In a small but very beautiful town, there lived a girl named Natalie. The girl always read a lot and loved listening to the stories that her mum told her at night before bed. And Natalie always dreamed of meeting Father Christmas, who every year brought her the most wished-for presents.
One New Year's Eve, Father Christmas even brought a little puppy, which the girl had dreamed about for ages. And ever since then, Natalie knows that the magical old man really exists, because she doesn't tell anyone about her dreams, yet they come true. That means Father Christmas truly can read children's thoughts and bring them the gifts they've been dreaming about for so long.
The hot summer passed, followed by autumn. And then the long-awaited winter arrived—December. The trees dressed themselves in white coats, and soft snow crunched underfoot. All day long, beautiful snowflakes danced in the air, and in the windows of houses, bright colourful lights gradually began to glow—fairy lights. Everyone was waiting for the most cheerful and most magical holiday—New Year!
Meanwhile, in a faraway land whose name nobody knows because it's so very far away, the old wizard—Father Christmas—was preparing for work. His snow-white beard curled beautifully down to his waist, and thick-lensed spectacles sat on his nose.
Right then, what do the children want to receive for the holiday this year?
Lost in thought, the old man settled into his rocking chair by the fireplace and tipped out a pile of letters from the kids.
Now, young Nicholas wants a construction set. Let's see how he's been behaving.
Father Christmas pulled closer a beautiful glass orb, where he could observe all the children in the world, their behaviour, their school marks.
Well then, the lad hasn't been naughty, and his report card shows only good marks. That means I'll bring him a lovely construction set on New Year's Eve!
The old man commented.
Oh, and who's this girl?
In the reflection of the orb, he saw Natalie. She was sitting quietly in her room reading a book.
Then the girl stood up, walked to the window and whispered:
Father Christmas, if you can hear me, please give me a beautiful dollhouse. I showed Mum one at the shop once, but we couldn't buy it—it was too expensive. I promise I'll never be naughty, and when I start school, I'll only bring home good marks.
The girl squeezed her eyes tightly shut and clenched her fists, thinking that would make her wish come true even faster.
What a lovely little girl, I've been watching her for ages!
Said Father Christmas.
Well then, I think I'll grant her wish.
At that moment, there was a knock at Father Christmas's door.
Unhurriedly, he rose from his chair, walked with small steps to the door and called out:
Who's there?
Open up, Father Christmas, there's trouble!!!!
Loud sounds came through.
The old man opened the door and saw a snowman on the doorstep. His scarf was dishevelled, his nose was pointing the wrong way, and his eyes had grown twice as large with fright.
New Year's gone missing! Now the holiday's cancelled, nobody will get presents, and all the Christmas trees will wither! It's a disaster!
Now, let's have it all in order. What happened?
New Year's disappeared! There are only two days until the holiday, everyone's preparing, buying Christmas trees, decorating their homes, giving presents. But they don't know that New Year won't come!
Father Christmas listened to the snowman, thanked him for the information, and began to think.
Meanwhile, in the town where Natalie lived, it was as if chaos had descended. The wind howled, snow fell so heavily you couldn't see the roads, the ground was covered in ice, and trees were knocked down. The power went out in town, the fairy lights went dark.
Natalie woke from the noise of the wind and was frightened.
She called for her mum and asked:
Mummy, how will Father Christmas get to us? He won't be able to see the way and will walk right past. But I'm waiting for him so much, I asked for a dollhouse.
Don't worry, sweetheart. Father Christmas always comes, he'll definitely find a way to reach us and give you your long-awaited present.
But Father Christmas wasn't wasting time. He'd worked out that New Year had been stolen by the Blizzard, who'd been waiting for her chance to stop the holiday for ages.
Right then, it's time to sort out this Blizzard!
Father Christmas shouted.
He pulled out an enormous, glowing staff and struck it on the floor so hard that all the animals came running.
My helpers—rabbits, foxes, wolves and reindeer! Help me find New Year, because without it there'll be no holiday! People are waiting, preparing, buying presents, decorating Christmas trees! We can't let the Blizzard ruin all this! And so, all of Father Christmas's helpers rushed off to search for New Year.
Two days passed, and it was the 31st of December. Only a few hours remained until the holiday, but the lights in the houses still hadn't come back on. Natalie was completely upset and decided that there would be no holiday and she wouldn't get her present.
She cried for a long time, but eventually fell asleep. And suddenly, the lights in the houses came on, the Christmas trees finally sparkled with bright fairy lights, and the blizzard died down.
Father Christmas entered the room—in a bright red suit, with a long white beard, with an enormous sack on his shoulders.
Natalie opened her eyes. The house was warm and cosy, as if there had been no blizzard, no storm, and the power had never gone out, but Father Christmas was no longer in the room.
Mum, come here quickly!
The girl called out.
Mum rushed into the room:
What's happened?
Mummy, did New Year come?
Mum's gaze moved to under the Christmas tree, where a wrapped present stood—enormous, in a bright box.
Natalie jumped up and ran to the tree, rushing to open the present.
Mummy, Mum, it's a dollhouse, exactly the one I've been dreaming about for so long.
The girl cried out with happiness.
You see, Father Christmas made it to you after all, and no blizzard could stop him.
Mum said.
At that moment, a shadow flashed past the window. Natalie rushed to look, but saw nothing.
In reality, Father Christmas had managed to climb onto the roof so the girl wouldn't spot him, otherwise he would have had to tell her about how his friends—the forest creatures—had saved New Year, and how they'd found it in the Blizzard's ice palace. But Father Christmas still had so many children to visit, so many presents to give.
New Year arrived on time thanks to Father Christmas, who always grants wishes and gives the most wished-for presents!
