Our prompt this week was Shreds of Doubt

It was Christmas Eve and the twins did not want to go to sleep. I tried the “Santa won’t come if you don’t go to bed” routine that had worked in prior years, but this year, the twins just looked at me and laughed. I think they had shreds of doubt that Santa existed. After all, they had started elementary school this year and who knows what the older kids had told them. I didn’t want the magic to end, so I just told them I was going to bed and if there were no presents under the tree in the morning, it was their fault. I turned off all the lights, put out the Santa cookies and went to my room. I put on my pajamas and climbed into bed. I could here the twins giggling downstairs. Next thing I know, the sun was streaming through the window. Uh, oh, I had fallen asleep. What would the twins say when there were no Santa gifts under the tree? The magic would be ruined. I hurried downstairs to find tons of presents under the tree and all the Santa cookies gone. The twins were sound asleep under the tree as well. What had happened? Who ate the cookies? Who put the presents under the tree? I didn’t know, but I had shreds of doubt that Santa maybe was real after all.

By Bev Ribaudo