The Polar Express
Chris Van Allsburg
"On Christman morning my little sister Sarah and I opened our presents.
When it looked as if everything had been unwrapped, Sarah found one last small box behind the tree.
It had my name on it.
Inside was the silver bell!
There was a note: "Found this on the seat of my sleigh. Fix the hole in your pocket."
Signed, "Mr. C."
I shook the bell. It made the most beautiful sound my sister and I had ever heard.
But my mother said, "Oh that's too bad."
"Yes," said my father, "it's broken."
When I'd shaken the bell, my parents had not heard a sound.
At one time most of my friends could hear the bell,
but as years passed, it fell silent for all of them.
Even Sarah found one Christmas that she could no longer hear its sweet sound.
Though I've grown old, the bell still rings for me
as it does for all who truly believe."
