The Holiday Adventure

"To Santa"

-M.N

The Holiday Adventure

Chapter 1: Christmastime

 December 19th, 1992, Moscow, Russia

Hello. I'm Sergei. I'm twelve years old. Like most Russians, I celebrate Christmas on January 7th. Not December 25th, 14 days from the Christmas I celebrate. 

Anyway, the children love Santa Claus. So do I. And children are always near Christmastime, trying to good as possible.

There are always mysteries about how Santa does stuff. Like what does he feed his reindeer so they can fly? How does Santa know who's bad or good?

There is one mystery that I figured out all by myself: How does Santa fly across the world in one night?

Easy. Time. 

The world is split into different time zones thanks to the sun. So in one country, in their time, Santa comes on time because of time zones. 

Here's the order of the six populated continents that Santa comes to:

1. Australia and tiny islands

2. Asia

3. Europe

4. Africa, then back up to Europe

5. South America

6. North America

That's the order of Santa's travel.

Chapter 2: Santa and Church

Santa is a very big mystery. Then again, Santa doesn't tell you everything about him. 

Every Sunday, I go to church and it figured out that Santa is like church. 

Santa never tells you everything about himself. Church never does too. 

Like when some of the angels' birthdays' are on? When is Santa's birthday? Maybe June 4th or May 28th?

The same thing. Church never fully tells you everything in one of my questions or maybe at all. 

I know one story in church when these people are building a tower that's very high and God doesn't like that. So he makes the workers speak in different languages so they don't understand each other and so they don't the tower. People. Languages. It's not how something is, it's about people and languages, two things that are important in the world. 

Another story I've heard in church is that these people are trying to get across a sea and God touches the water and then a bridge forms. 

It's not who builds the bridge, it's that bridges can go across water. 

It's never who does what, it's always about what Earth has. 

Suddenly I had an idea. I could go to the North Pole and know about Santa and the North Pole. It would be really fun. I should go quickly or Google has been there before me.

Chapter 3: To the North Pole

 Day one, December 20th, Moscow, Russia

I packed my toothbrush and toothpaste, my teddy bear, some books, a notebook and a pencil so I can write about Santa and North Pole, some pictures of my family, a lot of  warm clothes, some money, food and some water. This was all packed in a backpack.  

Then I left the house and went walking out of Moscow. Soon I was out of the city and into colder weather and into less and less civilization.

Travelling was boring; just walking and walking and walking into the cold weather of winter. But you got to see the frost-biten trees and animals in the trees like squirrels.

Later on, when it was getting darker, I ate some food and drank some water. After the food and drink, I went into a small grocery store and bought some food and water which I'm going to use later. 

Then I went to sleep on some grass so I can have energy for another day. 

Chapter 4: Hunting Test

Day two, December 21th, Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia

The next morning, I ate breskfast, which was some of my food from my backpack and afterwards, went walking and walking forever.

I was walking for about three hours when a man with a rifle stopped in front. Luckily, he didn't shoot at me. 

"Can you please get out of my way?" I said to the man, still trying to stop me as I was trying to get around the man. 

"I'll get out of your way if you take a hunting test" said the man, pointing to his rifle. 

"If you shoot three animals in the heart in a row, I will let you pass on your way. If you don't, you'll be shooting animals here forever" the man said. 

Then he handed me the rifle. 

The rifle, yes, was heavy to a kid like me, but after a few minutes of carrying the gun, I got used to it. 

Suddenly a deer ran by, and I shot it right in the heart. One down, two to go. 

Hours later, another deer came by, and I shot the rifle just in time to get a shot right in the heart. 

And later on in the day, a buck ran along and I shot it in the heart. But that wasn't enough. 

The buck charged at me and I shot it again it the heart and then it died. Hunting was over for me. 

"Well, good job. You earned your passage to go. That was some good hunting. But not as good as me!" said the man. 

"Thank you. I'll be on my way" I said. 

And then I went on. 

Chapter 5: Going On 

Day three, December 22nd, 1992, Kazan, Russia

I am heading to the West Siberian Plain and I'm very close to the border of the plain. 

At a nearby grocery store, I bought food and water with some of the last money I had. Then I walked on. 

This is like the Terry Fox run that the Canadians do every year. But I'm walking across the largest and widest country in the world. And I'm going to the North Pole.  

I think Santa Claus is in one of the most northern part in Canada, the North Pole. So I traveling across Siberia and then I would get a boat from the docks in the eastern end of Russia and go to the North Pole and see Santa Claus. 

Later I stopped to eat and have a drink of water, then I went back to walking. 

An hour later, I had arrived at Perm, the border of the Western Siberian Plain and I kept walking. 

Later on in the day when it was getting dark, I ate some food and drink and then I went to sleep for a good long rest.

Chapter 6: Bear

 Day Four, December 23rd, Chelyabinsk, Russia

I am in Siberia. But in a town called Chelyabinsk, just inside Siberia. 

I'm right now walking along on the land of Chelyabinsk, and suddenly I see a bear. 

The bear was a Grizzly bear, one of the most bears in the world and one of the most dangerous. 

The bear was walking around on its four legs, probably looking for prey for its meal. 

Then the bear looks at me and I know that the bear's probably thinking: Free Lunch!

The bear starts to run and then I run. As fast as I can from the Grizzly bear.

Chapter 7: Saved 

I was running from the bear and suddenly I tripped over a rock. The bear is now closer to me. Great. 

For a big animal, the Grizzly bear was fast. The bear was just chasing and chasing me, not making a single mistake.

Then I was chased in the forest by the bear, which was running strong. 

I was losing energy and power by the minute and the bear was ever so close to me now.

Then the bear lunged at me, and I knew I was lunch now, but I was saved by a single bullet shot. 

Suddenly I saw a dead Grizzly bear at my feet. Then I suddenly saw a man with a gun. But not the same man I faced a few days ago who told me to shot three animals in row in the heart. 

This man was middle-aged, in his 30's. He wore camoflaged pants, shirt and hat. Even his gun was camoflage. 

"Thank you for saving me" I said. 

"No problem. I shoot animals in these parts everyday" replied the man. 

"But thank you again" I said. 

"Where are you from?" asked the man. 

"Moscow" I answered. 

"You?" I asked. 

"Ukraine" said the man.

"Where are you going?" asked the man. 

"The North Pole" I replied. 

"Canada" said the man. 

"Yeah"

"I know a guy who flies planes. Maybe he will take you to the North Pole or somewhere near there" said the man. 

"Come. I'll show you" said the man. "Come along with me.''

Chapter 8: Plane

Omsk, Russia

Finally we arrived at an airport in Omsk, and there the man dropped me off to. 

"I hope you get lucky. I'm off!" said the man. 

Suddenly a man appeared. He was old, skinny and about five feet tall. He wore jeans and a red sweater. 

"Hello!" greeted the old man. "Can I help you?" he asked. 

"Yes. I need a plane ride to the North Pole" I said. 

"A plane ride. Do you have money?" he asked. 

"Yes" I said. 

I showed him all my money. 

"This is enough to go to the eastern tip of Russia" he said. 

"OK. Can we fly tomorrow?" I asked. 

"Sure. I'll keep the money so you can go on the plane to the east end of Russia" the old man said. 

"Good!" I'll see you tomorrow" I said, 

"OK" said the man. 

Chapter 9: Away we Go!

 Day Five, December 24th, Omsk, Russia 

The next morning, I wake up and went to the airport. 

"Ok. The money, please" the man asked. 

I gave him the money. 

"The way across Russia is long, so that will be some fuel stops along the way" the man told me.

"Always wear a seat belt. We've lost a person that way" said the man. 

"What's your name?" I asked. 

"Henry" Henry told me. 

"Other than that, you're welcome to come on the plane!" said Henry. 

Then we went on the plane.   

"Ok. Away we go!' shouted the man. 

"Yes.

And then I went in. 

Chapter 10: Plane Crash

Suddenly we were flying in the air, away from the ground and into the great blue sky. 

I was looking at the clouds and around the place. It was amazing. Great wings, the rows of seats. I wonder what happened to this airline. 

Probably have a bad crash or was low on money so they to have less people and less of an airline. It must have been great. 

Suddenly the plane shook. We were flying for an hour or so and nothing like this had happened. 

Then we were losing altitude, I can sense it. We were falling rapidly downward. 

So I went to the cockpit and saw Henry and his co-pilot. They were both dead. 

I don't know how to fly a plane. We were rapidly. I was nervous. I didn't know what to do. 

Then I blacked out.  

Chapter 11: Up and Running

 Day Six, December 25th, Krasnoyarsk, Russia

  

I was alive. 

Right now, I'm in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, near the famous rushing Ob River. I think the water there is good to drink. 

So I went to the Ob River and drank the water from the river. I also packed some for later. 

I saw a store that sold used guns. I needed a gun and some bullets so I could shoot and kill the animal for my meal. 

Then I went in the store. The store was empty. I asked the man if he could trade a used rifle and 10 bullets for my backpack (which I emptied out), and some water from the Ob River. 

He argeed to the deal.

Later, I shot a rabbit and a deer. I ate the rabbit and some of the deer for dinner. I put the rest of the deer in a cloth in my pocket. Then I went to sleep.  

Chapter 12: The Siberian Tiger

 Day Seven, December 26th, Lena River, Russia 

I woke up to see a Siberian tiger twenty feet from me. 

It was a big, lean tiger with stripes and a long tail. And I started to watch it closely and it was cool. 

The tiger was walking on its four legs gently. The wind sweeped the tiger's fur to the left, but it didn't mind. 

It was amazing; the tiger was a gentle giant, not a big chasing monster like people always said it was.

Then the tiger left the backaround to go hunting, probably. 

Suddenly I spotted a rabbit. Time to get my own meal. 

Chapter 13: Crazy Hunting 

I shot the rabbit easy.

But I wasn't ready to shot this animal. 

It was a big, fat buck and it was charging at me. That's when I noticed I didn't have anymore bullets. 

So I went to one side, but then it charged at me again, going faster than ever before I have seen in my life. 

Again, I tried to go to one side but the buck was smart and booted me to the ground. 

And then I charged at the buck. 

It was crazy, the buck hitting at me with its antlers and me slamming the buck at my solid hands.

In the end, I won and killed it by jabbing a big stick in its heart. The fight was over and I won and I was alive. I felt proud. 

Chapter 14: Trading

 Day Fourteen, January 2th, Sakhalin Island, Russia

I'm trading. 

I am trading the buck meat I got from killing that buck a week ago, for a used boat. It's in good shape, too. 

The man who is selling the boat also sells guns and bullets. So I traded some rabbit meat for twenty bullets. It was a deal. 

The trading man's name was Sergei, the same as mine, but Sergei is a very common name in Soviet-Russia and nowadays Russia. 

I think in World War I, Sergei was one of the most common name in Soviet-Russia, so, yeah. Very common name. 

Enough about this Sergei stuff, tomorrow I'm sailing to Canada.

Chapter 15: Whale

Day Fifteen, January 3rd, Pacific Ocean

I'm sailing. 

Sailing is yes, a very hard and dangerous job, especially with a used boat, which I'm using right now and later on in the future. 

Suddenly I saw a massive blob of skin. This animal must be fat. Very, very, very fat, indeed. And big. 

It's too small to be a shark or a submarine, but maybe a big rock or maybe just my mind messing with me. 

Oh, no. It's a whale!

Chapter 16: War and Peace 

I foiught with a whale. 

Right now, I'm fighting the biggest being in the world. It's crazy, right? I know. It's crazy. 

And this is one crazy battle, too. 

The whale was splashing hard at the boat and I was swatting the whale with sharp and heavy things, but the whale was better. 

That's amazing, especially with a thing that's four or five buses long. And with a tougue that's the weight of a few trucks. 

I wonder how the boat's going to hold. That boat is my ticket to the North Pole and if a lose that boat, I die. 

Suddenly I threw some fish in the water and the whale went in the water to get the fish. Then I sailed away from the whale.  

Chapter 17: Sea Creatures  

  Day Sixteen, Jaunary 4th, Pacific Ocean. 

This morning, I'm watching sea creatures from under the sea, some swimming slowly but steadily, some going fast and some going a nice brisk speed like someone driving.

I saw starfish clinging to rocks, big fat tunas, sharks milling around, probably waiting for some nice small fish to eat, and even some catfish, small ones. Later I caught some other catfish for my lunch. 

An hour after eating my lunch, I saw something in the water. There were two of them.

Suddenly they popped out of the water, and then I knew what they were: sharks!

Chapter 18: The Weakness of the Sharks

I was fighting off sharks. 

The sharks, yes, are smaller than the whale I fought yesterday, but the whale was just splashing. But these sharks were not splashing, but crunching out pieces of my boat, so it could sink in the water. 

I was throwing pieces of tools and other stuff off at the sharks. Suddenly I found some metal pipes. The pipes are a good size for backing out the sharks. They're one of the last materials I have left to throw at the sharks. 

So I threw some of the pipes at the sharks and surprisingly, the sharks retreated a few feet away from my boat. 

I banged them together and the sharks were annoyed at the noise, but they didn't attack me. 

Then when they were done hearing the noise, they went back in the water and left the boat in peace. 

Chapter 19: Something New

Day Eighteen, January 6th, Christmas Eve, North Pole

     

I was walking in the snow, in the cold weather, the wind on my face, wearing a warm parka I got as a gift from an old man. 

Suddenly, I saw a light- a little light. But it was a good and warm light. It felt like it. It was like something I never saw before. 

I ran to the light, not thinking of anything, and I saw right before my eyes, Santa Claus and his elves. 

Chapter 20: A Helping Hand

"Wow, Santa..." I said in surprise. 

"It's surprising, right? asked Santa. 

"You're the first human to see us ever!" shouted an elve. 

"Yes, yes, but elves, we're got to pack for the big night tonight" said Santa. 

"Speaking of that, where are you from?" asked Santa. 

"Russia" I said. 

"Ah, Soviet-Russia, yes" said Santa. 

"Soviet-Russia fell ten years ago" I explained. 

"Sorry. I'm a bit behind. I still call Czech Republic and Slovakia Czechoslovakia!" said Santa. 

"Anyway, would you like to help me pack the sled? In return, I'll let you on the sled to deliver presents to Russia and Serbia" asked Santa. 

"Sure" I said. 

"Good. Packing time!"

Chapter 21: Packing the Sled

I was packing the sled in a big bag with the other elves. There were about 700 elves, though I thought there were at least a few million elves, not 700. 

We were busily packing the sled with presents. I was closest to the sled, so I always put the presents in the big bag.

There were big presents, little presents and presents in bags. Also there was candy for the stockings, too. 

The elves told me to put the Russian presents to one side of the bag and the Serbian presents to the other. I wonder how this is like on the other Christmas Eve, on the 24th of December. 

Soon we were done with the presents. 

Then Santa motioned for me to come to him. 

"Time to go. Are you sure this is what you want?" asked Santa. 

"Yes" I replied. 

"OK. Off we go!" 

Chapter 22: The Journey

Santa and I were flying on the sled to Russia across the long Pacific Ocean the sea I was sailing across to get to the North Pole. 

We were desending to the first house. Soon we landed on the roof of the house and then

Santa asked me if I wanted to go inside the house with him. 

"Sure" I said. 

Then we went in the house and delivered three presents under the Christmas tree in the house and got some candy in the stockings. 

After that, we went back on the sled and delivered things, coal or presents or candy to all the children of Russia. 

"Now for Serbia!"  I shouted . 

"Ho, ho, ho, merry Christmas!" Santa boomed to all of Russia. 

Chapter 23: Last Stop

It was a long way to Serbia. 

The sled went over the long and famous Danube River and into the country of Serbia.

Santa and I went in a house and delivered their gift of Christmas, good or bad, and then went into the next house. 

Soon we were done half of the country and ready for more. 

The two of us went in the house like two thieves stealing for valuables of the house, but indeed giving the children christmas joy and their gift of Christmas and wishing everybody a merry christmas. 

Later we were done with the job and went back to the North Pole to tell them the news.

Chapter 24: Offer

The delivering of presents was done and the elves, the reindeer, Santa and I were cheering away at the success of all of the hard work everyone did. 

I have to say, I didn't do much, but everybody was cheering on about the big success, so I didn't say anything. 

Suddenly Santa motioned for me to come to him. 

"Yes?" I asked. 

"I was thinking about if you would like to carry on the job of being my helper?" asked Santa. 

"I know it means leaving your family, you don't have to do the job" said Santa. 

"No, no. I don't have a family. My family died of cancer" I explained. 

"Would you like to take the job?" Santa asked. 

"Yes!" I shouted.  

Epliogue

I live in the North Pole now. The elves are nice and so are the reindeer. I didn't write anything about the North Pole or Santa or even the elves and reindeer. 

We're all a family now. Everybody is nice to each other. We all help each other and I like the North Pole and everybody.

I'm immortal now!

I've got a family and for all the Christmases now, I'm going to be helping Santa Claus and the elves and reindeer because they're my family.