PLAYING WITH SPARKLE
There is a place that in the winter is dark, cold and surrounded only by snow and ice. During Christmas which should be the most joyous time of the year the sun does not even rise. This place is called The North Pole and it is here that a Little Boy lived and our story begins.
For the Little Boy and his friends there was nothing to do in the winter and it was very boring so he would often play with The Children of the Snow. His parents said they were only imaginary friends because they could not see or hear them, but that was not true, adults just had no time for imagination, play and creativity.
The Children of the Snow were small people wrapped in fur. They had pointy ears and big noses so that they could hear and smell the stinky adults coming. They loved to play and laugh and were very creative. They were always ready to try new ideas and were not afraid to get things wrong.
Snowflakes and Sparkle
SNOWFLAKES FROM THE SKY
The Little Boy’s best friend was a Child of the Snow called Sparkle and would always call for him by knocking on his door: KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK. Sparkle had a pointy hat to go with his pointy ears. He was very wise and spoke as softly as snow falling.
On Christmas Day whilst playing by a waterfall The Little Boy went up to Sparkle and said:
“Sparkle, it is Christmas Day and nobody is happy! I have a silly idea……”
Sparkle then looked at him with smiling eyes. “There is no such thing as a silly idea. All ideas are starting points and some may even grow to change the world.”
As the waterfall rumbled in the background the Little Boy said “I have the idea to make all the people in the village happy today on Christmas Day.”
Sparkle grinned with delight, then drew in a great breath of air and blew with all his might until the waterfall was no longer falling, but going up into the sky. Everything then went quiet and ginormous snow flakes as big as snowmen began to fall from the sky. They hung from the trees as decorations and shimmered as light danced through them and then joined with each other to make wonderful ice sculptures of bears, owls and foxes. This was the best Christmas the village had ever had.
For years to come the Little boy and Sparkle played together and made the people of the village happy on Christmas day. They started making toys with wood that the people could keep all year round, people now looked forward to Christmas and the winters were not so dark.
Working away with a watching badger
BOY GROWS TO A YOUNG MAN
But there came a time when the Boy began to grow up and spent less time with Sparkle and more time doing adult things such as chopping wood and helping to build houses. Then one day he heard a knock at the door KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK but when he opened it nobody was there. Perhaps it was his imaginary friend Sparkle, he was embarrassed even to think of him as he had believed in something that did not exist. In time he found that he began to smell and fur started to grow on his face. His voice changed and he even got a girlfriend. The boy was now a man. Nobody in the village got presents any more and the darkness returned.
For many years this is how it was. The young man got married but he and his wife could not have children even though the one thing he wanted in the world was to be a Father. As he grew older he would watch the sons and daughters of his friends play in the snow by themselves, only they did not appear to be alone.
BOY GROWS TO A OLD MAN
The Little Boy that had grown to being a Man grew to be an Old Man. He had spent all his life doing adult things but he did not care for them anymore and wanted to be young again.
The Old man began to remember that when he was a boy there was a time when he made all the people in the village happy. And then he had a silly idea….
Santa gets his hat
A KNOCK AT THE DOOR
At that moment he heard a knock at the door KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. The Old man looked over at it suspiciously and then opened it against a blizzard raging outside. Nobody was there. “You silly old man you are letting your boyhood imagination get away with you again! There aren’t even any footprints!……. but that doesn’t mean there is nobody there.” The Old man thought for a moment. “I have two silly ideas. The first is that I want to make the people of the village happy again on Christmas Day …..The second is that there is a Child of the Snow outside my door!”
”I once told you that there is no such thing as a silly idea, all ideas are starting points and some may even grow to change the world.” And out of the blizzard stepped his friend Sparkle The Child of The Snow.
For many years the Old Man and Sparkle made presents that were the most beautiful anyone had ever seen. They even began making presents for the other villages until one day all the people in the North Pole were happy at Christmas.
The Children of the Snow line up to have their photo taken
THE CHILDREN OF THE SNOW
Then one foggy Boxing Day the Old Man was walking with Sparkle. He now had great wrinkles around his eyes from so much laughter, rosy cheeks and a great white beard; he looked old but felt young again from creating so much happiness.
“Sparkle my good friend, I have one more idea and it is very, very silly.” Sparkle frowned at him “I know, there is no such thing as a silly idea and this one may change the world. We make all of the people in the North Pole happy. But now I would like to do something more, I would like to make all of the people in the whole world happy on Christmas Day.”
Sparkle’s eyes smiled with joy and then all of the Children of the Snow in the North Pole stepped out of the fog. “We will help you Father” said Sparkle. The Old Man stood aghast as tears fell from his eyes for he had spent all of his life waiting for someone to call him Father. Sparkle then wiped his tears away,“That is what the Children of the Snow call you. You are our Father now.”
Santa’s ice workshop
THE WORKSHOP
Together they made wonderful things. The Children of the Snow all had different ideas and different skills. Some were artistic, others were good at Maths, some liked science and others liked languages, a few were experts in magic.
Nobody was afraid to blurt out an idea regardless of how ridiculous it may sound. Together, they were more creative than any one person could ever be and all the time they were laughing and having fun.
First they made a workshop made of ice that from the outside was a simple doorway but from the inside was a magical factory. In it they made toys of every kind. Some were cute and others were magnificent, some could fly and others light up in the dark. Many made funny noises and smells that made you laugh. By Christmas Eve they had made presents for all of the people in the world.
MAGICAL SLEIGH OF ICE
But in his joy and excitement their Father had forgotten one very important thing. “Sparkle! How are we going to deliver all of these presents to the people of the world in a single night?
“We have thought of that Father!” Sparkle then opened a door and before him was one of the most wondrous things he had ever seen, “It is delicate yet strong, it is built for speed but can stop time, it has a bottomless sack for all the presents and it is pulled by reindeer that fly. This is your Sleigh of Ice.”
Then Sparkle stood proud and announced to everyone. “Father, from this day forth you will no longer grow old and you will make all people happy on Christmas Day for the rest of time; your idea that you had when you were a Little Boy has grown to change the world. You are now the Father of Christmas”.
And with this the Father of Christmas climbed into his seat and flew off into the sky to deliver presents to all the people in the world on his magic Sleigh of Ice. The air echoed with the sound “Ho Ho Ho!”
