Madison and the Missing Moon

by Jamie Busby

the reins again and this time, the sleigh began to dive. Down & Down it went, faster & faster. They went back through the clouds, the noise of the air swooshing across the reindeer and the sleigh as they tore through the sky. Soon, they were back below the clouds again and Madison was looking back up at the clouds they had just flown through.

  “The Moon has gone again? But it was just there? Where has it gone?.......” thought Madison. Then it hit her, she knew at once…..

  “It was hiding behind the clouds ALL the time Santa! It was never really lost or missing, just hiding!” she squealed.

  “Well done Madison, you are a very clever girl! But the important thing is, are you happy now?” asked Santa.

  “I couldn’t be happier!” replied Madison, almost screaming again!

  “So now you know, whenever you can’t see the Moon, it’s just because it’s hiding behind the clouds!” said Santa.

  “Yes, I know now, thank you so much Santa!” said Madison, smiling up at him.

  She had hardly noticed but they were soon back on Madison’s quiet little road, the reindeer and sleigh slowed down until they were hovering right next to Madison’s bedroom window.

  “Did you enjoy that Madison?” asked Santa, his eyes were smiling again.

  “That was brilliant Santa! I got to fly on your sleigh AND find out what had happened to the Moon, it couldn’t be better!” she replied.

  “Wonderful! Like I told you before, it’s times like this that make it all worthwhile for me. But for now, I’m afraid you must go back to bed, I have lots & lots to do” said Santa. He stamped his foot on the floor of the sleigh and the little magic carpet rolled out onto Madison’s window sill.

  “Don’t go without a big hug please!” said Santa laughing.

  Madison stood up and hugged Santa as tight as she could, she didn’t want any of this to end. Finally, they let go of each other and Madison went to step on the magic carpet. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted something shining on Santa’s blanket. She turned and picked it up, it was a button. It was no ordinary button though. It was made of Gold and had a little picture of Father Christmas engraved on the front.

  On the back it said ‘Made in Lapland by Elves for Santa’.

  “Santa, is this yours?” asked Madison, showing him the button.

  Santa checked his coat and sure enough, there was a button missing from his coat, right where his big tummy was at it’s biggest! Santa began to laugh.

  “HO HO HO!!!” he said, “I think I’ve had too many mince-pies again, it must have just popped off!”

  They looked at each other and then both burst out laughing, they both had tears of laughter rolling down their cheeks! Madison handed the button back to Santa, he held it in his hand for a moment, staring at it and then he spoke;

  “I want you to have this button Madison. Keep it with you at all times and it will remind you of our adventure forever!”

  He passed the button back to Madison and she looked at it in her hand.

  “Are you sure?” she asked.

  “Of course I am, I want you to have it Madison. Now quickly, put it in your coat pocket so you don’t lose it” said Santa.

  “Thank you so much Santa! That was the best night of my life!” said Madison as she slowly made her way across the magic carpet and back onto her window sill.

  “I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Now shut your window and get into bed, there’s a good girl. And don’t forget, MERRY CHRISTMAS!” said Santa.

  With that, he stamped his foot on the floor and the little magic carpet rolled up back into the sleigh. Madison climbed back into her bedroom and stood looking out of her window smiling at Santa as he sat there in his sleigh, floating in mid-air!

  “Goodbye Santa!” said Madison.

  “Goodbye for now Madison, maybe we’ll meet again one day!” said Santa.

  While Madison was thinking about how wonderful it would be to see Santa and go on another adventure again, Santa shook the reins and was gone. It was like he had just vanished. But as she went to shut the window, she was sure she could hear bells jingling again! They were very quiet, but she could definitely hear them! She looked back out and high up in the sky, she could hardly believe what she could see. The Moon was out, big & bright, the clouds had disappeared! Flying across the Moon, she could see the silhouette of Santa & his sleigh & the reindeer!

  “Goodbye Santa!” called Madison.

  “HO HO HO!!!” boomed Santa, though his voice was quiet now because he was way up in the sky. Then he really was gone….

  Madison kept looking into the sky, going through everything that had happened this evening.

  “I can’t believe it, I must be dreaming!” she thought.

  She pinched herself and felt it;

  “Ow!” she said out loud! She definitely was not dreaming!

  She looked at the Snowstorm sitting on the window sill. It was no longer lit up, it just sat there, very pretty but dark now. After all the excitement of the adventure with Santa, Madison quickly began to feel very tired again, so she shut the window and shuffled over to her bed. Then she took off all the extra clothes she was wearing, climbed into bed and just lay there looking at the ceiling. She kept thinking about the reindeer, her eyelids were getting heavy again. She thought about flying through the clouds, now with her eyes shut. The last thing she remembered was being high up in the sky looking at the Moon! Then she was asleep…….

  The next thing she knew, Daddy was shaking her by the arm in bed.

  “Come on Madison, wake up, it’s Christmas morning!” said Daddy.

  Her eyes opened and she slowly realised where she was. She looked around the room. The Snowstorm was on the window sill and her room looked very tidy.

  “Don’t worry” whispered Daddy, “I cleared up all your clothes! What on earth happened last night?”

  “I…..I’m not sure……let me wake up first Daddy” replied Madison.

  “Ok. Breakfast is nearly ready, I’ll see you downstairs” said Daddy.

  “Yes, see you in a minute” yawned Madison. She felt very tired still and was struggling to wake up properly. Then she realised what Daddy had just said, it was as if she had forgotten……

  IT WAS CHRISTMAS DAY!!!

  Madison raced downstairs in her pyjamas, she was fully awake and very excited now! The lovely smell of bacon was wafting up the stairs as she ran, they loved to have bacon sandwiches for breakfast on Christmas morning you see. Mummy & Daddy were busy in the kitchen and Madison went running in to them, skidding on the floor as she tried to stop because she was running so fast!

  “Good morning darling, Merry Christmas!” said Mummy. Daddy just smiled and winked at Madison.

  “Good morning” said Madison, “and Merry Christmas to you both too!”

  Mummy passed Madison & Daddy a plate full of bacon sandwiches and told them they could eat them into the living room seeing as it was Christmas, she was busy getting the turkey ready. They took the plate and went and sat down, the TV was on and Daddy turned the volume up a little bit.

  “That’s a bit loud Daddy!” said Madison smiling.

  “Well, I need to talk to you Madison and I think it’s best if Mummy doesn’t hear isn’t it?!” said Daddy chuckling.

  Madison had a huge grin on her face, but she picked up a bacon sandwich and turned to watch the TV, pretending she didn’t want to talk.

  “Come on Madison, I really want to know what happened last night. Pleeeeease!!!” said Daddy. He was staring at her with a bacon sandwich in his hand, she could tell he could hardly wait. This made Madison giggle so Daddy started to tickle her!

  “Ok, ok!” said Madison, “I’ll tell you about it Daddy, just stop tickling me and let me finish this lovely sandwich first!”…………

  Madison ate her sandwich, Daddy just sat staring at her, he was so desperate to hear about last night! When Madison finally finished her sandwich, she looked up at Daddy, still smiling.

  “Daddy, I hope you are ready
because I’m not sure you’re going to believe what happened to me last night!” she said.

  “Just tell me Madison, I know something happened because your clothes were all over the floor this morning, I can’t wait any longer!” replied Daddy impatiently.

  “Ok, I will start from the beginning” said Madison. And she did.

  She told Daddy everything, starting at when the Snowstorm began to flicker right up to when she saw Father Christmas fly across the Moon high up in the sky. Every now & then, Mummy walked in and out of the room because she was very busy getting everything ready. Madison would stop talking, they would pretend they were watching TV until she had gone, then Madison would continue. Daddy just sat there eating bacon sandwiches, he didn’t say a word and never took his eyes off Madison. She told the story well and by the time she was finished, Daddy had the biggest smile ever on his face!

  “Well Madison, that sounds like the greatest adventure ever, you really are a very lucky girl. Probably the luckiest little girl in the whole world!” said Daddy.

  “I think that too Daddy” said Madison, “You believe me don’t you Daddy?” asked Madison. Her voice sounded quite sad.

  “I think you were very tired last night, it was a very long day. I don’t know if it was real or a dream but it doesn’t matter, just as long as you believe” replied Daddy, munching away on what must have been his 5th bacon sandwich!

  “You don’t really believe me do you?” said Madison, her voice was quite cross now. “After all that happened