Despite what he’d been told, Billy Donaldson still believed. They just had to be wrong. Santa was real.

He fell to his bed, weeping into his pillow. Only the action figures on his shelf and his puppy heard the mournful cries.

But the rustling on the roof gave him pause.

David Galassie is a fruitcake enthusiast and a history buff. His blog, chronicling the history and foibles of his old hometown, is at menashabook.blogspot.com.