30 Days of Kum

Title: Where Sam Can’t Catch a Kid

Author: ChiiChiiChii

Rating: PG for a naughty swear.

Warning: I’m half-asleep, I should be doing homework and I’m bored.

“Eli… Eli?”

His life had come to this, to the point where he was crawling underneath an empty dinner table, a striped sun-hat in one hand and a striped sundress in the other. Samuel David Evans crawled on his hands and knees, wrinkling his button-down blue shirt in the process and staining it with some splattered grape juice, from underneath the table in the dining room and sighed. He hung his head in slight defeat before a noise made his ears perk up.

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Title: A Scooter for Jimmy
Author: hummels
Rating: G
Warning/Note: Kurt isn’t mentioned in this, it’s entirely about six-year-old Sam with brief mentions of a friend called Jimmy.

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Six-year-old Sam Evans giggled with delight as his mother flicked a switch in the wall, causing the lights on their christmas tree to flare up and begin to twinkle. He watched them cycle, changing from blue to white to red to green to gold and then repeating, before turing his attention back to the piece of paper in front of him. It was a white sheet, filled from top to bottom with clumsily-written words in multicoloured crayon. The title at the top, bigger than the rest of the words and written in a sparkly gold crayon, read “Dear Santa”.

It was the first time Sam had written a list for Santa and he was determined not to forget anything. He’d filled his letter with everything he could possibly want, from new computer games to the latest robot toy to the coolest new light-up shoes. His parents had warned him that he might not get everything he was asking for, that Santa had to make sure there were enough toys left for the other kids, but Sam figured it was worth a try.

Finally content with what he’d written, Sam folded up his list and tucked it into the pocket of his shorts, determined to keep it safe. He called out to his mother, asking if it was time to go, and she replied that they’d be leaving in a minute. Sam could hardly contain his excitement. They were going to visit Jimmy, Sam’s best friend. Jimmy lived on the other side of town to them in a much smaller house, just him and his mother. Sam couldn’t imagine what that would be like – he had a big sister and twin baby brothers as well as his two parents.

When they finally got to Jimmy’s house Sam was bouncing in his seat, impatient to get inside and show off his newly-finished Santa letter. He raced inside, calling a quick hello to Jimmy’s mum, and threw open the door to Jimmy’s bedroom. Jimmy’s room was much smaller than Sam’s, and he had a lot less toys, but Sam still really liked it. He loved to sleep over at Jimmy’s house. Even though he had to sleep on a mattress on the floor, it was still much more fun than staying with anyone else.

Jimmy was excited to see Sam’s Santa list but, when Sam asked to see his, Jimmy said all he wanted for Christmas was a scooter. No amount of “come on, you must want more than that!”s could change his mind – he wanted a scooter, nothing else. Sam eventually gave up trying to convince Jimmy that he needed a new soccer ball and announced that he was going to find their mothers in the hopes of getting a snack.

He hurried down the hallway but slowed down as he reached the kitchen, where his and Jimmy’s mothers were sitting. He could hear them talking and he could tell from the voices they were using that it wasn’t something good. Curious, he sat down in the hallway and listened.

Jimmy’s mother was speaking. “I don’t know how I’m going to be able to afford christmas presents this year,” she was saying, and Sam thought she sounded very sad. “All Jimmy wants is a scooter, but it’s impossible. I don’t know how I’m going to break it to him that Santa couldn’t bring him what he wanted. It’ll break his heart.”

Sam’s mother responded with soothing words, the sort of things she said to the babies when she was trying to put them to bed, but Sam wasn’t really listening. He couldn’t believe what he’d heard. For some reason, Santa couldn’t give Jimmy what he wanted. Jimmy wasn’t going to get his scooter.

He rushed back to Jimmy’s room, telling his friend that he’d decided he wasn’t hungry anymore. They spent the next few hours playing with Jimmy’s small collection of action figures, until Sam’s mother came and announced that it was time to go. By the time they got home, Sam knew what he was going to do.

The box of crayons was still sitting where he’d left it and he managed to get a fresh sheet of paper off his mother by claiming he’d made a mistake on his first one. He picked up his sparkly gold crayon and began to write.

-

On Christmas morning, Sam rushed downstairs as soon as he awoke, eager to see the presents under the tree. He made a thorough search and was pleased to find that there wasn’t a single present from Santa for him, despite the fact that there were clearly labeled gifts for his sister and brothers. He would notice later, when opening his presents, that his parents had given him almost everything that had been on his original Santa list. He wouldn’t, however, notice the proud smiles his parents shot each other as Sam sat empty-handed while his siblings opened their Santa gifts.

Jimmy awoke before dawn, barely able to contain his excitement. He rushed downstairs to find his mother sitting by their little tree and there, underneath it, lay a brand new scooter. It was a sleek, shiny silver and wrapped around it’s handlebars was a sparkling red ribbon. Attached to the ribbon was a small card which read “To Jimmy, From Santa”. Jimmy was so happy he didn’t notice the note his mother was clutching, a plain white piece of paper printed with big, gold letters.

At tea time a letter arrived for Sam. It had a christmas tree stamp and the address was written in a bright gold ink. He opened it to find a Christmas card and a photograph. He read the card first, with a little help from his father, and was rather confused as to what Santa meant when he said “I’m very proud of you” and why he wanted to thank Sam’s parents.

He then looked at the photo, and a grin burst onto his face. There, in the photograph, was Jimmy. He was smiling wider than Sam had ever seen and riding a brand new scooter. He showed his mother, announcing that Santa had given him exactly what he wanted.

That night, lying in bed, Sam picked up the photo he’d received in the mail. He looked at the shiny scooter and the smile on Jimmy’s face and decided that it had been, without a doubt, the Best Christmas Ever.

Today’s prompt is childhood. What was it like for Kurt, when he figured himself out at five? Did Sam grow up hunting with his dad? Maybe some future fic with the boys reflecting on their past, or raising some kids of their own (or just borrowing the Puckerman children for a while). Maybe they get stuck babysitting Sam’s siblings, or Kurt gets stuck watching Sam wax nostalgic over his N64 — they’re still young themselves, so there’s plenty to choose from!