# The Story of Santaur By:: [[Brian Heath]] 2024-12-24 Deep in the snowy North, where Santa Claus has his bustling workshop, lived a rather grumpy fellow named Santaur. Santaur was Santa’s half-brother. He had the same jolly red face and fluffy white beard as Santa, but instead of two legs, he had the powerful legs of a horse! In fact, most people would say Santaur very much resembled a Centaur. While Santa zoomed around the world in his sleigh, delivering toys and spreading cheer, Santaur stomped around his workshop, grumbling. He thought Santa was much too frivolous! “Toys and games?” he’d scoff. “What good are those when you need to fix a leaky roof or mend a torn pair of trousers?” Santaur believed in practicality. He thought gifts should be useful, things that helped people in their everyday lives. He’d watch Santa’s reindeer take off into the night sky, their bells jingling merrily, and shake his head. “All that fuss and glitter,” he’d mutter. “A good roll of duct tape is worth a thousand toy trains!” For years, Santaur watched and complained. He felt overlooked, always in the shadow of his famous half-brother. Finally, one Christmas Eve, Santaur decided he’d had enough. He was going to deliver his own gifts! While Santa was busy squeezing down chimneys, Santaur prepared for his special delivery. He had a sturdy, wooden cart, nothing fancy like Santa’s sleigh. It was plain and practical, just like him. And instead of reindeer or even regular horses, Santaur would pull the cart himself! With his powerful horse legs, it was no trouble at all. Instead of colorful, ribbon-wrapped presents, Santaur’s cart was filled with plain brown paper bags. Each bag had a name written on it in plain black marker. Santaur’s gifts were very different from Santa’s. Inside those brown bags were things like strong duct tape, stretchy rubber bands, satisfyingly chewy beef jerky, and sharp pencils. Things you might not think of as exciting presents, but things that were definitely useful. If your boots got a hole, duct tape! If you needed to bundle some papers, rubber bands! If you needed a quick energy boost, beef jerky! And if you needed to write a very important letter, a sharp pencil! As Santa flew through the sky with his “Ho Ho Ho’s,” Santaur trotted along the snowy roads with a “Harrumph,” pulling his cart steadily behind him. He delivered his practical presents to people who needed them most, leaving the plain brown bags on doorsteps and porches. His hooves on the snowy ground were a different kind of Christmas sound, a steady, rhythmic clip-clop. Some children were a little confused. They’d find a bag of rubber bands instead of a shiny new toy. But their parents would smile and say, “Look! Santaur brought us some things we really need!” And they’d use the duct tape to fix a broken toy, the pencils to write a thank you note, or the rubber bands to organize their drawers. And so, every Christmas Eve, while Santa delivers toys and games, Santaur delivers his practical gifts, pulling his cart with his own strong legs, reminding everyone that sometimes, the most useful gifts are the best gifts of all. #### Related Items [[Storytelling]] [[Pragmatic]] [[Tradition]] [[Simplicity]] [[Value]] [[Christmas]] [[Capitalism]] [[Caring]]