It was quiet at the Barber Shop. The two girls there were talking to each other with only a TV in the background.
"Let's change the channel to the local news." Susan said.
Martha grabbed the remote and changed it to the local cable channel which carried news for their area.
Both looked at the screen as it showed pictures of Santa Claus.
Isn't September early for Christmas ads?"
"SHHH!" Martha said as she turned up the TV volume.
"...several people in Kansas City have heard sleigh bells overhead. Most people believe it's a prank.
While a handful believes Santa has come to town early. There have been no witnesses. But, police have received
enough phone calls to be on the look out for anything unusual in the area. If you know anything, please call...."
"Did you hear that?" Martha said as she turned down the TV volume.
Before she could answer, both girls heard the chimes from the door. An old man had walked in. Neither had seen
him before. His suit was red with black and white trim.
Martha motioned the old timer to the chair. Susan whispered over to her.
"He looks like Santa Claus."
"It's a coincidence." Was all she said. Then she turned her full attention to the old man."
"What can I do for you, sir?"
"Just a trim around the edges, Martha."
"How do you know my name? We've never met."
"You were a very young child back then. I doubt you'd remember." The old man sat down and Martha draped the
sheet over him and started trimming.
Curiosity got the better of her and she started probing for answers. "Are you a friend of my family?"
The old man started a laugh that sounded familiar." My dear, I'm a friend with everyone's family. There's
probably not a single person on this planet I haven't seen at least once as a child."
Martha proceeded with trimming around his ears and asked what job he did before retiring.
"I'm a gift distribution specialist and what makes you think I'm retired?"
"Well, you are getting up in years. No offense intended."
"Martha, you haven't changed one bit since childhood. You still have no respect for your elders"
Susan overheard the heated comments and stayed back. If the guy was Santa, she wanted nothing to do with
upsetting him.
Martha finished his head and asked about shaving off about the beard.
"You'll do no such thing." The old man said, his temper clearly heating up. "It's my best feature. No one would
recognize me if I lost the beard."
"Really." Martha proclaimed. "You sound like Santa Claus."
"I get that a lot?" The old man replied. "What do you think?"
She put down her electric trimmer and replied "I can't decide. What do you think?"
The old timer looked in the mirror and replied. "My hair looks fine. But, I asked you first."
"I think if you were Santa, you'd be doing more hocus pocus and goodwill instead of taking up time at a
barber shop."
"Hocus pocus?" He said somewhat surprised. "I haven't heard that in a long time."
The old man stood up and looked at Martha. Susan looked on, wondering what was about to happen.
The old man took an old baseball cap from the hat rack and waved his hand over it. He reached inside it and
pulled out a wallet. Then, tossed the hat toward the rack where it landed perfectly on its peg. "That's hocus
pocus." He said as he grabbed a twenty dollar bill from it and handed the money to a stunned Martha.
Before she could hand him change. He stepped back and snapped his fingers. All the trimmed hair from the floor
started floating up and over to the cabinet where the garbage was. The door opened itself and the hair
disappeared inside with the door quickly shutting itself.” I deal in magic, dear. No hocus pocus."
Both were speechless at what just happened. The old man said to keep the change and walked toward the door. He
stopped briefly and looked toward the girls.
"Susan, my apologies for the doll with the purple dress. I know you had your heart set on red."
With that statement, the old man was gone.
"What was that all about?" Martha asked.
Susan was silent for a few moments then quietly replied. “My last letter to Santa was for a Barbie doll with
a red dress. I got a doll with a purple dress instead. I was so upset; I stopped writing him after that."
As soon as she finished the statement, they heard sleigh bells from outside. Both girls ran out the door and
looked up to the northern sky. The bells had faded and all they saw off in the distance was a black dot with a
red glow as the sun was setting.
Susan asked Martha “do you have any doubts about him now?”
“From what I’ve just seen, I’d even believe Jake would come in and ask for a hair cut.”
“Me? A hair cut? I don’t think so” said a bald headed man standing just outside the door waiting to come in.
The girls laughed at the coincidence and told Jake all about the old man and what happened.
“I think you’ve all flipped your lids.” was all he said.
But, Susan and Martha knew better. It was no ordinary old man at their barber shop that day. Even if no one
else believed that Santa Claus was there, they believed.
"Let's change the channel to the local news." Susan said.
Martha grabbed the remote and changed it to the local cable channel which carried news for their area.
Both looked at the screen as it showed pictures of Santa Claus.
Isn't September early for Christmas ads?"
"SHHH!" Martha said as she turned up the TV volume.
"...several people in Kansas City have heard sleigh bells overhead. Most people believe it's a prank.
While a handful believes Santa has come to town early. There have been no witnesses. But, police have received
enough phone calls to be on the look out for anything unusual in the area. If you know anything, please call...."
"Did you hear that?" Martha said as she turned down the TV volume.
Before she could answer, both girls heard the chimes from the door. An old man had walked in. Neither had seen
him before. His suit was red with black and white trim.
Martha motioned the old timer to the chair. Susan whispered over to her.
"He looks like Santa Claus."
"It's a coincidence." Was all she said. Then she turned her full attention to the old man."
"What can I do for you, sir?"
"Just a trim around the edges, Martha."
"How do you know my name? We've never met."
"You were a very young child back then. I doubt you'd remember." The old man sat down and Martha draped the
sheet over him and started trimming.
Curiosity got the better of her and she started probing for answers. "Are you a friend of my family?"
The old man started a laugh that sounded familiar." My dear, I'm a friend with everyone's family. There's
probably not a single person on this planet I haven't seen at least once as a child."
Martha proceeded with trimming around his ears and asked what job he did before retiring.
"I'm a gift distribution specialist and what makes you think I'm retired?"
"Well, you are getting up in years. No offense intended."
"Martha, you haven't changed one bit since childhood. You still have no respect for your elders"
Susan overheard the heated comments and stayed back. If the guy was Santa, she wanted nothing to do with
upsetting him.
Martha finished his head and asked about shaving off about the beard.
"You'll do no such thing." The old man said, his temper clearly heating up. "It's my best feature. No one would
recognize me if I lost the beard."
"Really." Martha proclaimed. "You sound like Santa Claus."
"I get that a lot?" The old man replied. "What do you think?"
She put down her electric trimmer and replied "I can't decide. What do you think?"
The old timer looked in the mirror and replied. "My hair looks fine. But, I asked you first."
"I think if you were Santa, you'd be doing more hocus pocus and goodwill instead of taking up time at a
barber shop."
"Hocus pocus?" He said somewhat surprised. "I haven't heard that in a long time."
The old man stood up and looked at Martha. Susan looked on, wondering what was about to happen.
The old man took an old baseball cap from the hat rack and waved his hand over it. He reached inside it and
pulled out a wallet. Then, tossed the hat toward the rack where it landed perfectly on its peg. "That's hocus
pocus." He said as he grabbed a twenty dollar bill from it and handed the money to a stunned Martha.
Before she could hand him change. He stepped back and snapped his fingers. All the trimmed hair from the floor
started floating up and over to the cabinet where the garbage was. The door opened itself and the hair
disappeared inside with the door quickly shutting itself.” I deal in magic, dear. No hocus pocus."
Both were speechless at what just happened. The old man said to keep the change and walked toward the door. He
stopped briefly and looked toward the girls.
"Susan, my apologies for the doll with the purple dress. I know you had your heart set on red."
With that statement, the old man was gone.
"What was that all about?" Martha asked.
Susan was silent for a few moments then quietly replied. “My last letter to Santa was for a Barbie doll with
a red dress. I got a doll with a purple dress instead. I was so upset; I stopped writing him after that."
As soon as she finished the statement, they heard sleigh bells from outside. Both girls ran out the door and
looked up to the northern sky. The bells had faded and all they saw off in the distance was a black dot with a
red glow as the sun was setting.
Susan asked Martha “do you have any doubts about him now?”
“From what I’ve just seen, I’d even believe Jake would come in and ask for a hair cut.”
“Me? A hair cut? I don’t think so” said a bald headed man standing just outside the door waiting to come in.
The girls laughed at the coincidence and told Jake all about the old man and what happened.
“I think you’ve all flipped your lids.” was all he said.
But, Susan and Martha knew better. It was no ordinary old man at their barber shop that day. Even if no one
else believed that Santa Claus was there, they believed.