Another Story about Saint Nick

Nikolas Klosky was born very, very poor. In fact, he and his family were the poorest of the poor. They lived in a shack on a farm where his father worked as a farmhand, and his mother assisted whenever she was not carrying another child. The family faced many hardships where suffering was common, and thus a part of everyday life. In addition to their usual hardships, the family faced much ridicule within their community. Anita Klosky, nee Pasheimer, was of German descent. When she chose to marry a man of Russian descent, her middle-class family ostracized her. Although Anita's family lived in the same region, her unbending parents declared that her children were forbidden to socialize with their aunts, uncles, and even them, the grandparents. During the early years of her marriage, Anita endured depression. Her poverty depressed her, the ostracism from her family tormented her, and even more, the tedious burden of continuous childbearing distressed her. She thought, God only knows why she had opted to marry this Russian of Jewish ancestry, whose family had fled Russia in order to escape hardships there. Although her husband's family, as a whole, did better, Aleksandre Klosky's only desire was for him and his family to live a simple, yet decent, life. Being able to enjoy the basics suited him just fine. However, he found in his particular situation, obtaining the mere basics was a complex feat to accomplish. For many years, Anita's sense of reality was somewhat distorted, and this was due to the issue of continuous child-bearing, and unknown to her, due to over-taxing postpartum syndrome. She hardly felt herself, and often described the strange feelings as “living in a dream world.” With her once-reverenced life now vanished, Anita gradually absorbed the lives of her husband and children. Times were so cruel and harsh, that with these strange feelings, she often imagined she would not live to see her children grow up. On the other hand, her children were the only “something” that gave her an iota of hope. She loved them deeply and dearly. Coming of age, Anita determined that, when all is against you, family may be the sole unit one can count on. Anita taught her family unity. It was instilled in the household to “never turn your back on the other,” and “to stand by one another, no matter the circumstance.” Since she had neither an immediate family, nor a “life,” this message became her dream: that her children would be taught the importance of unity. They would be instructed on how to obtain only the basic necessities of life. Those things which, for so long, she had so dreadfully desired, but never had. She reasoned that she could not change her situation, so she set out to direct her children as sensibly as possible. Anita and Aleksandre loved each other in a way so pure, yet simple. With this kind of love, they were willing to gamble the prospects of an endearing future together. The Klosky family lived in a valley on the far outskirts of Heidelberg. This valley consisted of a mere small village located southwest of the city. This area was commonly referred to as the “Village,” or more commonly established as the place where the poverty-stricken dwelled. The winters in the Village were brutal, and treacherously long. A good winter meant only getting twelve feet of snow instead of the usual seventeen to twenty feet. The shack that the family inhabited had four relatively large rooms. There was a kitchen with a hearth for cooking. There was the family room, and the other two rooms served as bedrooms; one room for the boys, and the other for the girls. During the evenings, Anita and Aleksandre would convert the family room into their bedroom. Other than the kitchen, the family room was the only room that had any form of heat. A medium, cast-iron, black, pot-bellied stove was the central mode of heat for the entire household. At night, when the harsh cold settled, and after the chores and dinner were completed, the family would usually gather around this glowing piece of iron, where Mother and Father would tell stories of their past. There was one lantern in each room, and the eldest sibling was responsible for lighting the lamps at sundown, and for extinguishing them when all had retired. There was a rare collection of small red bricks in this home, and each day they were stacked by the pot-bellied stove. Anita had collected a number of these bricks from an old monastery, which had fallen to waste.