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Klaus and Nick sat at the table at Einstein Bros, nursing a tea. Not being in “costume” they looked like two retired elderly men having their morning drink, just like so many other older seniors here.
“You don’t look a day older than last time we met,” Klaus joked as he took a sip of his drink.
“Neither do you. And how is Mrs. Klaus doing these days?”
“Stephanie is fine, thank you. She asked me to say hi to you.”
Nicholas chuckled about the ritual. They had gone through almost the exact same exchange every time they met, ever since that first time when Nicholas had suddenly showed up at the North Pole, more than a hundred years ago.
They sat nursing their tea, looking at the rain pouring down outside. It had been a wet summer in Maryland, with one rain front after the other moving through. Now that Labor Day had come and gone, the summer showers were making way for the much colder rains of the fall.
Nick pulled himself out of his wandering thoughts and looked at his brother. “You said you wanted to talk to me,” he said. “It’s not like you to be so secretive. So here we are, now tell me, what is this all about?”
“I think we should write our memoir,” the younger brother replied.
“Our memoir?”
“Our memoir.”
“What the heck are you talking about, and why?”
Klaus sat back and looked down at his mug.
“Our story is remarkable, isn’t it?”
“Sure, if that’s the word you want to use,” Nicholas chuckled. “‘Outrageous’ might be a better word. ‘Unbelievable.’”
“People don’t know what we are, and how we came to be. But wouldn’t you want people to know?”
“Dunno, I never thought about it.”
“Well, I do. I’ve been wanting to tell this story for years now. I think it is an interesting story, even if it is hard to believe. And I think it’s time to tell it.”
Nicholas took a sip of the still hot tea and looked at his brother.
“Don’t you think that is dangerous?”
“Maybe. Actually, I’m not sure if I’m all that worried about danger. I mean, I’m a hundred eighty years old by now, you’re more than double that. Our enterprises more or less run themselves. What’s the worst that can happen?”
“That people will believe us?”
“Whatever. I just feel I need to put it down, write a book, and publish it.”
Nicholas thought about that for a moment. He had never felt the need to share his story, but if there was one thing he had learned in his long life, it was that everyone is very different. So he didn’t want to dismiss Klaus’ idea out of hand.
“OK, so say you write down the story. How are you going to get it published? You’re going to walk up to a publisher and say, hi there, I’m Santa Claus, and I want to publish a book?”
“Of course not, that’s never going to work. And I don’t really want to write the whole thing myself, either. Actually, I did try once, to write it all down. I got the facts, but it wasn’t a story if you know what I mean.”
“So you want to get someone else to write it for you?”
“For us. Yes, I think we should find a ghost writer who will do the hard work. He will need to interview us, of course, get all the information. And then he can write it.”
“Alright, say I agree. So, who would this ghostwriter be?”
Klaus laughed. “I’ve actually thought about this, and I figure no professional writer would want to touch this with a ten foot pole. I need an amateur who is willing to do this. And it has to be someone who is familiar with both you and me. Because it has to be our memoir, not just mine.”
“So, who are you thinking?”
“That is why we are here, in Ellicott City. Where there happens to live someone who grew up with Sinterklaas, and has been living with Santa Claus for the past twenty-plus years. Someone, in fact, who even suggested to his children that Santa Claus and Sinterklaas were in it together, that they had divided regional monopolies between them. Someone, in other words, who got part of it figured out already.”
“You mean....?”
“Exactly!”
T H E E N D
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