The hero boy was lying in bed on Christmas Eve. He wanted to stay awake so he could hear Santa Claus coming. He was in the years when he had the first doubts that Santa Claus really existed. So he wanted a prove - he wanted to see him. He heard strange noises in the house. He thought it was Santa Claus, so he went to check the living room. But it was only his father who went with his sister to the kitchen to get her a glass of milk. The hero boy was disappointed. He went back to bed and felt asleep. Five minutes to midnight he woke up. A large train stopped before his house. He went outside the house to see the train. The conductor of the train invited him on the train - the Polar Express which would go to the North Pole. The hero boy was at first afraid and he didn't wanted to go on the train but at the last moment he changed his mind and jumped on the train.
On the train there were a lot of other kids, who believed that they were going to see Santa Claus at the North Pole. He became friends with the hero girl and the know-it-all boy. The hero girl had an idealistic view of the world and she believed very much in Santa Claus. The know-it-all boy thought he was the smartest boy on the world and for him everything had a reasonable explanation. So he didn't believed in Santa Claus anymore and tried all the time to find evidence that Santa Claus didn't existed. At the next and also the last stop the conductor invited the lonely boy on the train. The lonely boy was very shy. He was coming from a poor family so he never got any presents for Christmas. For him there was no Christmas and no Santa Claus. The lonely boy was afraid so he didn't go on the train. The train started slowly. The kids on the train watched the lonely boy. Then lonely boy started to run to get on the train but he was to slow and he felt into the snow. The hero boy stopped the train with the emergency brake. The Conductor was very angry about that, because they were already late. But his anger went away when he heard the reason for the emergency brake. The lonely boy got on the train, but he didn't join the other kids. He went into the last empty wagon.
The waiters brought hot chocolate for the kids. Their service was very spectacular. The hero girl hid a cup of hot chocolate for the lonely boy. After the waiters went away she went to the last wagon to give the lonely boy the hot chocolate. It was not allowed for the kids to leave the wagon, because it was to dangerous. The conductor seized her, when she tried to open the door of the wagon. He was not angry, but he helped her to take the hot chocolate to the lonely boy. The hero boy saw that the hero girl forgot her ticket on her seat. He took the ticket and wanted to bring the ticket to her. But when he opened the door of the wagon the strong wind blew the ticket away. He tried to catch it, but it was to late. He was very sad about it. He was afraid that the hero girl could not continue the voyage without her ticket. He went back to his seat. Outside the train the wind blew the ticket away from the train and it fell on the snow. Then a pack of wolves that ran after the train rose the ticket in the air again. An eagle caught it there and it flew with it to his nest to feed it's young one. But the young eagle didn't like the taste of the ticket so it spit it out of the nest. The ticket fell on the snow and began to roll down the slope as a snowball until it reached the rails at the same moment as the train. Because of the train the snowball fell into pieces and the ticket was again in the air. At that moment the conductor and the hero girl went back to the kids and opened the door of the wagon. The ticket came back with them into the wagon.
When the hero girl sat down the conductor asked her for her ticket. She couldn't find it. Nobody saw that her ticket was back in the wagon but on a different place. Then the hero boy came to the conductor and explained that he loosed her ticket and that he was prepared to give her his ticket. But the conductor refused that. He took the hero girl to the last wagon. The know-it-all boy said that the conductor would throw the hero girl from the train, because she didn't have a ticket. Then the hero boy saw her ticket. He took it and together with the know-it-all boy they went to the last wagon. There the lonely boy told them, that the conductor and the hero girl went outside to the balcony. The two boys ran to the balcony, but there was nobody there. Then they saw a reflection of a light from the roof of the train. The hero boy climbed on the roof of the train. The know-it-all boy stayed behind, because it was to dangerous for him. On top of the train the hero boy saw in the distance the conductor and the hero girl as they were going to the front of the train. He began to yell to them, but the wind was to strong. So he followed them. He soon lost them because of the wind, the snow and the fog. Then suddenly on the roof of the train he met a ghost vagabond. They talked a while with each other. The ghost told the hero boy that didn't care from where the train came and where it was going, but that he simply enjoyed the spectacular ride with the train. That he didn't need a ticket for the ride because as a vagabond he was free to do what he wanted. Then the ghost helped the boy to get to the front of the train. They hurried because soon the train would go in a tunnel and there wasn't enough space between the train and the tunnel for someone to stay on the roof. The ghost took his skies and they skied on the roofs of the wagons to the front of the train, which was very difficult because the train went up and down. But at the last moment before the tunnel the boy sprang into the locomotive.
In the locomotive there was also the hero girl. She told him, that the conductor brought her here. She was alone because the engine-drivers went to the front of the locomotive to replace the light. The two drivers were very clumsy. After a while they succeeded in changing the light. Then they saw that there was something on the rails in front of the train. They began to yell to the hero girl that she should stop the train. The hero girl and the hero boy found the brake and they stopped the train just in front of the obstacle. The conductor came to the locomotive. He was angry at the boy because he had again stopped the train. But the hero girl explained the situation to the conductor, so he wasn't angry anymore. Together they went to the front of the locomotive to see what the obstacle was. It was a large herd of deers. It was impossible to continue with the train. One of the engine-drivers had a long beard and when the conductor accidentally pulled the beard the driver yelled very hard. The deers were afraid of that yell. The conductor pulled the beard several times more and the deer began to retreat. So they could continue the ride.
The engine-drivers went back inside the locomotive. The conductor, hero girl and hero boy stayed in front of the locomotive to admire the surroundings. The engine-drivers accidentally brook something so the train went harder and harder and they couldn't slow it or stop it. So the train went for a spectacular ride up and down. It was very dangerous for the three of them in front of the locomotive. After a while the train came to the beginning of a lake where the rails were under the ice. The train couldn't turn around so it continued the ride on the ice on top of the lake. The engine-drivers succeeded in repairing the locomotive so they slowed and stopped the train on the middle of the lake. Then the ice started to break. The engine-drivers started the train and then the ride of their lives began. They had to outrun the breaking of the ice and to get to the end of the lake exactly at the point where the rails started again. At the last moment they succeeded.
The hero girl and the hero boy were back in the wagon with the kids. The know-it-all boy was very excited about the last adventures they made with the train. The hero girl saw that the lonely boy was sadly standing on the balcony of the last wagon. Together with the hero boy she went to the lonely boy. Then she began to sing him a beautiful song about Christmas. Soon the lonely boy joined her. The song was about friendship and family. But the song couldn't cheer up the lonely boy.
At the end of the song the know-it-all boy rushed on the balcony. He was in shock. He told them that all the other kids disappeared. They changed into dust and slowly disappeared. The three of them without the lonely boy ran back to the wagon where the kids were. The wagon was empty. They started to discuss what happened. Then the conductor walked into the wagon. He told them that not everyone deserved to ride with the train all the way. Then he went away without another explanation. They were very confused. The big question was why the three of them were allowed to stay on the train. The hero girl suggested that the reason was that only they really believed in Santa Claus. But that wasn't true, because the know-it-all boy didn't believe in him and the hero boy was skeptical about him. They discussed further. Then they found out that maybe the reason was, that all of them three were kind of active on the train. All the other kids just sat on their seats and waited to reach the destination. But why didn't the lonely boy disappeared, he also wasn't active. The three of them looked at each other and went to the last wagon to see if the lonely boy was still on the train. When they came to the door of the last wagon the lonely boy disappeared before their eyes. They were the only three kids left on the whole train.
The train came to a big spectacular city on ice. The three kids were very excited. The hero girl believed that this was the city of Santa Claus and that in the city they would see him and his dwarfs. They arrived to the city. But the city was empty, there was no one on the streets. It was strange. They went to the balcony of the last wagon to see the city better. The hero boy accidentally uncoupled the last wagon from the train. At that moment the train was going up so the last wagon went backwards and on a switch took another rail into the city. The ride with the wagon through the empty streets of the city was very fast and spectacular. Then the wagon went under the city, where there were large empty factories. The fast and spectacular ride continued under the city. At one point they came back to the surface of the city at the same time as the train came by. On a switch they joined the train and their wagon automatically coupled again with the train. The kids went quickly back to their wagon.
The train was going through the center of the city and then out of the city and still there was no one on the streets. No dwarfs, no Santa Claus. The know-it-all boy started happily to assert that the empty streets were the prove that Santa Claus didn't existed. That he was just an imagination. Then the know-it-all boy began to disappear. That was prove for the hero girl that Santa Claus did exist. Only the hero boy and the hero girl were left on the train. The train was coming to the boundary of the city. Then the conductor came to them to take them to the roof of the wagon, because now they would come to the most beautiful and exciting part of the journey. The hero girl asked the conductor if they would now see Santa Claus and his dwarfs. The conductor looked strange to her. He asked her, where she got the idea that she would see Santa Claus on this journey. He said to her that he never, in his long life as a conductor, saw Santa Claus or his dwarfs. That the only aim of this voyage was the voyage itself. And that probably Santa Claus was just an imagination. The hero girl was very chocked and sad about this revelation. They climbed on the roof of the wagon. The countryside through which the train was riding was spectacular. It was the most beautiful thing that the hero boy saw until now in his life. He was amazed. Tears off happiness came into his eyes. He tried to cheer up the hero girl, she was to sad about Santa Claus to enjoy the spectacular view. She slowly disappeared. Only the conductor and the hero boy were left. The beautiful ride through the amazing countryside continued.
The hero boy woke in his bed. It seemed like the whole voyage with the Polar Express was just a beautiful dream. It was Christmas day. He went to the window. It was a beautiful day outside. Now he knew what Christmas was about. It was not important if Santa Claus existed or not. It was not important if you believed in Santa Claus or not. Christmas was about people, about friendship, about family, about having a nice time together. He was happy. He went to the living room to join his family around the Christmas tree.
The End