Christmas is here! Today, I will talk about a new story that I made.
How to have hope for the future
Sometimes, we want hope for the future, especially in a hard time. Even if we wish for a nice Christmas present, we sometimes only get what seems unhappy. That depresses us.
However, Santa Claus likes to please people. One of his favorite things is delighting people with a surprise gift. He usually puts sweets, his presents, on the children’s bedsides. However, for some special children he especially wants to please, he occasionally hides sweets in children’s socks. This is an example.
On Christmas morning, the child is depressed at first because he thinks Santa Claus didn’t give him a present. However, when he gets dressed, he finds there are candies in his socks. That delights him.
Santa Claus may do more elaborate things for special people he likes. He disguises happiness in the long term. It looks unfortunate, but it is a part of happiness.
Today, I will talk about the story of such a special boy, who got one present from Santa Claus.
A story of a boy who wished for a clock for Christmas
Once upon a time, there was a boy in a poor town. He was six years old, an orphan, and lived in a small orphanage. He was curious and kind to people.
One day, he went to run errands in the church and came across the repair of the great clock. It was the first time he looked at the inside of the clock.
The internal structure of the great clock fascinated him. It was a large-scale, complex mechanism but precise. He understood that there were no useless parts. They moved in perfect coordination. In those days, clocks were rare and precious. Not everyone could see its inside mechanism.
The moment he watched the wonderful inside of the clock, creating a great clock like it became his dream.
Then an old priest with a white beard in the church noticed him and said to him, “Boy, do you like this?”
He answered excitedly, “Yes, I do! I want to create a clock with beautiful movements like this someday!”
The priest smiled, “Your dreams will come true.”
However, he was too excited and forgot the errands. Returning to the orphanage, he was punished for skipping meals for a whole day.
The meals the orphanage provided children were always small amounts. That made the punishment feel heavy. He was hungry and looked at the sky with tears. It was a cloudy Christmas when he was six years old.
Changes in his circumstances
From that day on, he could no longer forget the great clock. Although the punishment was painful, creating such a clock became his big dream. He imagined how the parts moved and enjoyed it every day.
One such day, the orphanage had to send an orphan to work. It was poor and had to reduce the number of children. In addition, the workplace was the ironwork that was infamous for hard labor in that town. Every orphan didn’t want to be chosen, including him.
Unfortunately, he was chosen. He was kind and could not say no. All the orphans knew it, so they colluded and forced it on him.
He had to leave the orphanage with tears. It was a rainy Christmas when he was seven years old.
Working in an ironwork
He started working in an ironwork. Although the work was hard, the food got better. He worked, ate, and slept enough. That gave him a strong body.
One such day, the ironwork had a new manager. The new manager hated a child who was cared for by others, so the manager kicked him out of the factory quarters and forced him to sleep in a broken hut in the nearby forest.
He was the youngest in that ironwork and had nowhere to go, so he had to move to the hut alone with tears. It was a dark Christmas when he was 10 years old.
Garbage in his house
He started a life in the forest. Although it was inconvenient, he learned how to live on his own. He mastered how to get water, how to make fire, how to hunt prey in the forest, how to make tools, how to cook them, and how to repair the house. His living environment improved little by little.
One such day, the recession came. His ironworks became a financial crisis. The ironworks manager dumped unnecessary scrap and tools in his house.
His small house was filled with garbage. All his efforts over the last few years had been in vain. He had to live with it with tears. It was a snowy Christmas when he was 15 years old.
Christmas when he turned 20
On Christmas when he turned 20, he lost everything. His ironworks went bankrupt and shut down. He had no savings and no job due to the recession.
He decided to end his suffering life. Life was always hard on him.
As the last joy of his life, he went to the church to see the great clock. However, he could not see the clock because it had broken several years ago and been removed.
He was despaired and cried in front of the church.
At such a time, an old priest with a white beard came out from the church and said to him, “Boy, why are you crying so much?”
He answered, “I lost everything. I have nothing. I hate Christmas because it takes everything away from me.”
The word of the priest
The priest asked him, “So, why did you come here, boy?”
“To see the great clock. That was my only and biggest dream. That was my hope to live.”
The priest said with his head tilted, “If so, why do you not look at that clock?”
“I cannot see it because it has been removed!”
“Yes, you can see it. It is also in your mind. Boy, you are only looking outward. You are not looking inward.”
At that moment, he remembered the inside of the great clock. It was a large-scale, complex mechanism but precise. It had no useless parts. Everything had a meaning.
External and internal perspective
That woke him up. He thought he had lost everything. However, it was just an external perspective.
From an internal perspective, he noticed he had got the necessary things. He already had a precise memory of the clock’s mechanism, the skill of iron processing, the materials, and a place to make it happen. He could live on his own. He could use the irons in the hut and the wood in the forest.
In addition, he knew where to install his clock.
He stopped crying and stood up. His eyes were shining.
“Thank you! I was wrong. I learned the right way to look at things. They are gifts disguised as unhappiness. I love Christmas! Merry Christmas!”
The priest smiled, “Merry Christmas; go and make it, boy.”
One Christmas day
After he hurried back to his house, the priest took off his priestly cassock. Under the cassock, he wore a red and white robe. Then, with a snap of his fingers, a reindeer-drawn sleigh appeared out of nowhere.
“Merry Christmas, my dear boy!”
With that word, he sat on the sleigh and flew away to the skies.
After that Christmas, he tried to create a clock. Although it took many years, he finally made it happen.
After that, he continued to make many great clocks. His works were perfect. Somewhere in this world, his clock is still ticking.
Conclusion
That is the story.
It could be happiness in disguise.
Anyway, this is the Christmas present for you. Merry Christmas!
Thank you for reading this article. I hope to see you in the next one.
