Poles Apart Read Online Free PDF Page A

puppies.”
    “I see you’ve closed the queue behind
me. Does this mean it will take—”
    “Over two hours to get to the top?
Probably. But don’t worry, we’ll make sure you get to see Santa and give him
your Christmas wish list.” The girl smiled.
    Sarah worked her jaw. She didn’t want to
give Santa a shopping list. She needed an interview. Maybe it was a good thing
she was last. But over a two hour wait?
    “Perhaps I should come back tomorrow.”
    “I wouldn’t. It’s been rather crazy here
since Thursday and getting worse every day. If Santa has his best friends with
him again tomorrow, you’ll wait even longer, guaranteed.”
    Sarah gazed up the staircase, carpeted
with young and old, and released a sigh as she pulled out her red journal.
According to the sign in front of her, she couldn’t take photos, but she could
use the time to sketch what she saw—in both words and drawings.
    Pencil in hand, she drew the large red
wheel to her side...a bobbin on steroids with paper messages wound around the
center instead of thread. The framed Guinness World Record certificate beside
it testified to the longest wish list Santa had ever received—75954 wishes. Impressive. And they were all there in front of her.
    Character sketch—Santa: Well liked.
Popular. She’d add more to the list, including his physical
attributes, after her visit. Perhaps she could sketch Santa, and then imagine
him as a young man. With those changes, maybe he’d make a suitable hero for her
novel.
    Behind the wheel swung a large wooden
pendulum, at least one story high. Sarah’s gaze followed the pendulum to an
enormous wooden cog hanging in the roof like a UFO. An oversized wooden gear
ground its teeth into the cog, moving it around.
    “Santa’s time clock,” the woman next in
line explained as she reined in her energetic preschooler.
    The child shied away when Sarah looked
at him, attaching himself to his mother’s leg. She wasn’t that scary to kids,
was she? Jonathan and Matthew loved her.
    An ache formed in her chest at the
thought of her nephews. It would’ve been great to show them this place.
    “Santa stops this clock on Christmas Eve
so he can deliver all the presents in time,” the woman continued.
    “Interesting. Thanks.” Sarah jotted down
more notes then set about sketching the enormous timepiece. By the time she
finally reached the top of the staircase, only her friendly neighbor and son
separating her from Saint Nick, Sarah had sketched several views of Santa’s
timepiece.
    Saint Nick. She liked that.
    She scribbled again in her journal. Heroes
name—Nick. With a few minutes to spare, Sarah Googled the meaning on her
phone.Victory of the people. Nice. Now be my victor and come
to my rescue with a love story. Please.
    “Hello. Are you ready to meet Santa?”
    Sarah started at the elderly ‘elf’
standing at the entrance to Santa’s domain. She’d seen him ushering the last
ten families in, chatting to them at the doorway.
    She nodded and opened her bag to tuck
her journal inside. Having a change of mind, she zipped the bag closed. She’d
need to write down the answers to her myriad of questions. Sarah opened the
journal and slid her pen in at the page where she’d penned a long list of questions
for Santa, if he indulged her the time.
    Ignoring the elf’s questions about where
she came from and what her name was, she followed him inside. She’d be the one
asking questions this evening, thank you.
    “Miss No Name from Nowhere,” he
announced as Sarah entered.
    On a raised platform, an enormous
high-backed chair engulfed the bearded old man. Two gorgeous golden retrievers
lay stretched out on the floor beside him. Without lifting their heads, they
raised their eyes to Sarah, and then closed them again. It had obviously been
another long day for the pooches. The female being heavily pregnant to boot,
Sarah could only think how difficult it must be for the poor animal.
    Santa gazed at her and smiled. Not