Read Online How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas by Jeff Guinn - Free Book Online

young, he had felt inspired to use the money he had inherited to help those in need. How his first gift-giving attempts were clumsy and almost ended in disaster. All these things sounded familiar to me, because they were so similar to my own life, ambition, and experiences.
    Then came memories of great wonders—how, in the year 343 at age sixty-three, he rode off from Myra in the middle of the night because too many people expected him to work wonders for them, and how, in the years following, he realized two things. First, that he could travel hundreds of miles in the time ordinary people might manage one or two. Second, that he had somehow stopped aging. He had no explanation for how these things had happened, he added. They simply did.
    â€œAnd when I met and joined Nicholas a year later, I stopped aging, too!” Felix interrupted. “The magic that graces him is also extended to anyone who joins him, we believe.”

    Felix
    I couldn’t help shaking my head at the wonder of it all. Nicholas, though, interpreted the head-shaking as a sign I didn’t believe what I’d just heard.
    â€œIt seems impossible, I know,” he said. “Perhaps if you consider it a bit longer before you decide it’s not true—”
    â€œOh, no,” I replied. “I believe every word. I mean, I see you here in front of me, and I saw your likeness carved on your tomb, and, of course, I’ve seen you so long in, well . . .” I was still too embarrassed to admit I’d been dreaming about him for years. I sat up a little straighter on my mat, composed myself, and said briskly, “So it was you all along who did the gift-giving that inspired me to do the same, and now I’ve met you. How splendid!”
    Nicholas seemed both pleased and anxious. “Then you do believe everything I’ve told you?” he asked.
    â€œOf course I do,” I said. “No one could invent a story like that. So now you and your friend Felix, here, will spend eternity doing good, generous things. You’re more than lucky—you’re blessed!”
    â€œBut I’m lonely, sometimes, too,” Nicholas said, and I thought Felix, sitting on a mat beside his longtime companion, looked rather offended. “The challenge is so great, and so never-ending,” Nicholas continued, his eyes locked on mine. “So many people need so much, and I need your help. Will you join me?” He suddenly remembered Felix. “I mean, will you join us?”
    â€œWhat exactly do you mean?” I asked. I hoped I knew what he meant, but I wanted to hear him say it.
    Nicholas blushed and stammered, so Felix said it for him: “He’s asking you to marry him, so I’m going to leave you two alone for a while.” He got up and left the room. In the silence that followed, I could hear his heavy feet thumping as he made his way down the hall.
    Nicholas remained tongue-tied. It was almost comical to see him try to say something, consider his words, begin to make the first sounds, panic, and have to start all over again. He sputtered for some time, and I finally lost patience.
    â€œLook, are you asking me to marry you or not?” I asked. “It would be nice to know.”
    He took a deep breath. “Yes, I’m asking you to marry me. I’m sorry to make such a bad job of it. Even though I’m a hundred and thirty-two years old, I’ve never done this before.”
    â€œAre you certain?” I couldn’t help asking.
    â€œOh, yes,” Nicholas said. “I’ve never had such feelings for anyone. So, will you? Marry me, I mean. I know it’s a complicated life I’m offering, and that there’s a great difference in our ages. If you’re thirty-five, why, I’m ninety-seven years older than you. Someone so youthful might not want to burden herself with someone so, well, senior.”
    â€œI don’t care how old you are,” I replied,