The Man Who Loved Christmas And Other Short Stories

By Alice Valdal

The Man Who Loved Christmas, the title of the first story in this collection of mystical tales, is an almost fairy-tale about family and life and Christmas and love that never dies. Protagonists in the other stories range from a teenage girl to an old woman with the theme of family and love and unseen possibilities in the Christmas season.
This collection contains six stories of mysticism, hope and charm, a Christmas gift to readers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Alice Valdal
• Release date: Nov 21, 2013
• ISBN: 9780993621208

Alice Valdal

The only girl in a family of boys, I found my best friends between the pages of a good book. Snuggled in a warm quilt, I chased bad guys with Nancy Drew, nursed the sick with Cherry Ames and honed my imagination with Anne of Green Gables. As a teenager, I discovered Harlequin romances and have been hooked on the genre ever since. Always a history buff, I earned my B.A. from Queen's University at Kingston with a major in English and a minor in history, then went on to teach those subjects at a high school level. Over the years, life took many twists and turns, with several career changes, but my love of romance and belief in happy endings never wavered. My writing has taken a new twist in the past few years. My mixed choir of adults and children is constantly in search of a Christmas Musical Play. For our resources, there seems to be a dearth of available material, so I've now added playwright to my other hats. I live with my husband and two cats on beautiful Vancouver Island. When not spinning tales in front of the computer, I enjoy gardening, needlework, music and the ocean view from my kitchen window.

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The Man Who Loved Christmas and other stories

The Man Who Loved Christmas

and other short stories

by

Alice Valdal

Copyright

The Man Who Loved Christmas

and other short stories

Smashwords Edition

ISBN: 978-0-9936212-0-8

The Man Who Loved Christmas

Copyright © 2005 Alice Valdal

Attic Treasures

Copyright © 2009 Alice Valdal

The Still Small Voice

Copyright © 2010 Alice Valdal

Three Friendly Beasts

Copyright © 2012 Alice Valdal

A Cup of Tea

Copyright © 2011 Alice Valdal

A Christmas Tale

Copyright © 2007 Alice Valdal

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Alice Valdal

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual person, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

Table of Contents

The Man Who Loved Christmas

Attic Treasures

The Still Small Voice

Three Friendly Beasts

A Cup of Tea

A Christmas Tale

The Man Who Loved Christmas

Once upon a time in a land of frozen rivers and drifted snow there lived a man who loved Christmas. He was a practical man who worked very hard all year long tilling his fields and tending his animals. He hadn’t time for games or play or vacations. He worked from sun-up to sun-down and sometimes late into the night. There was always more work to do and the man was proud of his work.

But every December a change came over the man. He got up later and he didn’t work so hard. He laughed and played with his children. Sometimes they would hear him humming Christmas carols as he worked around the barn. A week before Christmas he would drive his team into the woods to hunt for just the right Christmas tree, then bring it home triumphant, standing it straight and tall in a place of honour. As his children grew older they joined him on the tree hunting expedition. He was patient then, waiting while they ran wildly through the snow looking for just the right tree. At last, when they were ready to give up, he would show them the one he liked, round and bushy and green. It was always the perfect tree.

In December, this practical man, grew fanciful. He knew the legend of the animals kneeling at midnight, and on Christmas Eve he would go alone to the stable. He never told anyone if he found the animals at prayer, but afterward his eyes glowed and his voice was soft. When his children grew too old for Santa Claus, he told them he still believed.

What? they cried. How can you?

Oh, not in a little old elf, with white whiskers and a red nose, he replied, but I believe in the spirit of Christmas. That’s who Santa Claus is to me.

His children were chastened. In all their smug sophistication, they had forgotten the truth that lies at the heart of Christmas.

In December the man welcomed the spirit of Christmas into his home. He bought candies and nuts and treats for his family and his neighbours. He invited all the relatives to Christmas dinner. Of course, his wife had to do a lot of cooking but she didn’t mind for she loved the man who loved Christmas.

And the man loved presents. On Christmas Eve, after his children had gone to bed, he would pile the gifts higher and higher under the tree. A hockey stick for his boys, a doll for his girl. Skates and sweaters and mittens and books and toys and games. And on Christmas morning his face would glow as he watched the children open their gifts. When they smiled, he smiled too. When all the gifts were opened and ribbons and coloured paper littered the room he would say, What a glorious mess! and pass around the chocolates, even though it was still morning and sweets would ruin their appetites.