A Boy Called Christmas

by Matt Haig

So Nikolas wished for a way of replacing meanness with goodness.

In a world like that, it’s very easy to be bad. So when someone is good, or kind, it’s a magic in itself. It gives people hope. And hope is the most wonderful thing there is.”

So he knew

that terrible things—even the most terrible things—couldn’t stop the world from turning. Life went on. And he made a promise to himself that, when he grew older, he’d try and be like his mother. Colorful and happy and kind and full of joy. That was how he was going to keep her alive.

“Sometimes,” she said, her eyes shining, “people look up to people not for who they have been, but for what they could become. For what they know they could be. They see in you something special.”