Santa And The Christmas Bear

It was a snowy Christmas Eve and Santa Claus was soaring through the night sky in his sleigh. The reindeer hooves were tapping out a happy rhythm on the wind. As Santa looked below, he saw houses twinkling with colored lights, chimneys puffing out little clouds of smoke, and the stillness as little ones were fast asleep in their beds.

Santa and the reindeer flew lower in the sky as they approached the next delivery of the night. It was a cozy home nestled deep in the woods on the side of a beautiful mountain. The home was surrounded by large trees and rhododendrons.

Santa landed gently on the roof and told the reindeer – “One more stop before we take a little rest with hot cocoa for me and warm oats for all of you!” Santa chuckled as he slid down the chimney and into the warm, quiet living room.

He tiptoed across the floor making his big black boots nearly silent. Santa first filled the stockings and then began placing presents under the tree. But just as he reached into his magical sack for the last of the presents …

CRASH! THUMP! CLATTER!

Santa spun around. “By My Beard – what was that?”

From behind the couch peeked two big, round eyes and a twitching black nose. It wasn’t a naughty child sneaking a peek — it was a tiny bear cub who had snuck into the house by a basement window accidentally left ajar.

Before we continue on with the story, I want to tell you a little bit about this cub ………..

The cub’s name was Nugget. His mom had named him Nugget because he was her cute little nugget of gold.

Nugget was a very curious bear and often found himself in trouble with Mom for straying too far away from the family. This particular Christmas Eve was one of those times!

Nugget had heard other bears talking about Santa delivering presents on Christmas Eve with the help of flying reindeer. Nugget often spent lazy summer days dreaming of meeting Santa and seeing the reindeer fly.

As you probably know, bears hibernate in the winter so are asleep when Santa makes his deliveries. But, this Christmas Eve was going to be different. Nugget was determined to see Santa so he devised a plan to sneak out of their cozy bear den and watch for Santa.

Here – we join back into the story …….

“By My Beard – what was that?”

Nugget looked excited but also very shivery. His fur was dusted with snow and pine needles.

“Oh My!!” Santa whispered, kneeling down. “What are you doing here? Where’s your mama?”

The bear cub let out a soft whimper and slowly began inching toward Santa on its large trembling paws. Nugget had always wanted to meet Santa but was a little scared.

Santa gently scooped Nugget into his arms. “You are such a sweet little bear,” Santa said kindly. Santa pulled a tiny little stocking from his toy bag and gave it to Nugget. The stocking was filled with nuts and berries for Nugget’s family to snack on. Plus, there was a little rubber ball that Nugget and his siblings could play with.

“Let’s get you back to your Mama – she will be worried about you.” Santa pulled a small silver bell from his coat and gave it a jingle. In a flash of light, the sleigh reappeared outside the house.

“Rudolph,” Santa whispered, “we’ve got a special delivery tonight!”

They flew over the snowy tree tops of the mountainside with the moonlight illuminating the ground below. Santa scanned the forest until he spotted huge paw prints leading to a cave. At the entrance stood a big mama bear and she was looking around with worried eyes.

As the sleigh landed nearby, the mama bear let out a deep growl that sounded of love and relief.

Nugget wriggled with joy and leapt from Santa’s arms and ran full speed towards its mama. The cub tumbled into its mother’s hug. The two bears snuggled close — nuzzling and cuddling in the snow. Nugget showed his mama his Christmas stocking with its goodies.

Santa smiled and his eyes twinkled. “Now that’s the best gift of all!”

As Santa climbed back into his sleigh and lifted off, he could see the joy and happiness of Nugget and his mama. The reindeer picked up speed as they rose higher in the sky. Santa’s voice boomed out over the mountainside “A very merry Christmas to all!”