A child is sleeping in their grandparent's basement when they observe the presence of an unknown entity. They hear their name, and then the form of Santa Claus manifests.
The following account was forwarded to me:
“Sorry in advance, this is not exactly a jolly story. When I was 7, we were visiting my grandparents for Christmas with all of my dad's siblings and their kids. My grandmother was dying of breast cancer. She would pass some time between when I went to bed on Christmas Eve and the middle of the night.
I was sleeping in the basement of their old farmhouse. There was a wood stove for heating the house down there. Now, as I remember it, I woke up to the sound of the fire suddenly crackling a lot (like if you burn cedar, which I'm pretty sure it was). I got all excited and thought it was Santa. I could feel a presence and to my seven-year-old eyes, I could swear that an invisible person was walking up the carpeted stairs, as I could see the footsteps pressing the carpet down as whatever it was ascended the steps.
Around this time I thought I heard someone whisper my name off in the direction that my little sister was sleeping. It was soft and raspy, "Nina. Nina. Heeeey Heeeyyyy." Along with this, I could make out the silhouette of what I thought to be one of Santa's elves, sitting on a stool next to where my sister slept. It scared me and I stayed as quiet and still as I could.
Eventually, I felt the presence of "Santa" coming back down the stairs, the fire started crackling a bunch again and then died down as the presence left. I stayed awake in bed until later when my father and uncles returned from the hospital with the bad news. They made us kids open our presents before they told us the next morning though.
Anyway, in retrospect, I want to chalk it all up to an overactive imagination. It was actually impossible for me to see anything other than the profile of the stairs, as I was sleeping parallel to them, and my sister was probably just breathing heavily, but that's how I remember it.” N
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