A Christmas Tale

To \' child_name \',
We wish you a very
Merry Christams.
May all your wishes come true.
The Fabler.
xx

It was
the night before
Christmas and \' child_name \'
was super excited. He’d
wrapped up all of He
presents and had
put them under the
Christmas Tree. He
couldn’t wait for
Santa to come.

Just then, the doorbell rang, so
\' child_name \' went to investigate. He
opened the door, there was nobody
there, only a book on the mat.
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew the
pages of the book open. \' child_name \'
felt very strange. He looked down
to see his feet had risen off the
ground and he was floating! There
was a big whoosh!! Then
everything went black .

\' child_name \' rubbed his
eyes, and when he
opened them, he was
confused. He wasn’t standing
in his house by the front door.
He was surrounded by snow
and lots of it! All of a sudden,
a snowball hit
\' child_name \' right on
the nose.

“Oh, sorry!” a voice said. Standing
before \' child_name \' was a Walrus
wearing a bobble hat and a scarf.
“Hi, I'am wally and that was Wilma.
She’s not very good at throwing
snowballs, always misses.” said
the Walrus “Well, how was I
supposed to know a boy would
appear and end up right in the way?”
another voice said. \' child_name \' spun
around to see a white rabbit
looking quite cross.

The moment was interrupted by
the sound of bells. Coming
towards them was a sleigh
pulled by reindeer. And sitting on
the slay was an elf. He slowed
the sleigh down, and it came to
a halt. He climbed off. He was
wearing a hat, scarf, gloves and
boots. He had odd socks poking
out over the top.

“You must be \' child_name \', I hear
you’ve been a good boy!” the elf said.
“I’ve been sent by the Fabler.
I’m Oddsocks. The Fabler only sends
me to the children that’ve been good.”
\' child_name \' wondered what he’d
done that was good. He remembered
he’d helped around the house and
when his dad gave his
pocket money, he was sure
to say, "Thank-you!".

“Hop onto the sleigh.
We’re going to see
Santa. I’ve heard he’s on strike.”
explained Oddsocks. “Can we come
too, we’d like to help?” asked
Wilma and Wally looking worried.
“Of course, you can.” replied
Oddsocks. Wilma and Wally eagerly
climbed on board. Oddsocks took
hold of the reins, and the sleigh
sped off into the snow.

They were travelling along at
great speed. It was exciting! All
of a sudden, the sleigh started to
get bumpy. “Hold onto your hats!”
shouted Oddsocks. As the sleigh
went over a huge bump. Wilma,
the white rabbit, flew off. “Stop!!”
shouted Wally. Oddsocks pulled
the reins, and the sleigh
stopped abruptly.

They all climbed off, but Wilma was
nowhere to be seen. “Wilma!!!”
shouted Wally frantically. “Over
here!” returned a muffled voice.
There, in a mound of snow, were
two legs and a bottom poking
out. It was Wilma. “Oh, thank
goodness!” said Wally,
breathing a sign
of relief.

Oddsocks and \' child_name \' got a
leg each, and Wally got hold of
Wilma’s bottom, and they
pulled. Out popped Wilma, and
they all fell backwards into
the snow. \' child_name \' looked up.
Wilma was sitting in-front of
them, looking dazed.
“Thanks guys.” she said,
managing a smile.

“Hold on, it’s the North Pole Christmas
ball!” Wilma said as she pointed to
behind Wally. And sure enough,
there were all kinds of animals
having a party. Suddenly
\' child_name \' felt a tap on the
shoulder. He turned around and
came face to face with a Polar bear.
He was wearing a black leather
jacket and shades. “Are you here
for the party? If your name’s not,
down, you’re not coming in!”
he said sternly.

“Don’t worry.“ Oddsocks said,
winking, and he gave the Polar
Bear an invitation. It said
‘\' child_name \' and Friends!’ on the
front. “You may go in!” said the
Polar Bear, with a bow.
“Thank you.” said \' child_name \'.

As they walked in, they could see a
Moose wearing a sparkly jacket
dancing on a table, a Puffin busting
some moves on the dance floor and a
Snow Owl behind a DJ table. “Are you
here for the ‘Dance Off’?” said the
Moose. “You better get dancing!”
Oddsocks said, “go on, it’s your
adventure!” \' child_name \' shyly started to
dance and wiggle his bottom in time
to the music. As he did so, he
realised that it was great fun.

At the end of the dance track,
the owl made an announcement.
“The winner of the Artic Dance Off is
the little boy \' child_name \'!” “I Won?”
\' child_name \' said. The owl came forward
and presented \' child_name \' with a golden
cup trophy. “This is great, but time is
ticking,” said Oddsocks, looking at
his watch, “we need to get to
Santa before it's too
late come on,
let’s go!"

They climbed onto the sleigh
and sped off leaving the Arctic
animals behind them. They were
only travelling a short while before they
could see a house. It was quite small,
with a fir tree decorated and Christmas
decorations on the front door.
“This is it, "said oddsocks
“Santa’s Grotto.” Oddsocks pulled
on the reins, and the sleigh, came
to a halt.
They climbed off.

They knocked on the door. “Come in.”
a voice said, and they went inside.
There was an open fire, and Santa
was sitting in an armchair next to it.
He looked glum. “Are you ok?” asked
\' child_name \'. “we, heard that you’d gone
on strike?” he continued. “I have!”
said Santa. “But why?” asked
\' child_name \' “the children
need you, I need you!”
he continued.

“I’m so sad as I just don’t feel
appreciated.” Santa said “I
deliver all of these wonderful
presents, and no-one says
thank you.” Oddsocks whispered
into \' child_name \'’s ear. “When you
say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ to
anybody, it lets them know
you care.”

\' child_name \' thought about what
Oddsocks had said. He did
want Santa to know that he cared
very much. He walked closer to
Santa. He placed his hand inside
'Santa’s hand and he said' “Thank
you.” Santa’s eyes lit up. “Do you
think you could spread the word?
Tell your friends how important it
is to have good manners?”

“Well, actually Santa, lots of
children will be reading this book. So
they will know!” explained Oddsocks.
Santa’s face beamed with a huge
smile! Just as Oddsocks was talking, a
mist of bright colours began to swirl
around \' child_name \'. “It’s time for you to
go home.” said Oddsocks. Then there
was a big Wooooooosh! And
everything went black.

\' child_name \' rubbed his eyes. He was
sat on the floor next to His
Christmas tree. The book was
lying next to his . Then \' child_name \'
heard bells. He ran to his
bedroom window. He saw
Santa, flying through the air in his
sleigh, pulled by his reindeer. He
waved at \' child_name \', and he
waved back. “Thank you!!!!”
shouted Santa.

It doesn’t take much to
have good manners
thought \' child_name \'.
The End!!