Dust off the decorations. Strike up the band. Bake, bake, bake and bake some more (especially if it’s chocolate). It’s time for
Susanna Hill’s 8th Annual Holiday Contest!
The Contest: Write a children’s holiday story (children here defined as age 12 and under) about A Holiday Hero! Your hero’s act of heroism can be on a grand scale or a small one – from saving Christmas to leaving a fresh-baked loaf of Challah bread for a homeless person to something like Gift Of The Magi where two people give up the thing most important to them to be sure someone they love has a good holiday. Your hero can be obvious or unlikely. Your story may be poetry or prose, silly or serious or sweet, religious or not, based on Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or whatever you celebrate, but is not to exceed 250 words. Entries are posted, or linked to, Susanna’s post. Grab some cocoa, scurry over & enjoy some wonderful holiday stories! You’ll be glad you did (and so will the writers, if you leave comments).
And now, for my 246-word entry…
Hester Saves Christmas
Hester loved jingling bells, the scent of sparkling pine trees, and the promise of present-filled stockings hung by Farmer O’Neill’s chimney. She especially loved stories of Santa and his reindeer.
“Mama, can I can pull Santa’s sleigh next year?” Hester asked.
“Flying reindeer pull Santa’s sleigh, Hester. And everyone knows Highland Cows can’t fly.”
But I can dream, thought Hester. And practice.
She hopped over heather and thistles.
“Ouch!”
She jumped across rocky streams…almost.
SPLASH!
She trotted uphill, leapt, and…
tumbled down a steep slope.
Moooo…
Hester kept trying…
and trying…
and trying…
but not quite succeeding.
As Christmas drew near, Hester turned her nose from pine trees and looked away from the chimney. She hung her shaggy head. Large tears fell, freezing like a glistening beard.
“A blizzard,” sighed Farmer O’Neill on Christmas Eve. “No presents tomorrow. Santa’s reindeer can’t fly through this mess. Into the barn, girls.”
All but one shuffled into the warm barn.
Hester trudged through deep snowdrifts. She shivered in the blustery wind and slipped on icy paths until…
She heard a faint jingle-jingle. She scrambled and spied…
Santa in his sleigh with eight grounded reindeer stuck in a snow pile.
Hester pulled, tugged and led the reindeer, sleigh and Santa along the snowy trail.
The next morning, presents filled stockings. Laughter rang like jingling bells across the farm.
“Merry Christmas, Hester,” Farmer O’Neill said. “Wake up! Somehow Santa came!”
Hester yawned and wondered,
Can a cow hide Easter eggs?