There was, drawn like a hologram, a vast cloud of cotton, floating in that dream-lit sky, for the first time in at least a year. Everything was displayed on the great calendar like a cycle of days, weeks, and months returning faithfully each year.
The night was magical, and the ground was covered with perfect little snowballs, with distant, imagined flavors. It seemed as if all the sounds of this cold had been recorded before darkness fully set in. Santa had his say in this small moment where powerful reality surpassed the dream of fiction…
Even in his large eyes, the scene seemed so perfectly beautiful that it existed only in the dream-thoughts of the barely sleeping man, after a long year of work. The year and the dream became one. He saw himself as that famous jolly man, ready to take his path across the world’s sky, conquering joys, congratulations, and gifts. But he still had a few magical turns of the clock to wait for.
11:30 PM. A snow-white procession formed, a line of characters accompanying the white-bearded man, ready to set off with sleighs, drawers, meal coolers, sandwiches, bites, cakes, and tourtières. Santa, still slightly sleepy, saw Mrs. Claus join him on the frosted ground for this aerial festival of reindeer and sleighs. This passing second made the Father worry that this moment of rest might be the last of the long night.
11:40 PM. Mrs. Claus counted the elves and noticed that the faux second gnome, always a bit moody, also felt a slight pinch at heart. Away from the sleigh, in the large gift-box section, he missed the magical moment and remembered this wonderful pre-Christmas dream.
11:50 PM. Everything was ready. The last seconds ticked by, reminding everyone that the long sleigh, filled with food and gifts, was now silent. Nothing moved around. All heard the universal calm of this suspended moment.
Midnight! The divine Catholic child was born. The olive tree of peace stood tall for this festive day.
The world continued at its own pace, united among its inhabitants.
And in that great sleigh of Mrs. and Santa Claus, everyone recognized themselves, each in the language of their heart. They were drawn forward by Rudolph, with his blazing red nose, toward all the holiday tables, tastings, Christmas trees, Québécois, Canadian, American, Mexican, European, and Asian festivities.
They spent the next hours together; all gathered for the good of humanity.
