exclaimed a little girl.
“Of course I am!” replied Santa. Still the children didn’t believe him.
“Let’s leave mum,” said a boy. One by one the children started to leave.
“No wait!” Santa called after them. It was no use. The children didn’t recognise him because of his new suit! Santa sighed and decided to go to his next shop. Maybe he would have better luck there. As he got in his car, he started to think that maybe his new suit wasn’t such a good idea after all. At his next destination, Santa found a cup of milk and some cookies next to his chair. He happily ate them and settled down in his chair. When the people arrived, they looked at him curiously. “Who’s that?” a little girl asked her mother.
“I’m not sure,” the lady replied. Soon, just like at the other shop, people started leaving. All through the day the children and parents didn’t recognise or believe poor old Santa. He went home feeling very down. “What’s the matter?” asked Mrs. Clause when she saw the look on Santa’s face. Santa explained everything. “Well maybe you should just change into your old suit again,” Mrs. Clause advised him. She’s right, thought Santa. So he went up to his room and opened his closet. There was his old suit, sitting neatly on the coat hanger. Santa’s heart filled with joy at the sight of his old suit. How could he possibly think any suit would be better than his? He chuckled at his silly self. Then, remembering the disappointed children at the shops, he quickly changed into his old suit and hurried back.
The rest of Santa’s day was wonderful. He wrote a list of what children wished for. Even though he already had a list, he liked to check things twice. Children liked him better when he was wearing his original suit. They were happy to see him, and some even brought him a bag of cookies! When he got home that night, he finished packing the gifts, then he set off to deliver the presents with his top chief elf, Simon. He flew across the night sky in his sleigh with Rudolf leading the way with his bright nose. Sometimes Santa just dropped the presents straight down the chimney, and with a bit of his magic they went straight under the Christmas tree. Other times he went down the chimney and placed the presents himself. He did this to houses in which the kids left milk and cookies. It was a tight squeeze through some chimneys, but he managed. All through the night Simon and Santa delivered presents. When he had finished and the moon was full, Santa flew up in his sleigh as high as he could in front of the moon and shouted, “Merry Christmas, and to all a good night!” Some children saw him, but they never knew exactly if it was Santa Clause. When he arrived back to the North Pole, Santa went to bed straight away. He was exhausted from the day’s work. Because Santa was so sleepy, he accidentally grabbed his new suit instead of his pyjamas! All night long Santa slept in his new suit. In the morning he got up early to watch the children unwrap their gifts through his giant snow globe. Mrs. Clause came in and joined him. She gasped when she saw him in his new suit. “My goodness!” she exclaimed. “Did you sleep in your new suit?” she asked. Santa nodded. “I think I did, and it was very comfortable!” Santa laughed. “You know what Mrs. Clause? I think I will use this suit as my pyjamas!” said Santa happily. Mrs. Clause smiled. She was glad that Santa had found a good use for his new suit.
That afternoon Santa Clause sat on the balcony with his wife. It was still chilly outside, but the beautiful sunset warmed their faces. They sat down drinking warm lemon tea. “Santa I must say,” started Mrs. Clause. “You look the best in your good old Santa suit!”
Santa smiled and said, “I’m never changing my Christmas suit again!” Then they sat silently and watched the sunset, and every once in a while in the distance if you listened carefully, you could hear Santa laughing happily in his suit. “Ho! Ho! Ho!”


By Patricia Bordos