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The 6th Annual Holiday Contest!!!!
So the challenge is to write a children's holiday story using the basic format/concept of The Twelve Days of Christmas, not to exceed 300 words. I thought about it for a week (as is my style), then wrote it yesterday. Here goes:
The Twelve Days Before Christmas
Twelve days before Christmas, mom bought me a sparkly,
bright light-up necklace that blinked red, silver and green – just like real
holiday lights.
Eleven days before Christmas, Luis said my necklace wasn’t quite
as cool as his talking Christmas tie. The new girl, Lucy, said it was the most
beautiful thing she had ever seen.
Ten days before Christmas, Mr. Silver said I should put the necklace
in my desk until the end of the day.
Nine days before Christmas, mom and I brought cookies to the
neighbors who give us coconut cake on Kwanzaa.
Eight days before Christmas, my necklace stopped blinking.
Seven days before Christmas, mom replaced the batteries and
told me not to sparkle quite as much.
Six days before Christmas, I asked Lucy what she wanted for
Christmas. She looked down at her feet and said snow boots would keep her dry.
Five days before Christmas, we sang in the holiday concert. I
wore my necklace for Rockin’ Around the
Christmas Tree, but not for the Native
American Winter Song.
Four days before Christmas, Mr. Silver found five shiny, gold
chocolate coins for Hanukkah on his desk.
Three days before Christmas, Ms. Pam had to remind me not to
leave my necklace on the bus.
Two days before Christmas, I gave Lucy the necklace. She
smiled and twirled and said the colors glowed – like friendship.
On the day before Christmas, I asked Santa to bring Lucy the
most sparkly pair of snow boots he could find. And more batteries.
What a great ending to your story. Good luck and happy holidays.
ReplyDeleteThanks Gregory! Did you enter as well? I'm working my way thru the submissions (slowly) ;)
DeleteThis is a beautiful story Eileen! Your character has a strong voice and warm heart. Great job!
ReplyDeleteThank you Amanda!
DeleteWhat a nice friendship story. This is what the season is about.
ReplyDeleteThanks David, good luck!
DeleteI really like this, Eileen! My mom got me a necklace like that a few years ago (and I'm in my thirties!) Good luck! (And high five from a fellow librarian!)
ReplyDeleteHI Jennifer! Thanks alot - I'm glad you get the necklace obsession! Where are you a librarian? Librarian/writers are my favorite people!
DeleteI'm in Illinois (Chicago suburbs). I'm currently only subbing and doing the occasional storytime... but I'll get back into a more "permanent" position one of these days. For now, I'm enjoying some extra time to spend on writing! :)
DeleteThis is a heartwarming story, Eileen! You really nailed the voice of your MC and captured the strength of her friendship with Lucy. Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Gabi!
DeleteI enjoyed reading your story, sounds like your main character is a good friend.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteWhat a delightful story, Eileen! Such an authentic kid voice (loved the part about wearing the necklace for Rockin' but not for Native American :) I've been to so many holiday concerts with song selections like that! :) ) And I love the friendship element and how kind she is to Lucy... right down to the extra batteries! Thanks so much for joining in the fun, and Happy Holidays!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Susanna! And thanks for the contest - I've wanted to enter one for a while now but can never get it together!
DeleteWhat a lovely ending to a beautiful story celebrating friendship.
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time to comment Linda!
DeleteWonderful story, Eileen...and I love that she not only gave the necklace to her friend, but asked for her friend to get boots...she was kind and observant. A lovely celebration of true friendship and the holiday spirit. ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks Vivian! (And on a completely different and shallow note - I love your profile pic, don't ever change it!)
DeleteOh, I love this. Talk about voice of a child! My favorite line is "Ten days before Christmas, Mr. Silver said I should put the necklace in my desk until the end of the day." LOL.
ReplyDeleteThat line is such a good example of good PB writing; it shows how to use sparse text, and let the illustrations (and in this case our imaginations) fill in the whole big scene going on around it.
Thank you for the hard-fought comment ;) Nancy!
DeleteWhat would I do without you!!!