Jessica Cole
v_127
2nd Place Award



Your friends are right, Virginia.  Santa Claus is not real.  But
I think you knew that already because even though all the
grown-ups in your life have sworn that Santa Claus is real, you
still wrote to me.  You must have listened to that little voice
inside of you that tells you when something just isn't right.

Maybe you listened to that voice because you've tried to count
the boys and girls who go to your school and then tried to
understand how Santa Claus could visit them all in just one
night.  Maybe you listened because you've seen birds, airplanes,
and insects fly, but never reindeer, and because you've noticed
that birds, airplanes, and insects all have wings and that
reindeer most definitely do not.  Maybe you listened because
you've noticed that grown-ups mention Santa any time you want to
do something that is inconvenient for them.

Whatever the reason, it was very brave to listen to that voice. 
Many people ignore their voices and as a result lead relatively
happy, worry-free, and extremely dull lives.  But you are much
too smart for that, Virginia.  Not only do you have the
imagination to believe in fantastic possibilities, but you have
the sense to doubt those possibilities even when you wish
mightily for them to be true.

It is exactly this combination of imagination and skepticism that
makes the human mind so amazing.  The human mind has found a way
to prove that the earth is round, that everything you see and
touch is made up of the same material, and that there are stars
visible to your eye that actually burned out many years ago.  The
human mind has also managed to create elaborate fairy tales like
the one you've been told so many times about Santa Claus.  Some
minds have been able to figure out ways to use this story to
control other minds.  Some minds have figured out how to use the
story of Santa Claus as a way to train their brains to imagine,
to doubt, and to dream.  What other amazing things do you think
your mind can do?

There is no Santa Claus, but there is Virginia O'Hanlon, and that
is just as exciting.