Shin Selin laid in his bed, the heater in his room being the only thing separating him from complete silence....

He felt warm and more drowzy by the minute. But for some reason, he couldn't drift off.. Like he did every year at this exact moment, he listened for the silver bells from outside in the freezing snow.. 

Just then...

He heard it.. A bell

Selin's eyes shot open. He couldn't determine whether or not he maybe have just imagined it. Regardless, Selin slid out of his bed and tiptoed to his door. Looking through the key hole before actually opening the door, he tried his hardest not to wake his family. 

He finally twisted his door knob and walked down the stairs, the bells growing louder. 

For almost two years, Selin's belief in Santa Claus had faded, disappointing his younger brother, who believed in Santa with all his heart. This made Selin somewhat dread Christmas, unable to see the magic of it all. 

But weirdly enough, during Christmas time, once he found the smallest reason to believe, like the sound of silver bells in his house..

His heart would skip a beat..

The spark was still there.. But he didn't want to accept it... That Christmas spark..

When Selin reached the stairs leading down to the living room, he looked down at the Christmas tree, no presents underneath. He glanced at the cookies and milk his brother, Suyeob, had left out for Santa, which had yet to be eaten and drank.

Selin looked down at the ground, feeling his heart slow down and his fatigue slowly creep up to him once again..

But then, he heard the bells again. They were coming from his living room. Selin looked up to see a shadow of a figure, walking around in his kitchen. He let out a quiet gasp and leaned back. "What...?" he thought

Could it be...?

"Okay, Suyeob, you've had your glass of water. Now it's time for bed" Selin heard his father's voice. The shadow seemed to set something down on the ground, which he assumed was his brother. "But... But.. Wait I have to.." Suyeob whined, trying to think of a good reason to stay downstairs so he can wait for Santa. Selin shook his head and ran back up the stairs to his room. Luckily, he made it to his room and shut the door quietly, only to listen in on Suyeob and his father's conversation across the hall in Suyeob's room, looking through his key hole once again

"But he said that Santa would have to travel faster than the speed of light to get to everyone's house in one night. And to carry everyone's gifts, his sleigh would have to be bigger than an ocean liner" Suyeob said to their father what Selin had said to him

"Your brother said that? He was just kidding. You know he believes in Santa" their father chuckled. Selin felt a sharp jab in his heart and bit down on his lip, feeling guilty for telling his brother such negative things to him(well, negative to Suyeob). Selin didn't know he'd take it to heart.

"He said he wasn't sure.. He said wasn't sure if Santa was for real.." Suyeob looked down at his hands as he lay in bed. 

"Of course he's real, he's just as real as Christmas itself" their father ruffled Suyeob's hair gingerly. 

"But he won't come until your fast asleep, young man" Selin's and Suyeob's mother walked into Suyeob's room.

Their mother leaned down and planted a kiss on Suyeob's forehead. "Sweet dreams" she whispered and walked out of the room

Selin's father finally closed the door to Suyeob's room and Selin saw that the bells he heard were on a Santa hat that was stuffed in his father's pocket.

Selin backed away from his door. Not knowing how to feel, he went for his laptop and punched in "north pole" in the search bar on google. After reading a little, Selin heard his parents walking down the hall, heading for his room. He quickly closed his laptop and ran for his bed, pulling the covers over himself. As he squeezed his eyes shut, he heard his parents open the door, exchange a short conversation in his doorway, and close his door once again

Selin sighed and looked up at the ceiling. 

Realizing he was once again, in bed, under the warm sheets, Selin's eyelids grew heavier and found it harder to think. "It's time for sleep" he thought before looking over at the clock.. 10:50pm. He sighed and closed his eyes, letting the ticking of his close send him to sleep. 

--------

Selin was then woken up by a quiet and short rattling noise. He opened his eyes again slowly, the first thing he thought of doing was looking at the clock..

11:55pm

"Only one hour?" Selin thought, but then realized... that his clock had stopped ticking. He looked over again and saw that the long red second hand had stopped moving. 

"What in the--?" he thought. 

Then, the rattling noise came back.. Longer and louder. Selin was just about to wonder what it was, when it got louder. That's when he determined that it was coming from outside. The rattling of the things in his room was then accompanied by a rumbling noise, which shook his bed and knocked things off of his desk. Selin started to panic, thinking it was an earthquake.

"MOM!?!? DAD!?!?" Selin screamed to the top of his lungs as he sat up in bed. It definitely felt like an earthquake. But then he heard

... A train whistle..?

.. "A.. Train?" he thought. Just then, lights from the supposed train shined into his room one by one. Selin looked outside to see a blurry train right outside his house, which was impossible. 

Totally confused and shocked, Selin decided to go out and investigate. He slipped on his slippers and grabbed his robe for extra warmth.

As Selin ran down stairs, he found it odd that nobody but himself could hear the commotion outside, but he didn't think that much of it. For all he knew, this all could just be a dream

... A dream that felt way too real...

Selin swung his front door open and ran out into the snow. His ears were right..

It was a train. 

He could hear the steam spouting out of the locomotive and the train whistle sound once more. His eyes adjusted slowly and the snow fell back down to the ground silently..

Selin tiptoed closer to the train in awe, as he had never seen one before up close in his waking life. 

"ALL ABOARD!" Selin heard a male voice call from behind him. He spun around and saw a man about 30 feet behind him, holding a lantern. Selin looked around. Realizing he was alone, he pointed to himself, not knowing what else to do. 

"ALL ABOARD!" the supposed conductor called once again. Selin approached the man slowly...

"What am I doing here? Why is this happening? This isn't possible" Selin's head spiraled with questions. 

Finally he was standing in front of the conductor, who wore a navy blue conductor uniform. Standing at about six feet and four inches, almost a foot taller than Selin.

There was an awkward five seconds of silence..

"Well? You coming?" the conductor finally asked.. 

"..Where?" Selin asked back. He looked over the man's shoulder to read the words on the train. "Polar Express" 

"Why to the North Pole, of course. This is the Polar Express!" the conductor said the last part as he waved his arm, as if he was presenting the locomotive to Selin. 

"... The North Pole?" Selin asked, unable to believe a word coming out of the man's mouth..  The conductor rolled his eyes.

"I see.. Hold this please.. Thank you" the conductor sighed and handed the lantern to him. The man came back with a clipboard, practically shoving it in Selin's face. "Is this you?" the conductor asked. Selin looked at a form with all his information on it. A spot where a picture should go was empty. He felt a little on edge knowing that these people had his address and personal information..

But you know.. It's probably a dream anyhow. 

"Yeah" Selin said flatly after he read his name

"Well it says here.." the conductor started, reading from the clipboard.. "No photo with the department store of Santa this year. No letter to Santa.. And you made your brother put out the milk and cookies.. Tsk tsk" 

Selin looked down at the snowy ground, his slippers about two inches below the surface..

"Sounds to me like this is your crucial year. If I were you, I would think about getting on board" the conductor sighed, taking the lantern away from Selin. 

Selin looked down at the ground again, feeling unable to make eye contact and backed away from the train, indicating that he wasn't interested in coming with.

"Suit yourself" the conductor said and waved his lantern, to which the engineer pulled the whistle and the train started to move once again. Selin watched as the steps onto the train moved farther and farther away from him 

"This isn't right.. Why should I be like this? Passing up such an oppurtunity, even if it is just a dream" Selin thought. 

Before he know it, the train was picking up speed. Selin shook his head and reached out for the pole to climb onto the train before it was too late. 

Luckily, he reached it in time and sighed in relief. He slowly lowered himself onto the first step and watched his house shrink in the distance. "Let's make this dream a good one..." Selin thought

That is... If it was a dream. 

"Ahem" he heard from behind. He turned around and saw the conductor open the door to one of the cabins

Inviting Selin inside...

 

I really hope you like this present Alyssa! My dearest cousin! It only took about about an hour, but I have others to write for other people >< wonder how that'll work since it's Christmas Eve now.. Love you sweetie pie <333