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 seeing Santa Claus, who every year brought her the most wonderful gifts.
One New Year's Eve, Santa Claus even brought a little puppy that 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 Santa Claus truly can read children's thoughts and bring them 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—strings of lights. Everyone was waiting for the most cheerful and most magical holiday—New Year's!
Meanwhile, in a faraway land whose name nobody knows because it's so very far away, the old wizard—Santa Claus—was preparing for work. His snow-white beard curled beautifully down to his waist, and thick-lensed spectacles sat on his nose.
So 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 dumped out a pile of letters from children.
Here we are, little Nicholas wants to receive a construction set. Let's see how he's been behaving.
Santa Claus pulled closer a beautiful glass globe, where he could observe all the children in the world, their behaviour, their grades.
Well then, the lad hasn't been naughty, and his report card has 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 is this girl?
In the globe's reflection, he saw Natalie. She was sitting quietly in her room reading a book.
Then the girl stood up, walked to the window, and whispered:
Santa Claus, dear, if you can hear me, please give me a beautiful dollhouse. I showed it to Mum once in a shop, but we couldn't buy it—it costs too much. 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 good little girl, I've been watching her for a long time!
Said Santa Claus.
Well then, I think I'll grant her wish.
At that moment, someone knocked on Santa Claus's door.
Unhurriedly, he rose from his chair, walked with small steps to the door, and called out:
Who's there?
Open up, Santa Claus, there's trouble!!!!
Loud sounds rang out.
The old man opened the door and saw a snowman on the threshold. His scarf was dishevelled, his nose was pointing the wrong way, and his eyes had grown twice as large with fright.
New Year's has disappeared! Now the holiday is cancelled, no one will get presents, and all the Christmas trees will wither! It's a catastrophe!
Now, let's have everything in order. What happened?
New Year's has disappeared! There are only two days left until the holiday, everyone's preparing, buying Christmas trees, decorating homes, giving gifts. But they don't know that New Year's won't come!
Santa Claus 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 that you couldn't see the roads, the ground was covered in ice, and trees were knocked down. The power went out in town, the lights went dark.
Natalie woke up from the noise of the wind and was frightened.
She called for her mum and asked:
Mummy, how will Santa Claus get to us? He won't be able to see the road and will pass right by. But I'm waiting for him so much, I asked so nicely for a dollhouse.
Don't worry, sweetheart. Santa Claus always comes, he'll definitely find a way to reach us and give you your long-awaited present.
But Santa Claus wasn't wasting any time. He'd guessed that New Year's had been stolen by the Blizzard, who had long been waiting for her chance to ruin the holiday.
Well then, it's time to deal with this Blizzard!
Santa Claus shouted.
He pulled out an enormous, glowing staff and struck it on the floor so hard that all the animals around came running.
My helpers—rabbits, foxes, wolves, and reindeer! Help me find New Year's, 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 Santa Claus's helpers rushed off to search for New Year's.
Two days passed, and it was December 31st. 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 after a while, she finally fell asleep. And suddenly, the lights in the houses came on, the Christmas trees finally sparkled with bright lights, and the blizzard quieted down.
Santa Claus 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 snowstorm, and the power had never gone out, but Santa Claus was no longer in the room.
Mum, come here quickly!
The girl shouted.
Mum rushed into the room:
What happened?
Mummy, did New Year's come?
Mum's gaze shifted 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, Santa Claus 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, Santa Claus had managed to climb onto the roof so the girl wouldn't notice him, otherwise he would have had to tell her about how his friends—the forest creatures—had saved New Year's, and how they'd found it in the Blizzard's ice castle. But Santa Claus still had so many children to visit, so many presents to give.
New Year's arrived on time thanks to Santa Claus, who always grants wishes and gives the most wonderful presents!
