Dropping the reader into the story

Santa Claus' murder story

I was 6 when my brother John leaned across the kitchen table and casually whispered that he had killed Santa Claus.

A shocking moment for us all. For my family, my friends, and for me of course. This miniature sculpture almost life like Santa Claus had gone through generations and generations of the Appleberg family. So it was no surprise when I found out that my brother’s first reaction was to lay on the ground hysterically crying, imagining all of the thousands of possible reactions and scenarios that could happen when our parents found out. Undoubtedly I was unaware that this was his first reaction as I only heard the first glimpse of the story on the kitchen table. The kitchen table was normally used to share moments of joy or accomplishments but this was no accomplishment or moment of joy. This was an immense pain. It was as if I had just lost a family member, a friend, a comrade I would seek peace and tranquility from after school.

When my brother whispered into my ears that he had killed our Santa Claus, all of a sudden every sound or slight pitch became mute. My mind started replaying all the memories I had created with him over the last years almost like it was on a loop of true horror. The memories were so painful that I tried to obliterate them from my mind. Certainly I couldn’t neglect how my brother was feeling throughout all of this because he did not purposely kill Santa Claus. Although he never actually told me what happened…….My mind began to wander off again. My first thought was motive, means, opportunity. I had watched a lot of crime TV shows before so I knew how to interrogate people and find out who was a murderer. I understood that there were a lot of opportunities to kill Santa Claus as it was made out of stone so it was extremely fragile. What I did not understand was John’s motive. Why would he kill Santa Claus? Everyone in the family loves him to death.


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