WeirdCore Kid: Picked Audiobooks

December 26, 2024

The Polar Express

<p>On <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_Eve" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Christmas Eve</a>, a young boy, listening from his bed for the ringing sounds of Santa's sleigh, instead hears the sound of a train. He looks through the window to see it right outside his house. He sees a <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conductor_(rail)" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">conductor</a> who looks up at his window. He tiptoes downstairs and goes outside. The conductor explains that the train is called the Polar Express and is journeying to the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Pole" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">North Pole</a>. The boy then boards the train, which is filled with other children in their pajamas and nightgowns. They all sing carols and are served candies and <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_chocolate" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">hot chocolate</a> by the train's staff.</p> <p>The Polar Express races north past towns and villages, through <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiga" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">boreal forests</a>, and over <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_Cordillera" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">mountains</a>, but the train never slows down. When it arrives at the North Pole, the conductor explains that <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Santa Claus</a> will select one of them to receive the first gift of Christmas.</p> <p>The boy and the other children see thousands of <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_elf" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">elves</a> gathered at the center of town waiting to send Santa Claus on his way. The boy is handpicked by Santa to receive the first gift of Christmas. Realizing he could choose anything in the world, the boy asks for a bell from Santa's sleigh. An elf cuts a bell from one of the reindeer's harnesses. The boy places the bell in the pocket of his robe and all the children watch as Santa takes off into the night for his annual deliveries. As the train begins the ride home, the boy discovers that the bell had fallen through a hole in his pocket. The boy arrives home, the conductor wishing him a merry Christmas as the train speeds away. On Christmas morning, his sister Sarah finds a small box for the boy behind the tree. The boy opens the box and discovers that it contains the bell, delivered by Santa along with a note explaining that he found it on the seat of his sleigh and to get the hole in his pocket fixed. When the boy rings the bell, both he and his sister marvel at the beautiful sound. His parents, however, are unable to hear the bell and remark that it is broken. The book ends with the following line:</p> <p>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.</p> <p>RIPPED FROM THE CD.</p> <p>© 1985 by Chris Van Allsburg, Read by Liam Neeson</p> <p>Music by Micheal Moss. Recorded at Soundscape, Boston, MA</p> <p>A Charlesberry Production/Susan Dudnick Boer, Producer</p> <p>℗ 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company</p>