Children were supposed to be innocent, full of imagination, and belief. Santa’s suit could not sit by and wait any longer. It had been far too long that the children had been losing faith. It was time to find Santa. Standing in the swirling snow, the red suit with its black belt and boots saluted the stars from which it came. Then it turned and trudged back through the snow and wind.

There was still a long journey ahead to find Santa. Making its way into the stable where Donner, Blitzen, and the other reindeer spent their days, Santa’s suit wandered over to Comet. Comet was the lead reindeer. He was the fastest. And fast was exactly what Santa’s suit needed. Santa’s suit gestured and pointed, until Comet snorted his consent. There was no time to lose, Santa was needed now.

Santa’s suit unlatched Comet’s stall and the reindeer stepped out. Comet sniffed at Santa’s suit’s pockets and the suit petted his nose before pulling a carrot from its pocket and offering it to the reindeer. While Comet was munching on the carrot, Santa’s suit climbed onto the reindeer’s back and with a single tap of its heels to Comet’s sides, they were off!

            They flew for hours and hours until they made their way out of the frigid North Pole. They found themselves high above the city of Rome with its coliseum and its many buildings. The day was bright and the people were trading in the many markets that Comet and the Santa suit passed over. But no one looked right to Santa’s suit. Santa was someone special, someone different. The suit would know him when it saw him and it did not see him here. So Santa’s suit nudged Comet once more and they flew off to another place.

They flew over many small towns in Italy and beyond, but none of the men there were right. Those men held the belief that children should be strong and think only of their work and their future. Santa’s suit knew better. Children needed to be believing and imaginative. They needed to know that it was through joy and love that life was worthwhile. So Comet and Santa’s suit continued on.

            They went on to another town and Santa’s suit pointed down to a small stall in a village market place. Comet snorted and let the suit down by the side of the stall while the proprietor was looking away. Santa’s suit watched as Comet flew out of sight once more and then it waited. The proprietor came back to the stall a few moments later and after taking a moment to rearrange his wares, he glanced down. The proprietor glanced back at his wares and then his eyes flew back to Santa’s suit resting against the edge of his stall.

The proprietor reached down and picked Santa’s suit up with the tips of two fingers. He grimaced at the thing in his hands for a moment before tossing it behind him into a pile of broken wares. Santa’s suit watched as the man went back to selling his wares. This couldn’t be Santa. The man had barely looked at Santa’s suit and what was worse, the man had discarded it like so much trash. Someone that would do such a thing could never be Santa. So, Santa’s suit waited until the man wandered off to find something for a customer and the customer was busy browsing, and then it slowly sidled away from the stall. And then Comet was there and Santa’s suit jumped onto his back and they continued on once more.

Most of the day had passed in their search now and Santa’s suit decided it was time to test the waters of a land different than that of Italy. There had been no luck here so far. So, they traveled east far faster than Santa’s suit could have traveled alone. Soon they found themselves in a land similar to Italy, but also different. Santa’s suit knew this place to be called Greece. Comet brought them close enough to see the people teeming below in the dusk covered town. Shops were closing, men and women retiring to their homes. Santa’s suit began to worry that they would never find Santa and time was still running out.

As they flew over the ever darkening city, Santa’s suit saw a single candle lit in the window of one of the homes. It stood out in the sea of dark houses and Santa’s suit clapped and pointed. Comet nodded his head and landed beside the window of the home. Together the two of them looked in and what a sight they saw! A man sat inside on a rocking chair with a block of wood and a small chisel.  And as they watched, he carved a little wooden horse with exquisite detail. A tiny chiseled bridle and saddle to boot! Comet looked at Santa’s suit and nodded just once. Santa’s suit clapped, but then it turned and went to the door. It waved Comet over to knock. Comet did just that and then Santa’s suit sat against the door, quickly shooing Comet away.

The door opened mere moments later and Santa’s suit fell half way into the house of the wood carving man. The man glanced inquisitively at Santa’s suit on his floor. Then he bent down and lifted the suit quite gently in both hands. Santa’s suit wanted to clap with joy. This man was so gentle, so kind, and those were exactly the traits that were needed. A soft hand, a soft touch, a soft heart to share joy with all the children of the world. The man settled the suit on the floor before the fire and gently he touched the suit’s white fur trim, the leather black belt, and the red cloth as well. Then he turned and he wandered into another room. When he came back he was holding a red woolen cap matching Santa’s suit just right! It had a little cotton poof at the end of its triangular top.

The man laid the hat at the top of the suit, and Santa’s suit got to its boots. It stood tall before him and the man stepped back in shock. Then Santa’s suit opened its belt and its top and offered itself to the man. He waited a moment then without a word stepped into Santa’s suit’s top. Suddenly, he was wearing the whole santa suit and in his mind could see the visions of toys being made for all the children of the world. He could see the other reindeer, the toy shop, the elves, the North Pole. And then Comet was joining them in the house through the door. The man smiled wide and offered the reindeer his hand to sniff. Comet did so and with a huff of air he offered his acceptance of this man as Santa.

The man smiled wide at the images in his head. But of all the images he was seeing tonight, the brightest image was of him flying high through the sky on the back of a sleigh filled with bags of toys being pulled by eight tiny reindeer.

“Yes,” the man said. “I would like this life.”

And Santa’s suit wanted to clap, because now it had found the rightful Santa Claus to bring joy, happiness, laughter, and innocent belief back to the children of the world. But even more importantly, now that this mission was over, Santa’s suit knew that the journey had only just begun!