Christmas Scavenger Hunt (A Novella)

By Sheila Holmes

On the planning committee for the church Singles Sunday School class, Tegan loved the idea of having a combination Christmas scavenger hunt (complete with prizes for the winning team) and a late night dinner. Even making the list for the scavenger items was fun, filled with laughter to the point of tears.

However, just two items short of finishing the list, no one seemed to be able to agree on anything. After considering just leaving the list at eighteen items, every committee member present balked at the seemingly incomplete number of items.

Jamie, however, in keeping with her extroverted and adventurous nature, jumped in with two ideas to complete the list of twenty:
19. Hug someone who is at least six inches taller than yourself.
20. Give a kiss to a stranger.

Out of the nine members present on the committee, Tegan was the only one who voted negatively on those two items. When she was outnumbered by a tired lot of eight who voted YES, mainly because they were exhausted and needed to get home and get the sleep they needed for work the next day, Tegan began one last crusade to change numbers 19 and 20. Would the committee bend to her wish, or not?

If they wouldn't change those two items, then what would happen if she didn't participate in numbers 19 and 20 of the scavenger hunt? What would happen if she DID?!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sheila Holmes
• Release date: Jun 11, 2018
• ISBN: 9781370455348

Sheila Holmes

I have been in love with the written word since I was old enough to read. After graduating college, I taught high school until I decided I wanted to spend more time "creating". So, twenty years after beginning to teach public school, I "retired myself" and now I write full time.After living half my life on the West Coast, we moved all the way across the country, where we now live on the East Coast. It is just the two of us after our one daughter had the audacity to grow up, marry, and move away. However, that "move away" is only five miles from our home.While writing, I also own and run a website business:http://www.marriage-vow-renewal.comI love to create, whether it is designing marriage vow renewal certificates, marriage certificates, creating romance plans for married couples, or writing books. I'm blessed by the Lord to do exactly what I love.You'll find a more complete introduction (with pictures), plus my other writing endeavors, at my website: www.sheilaholmes.com.

Book preview

Christmas Scavenger Hunt

A Novella

By

Sheila Holmes

Copyright © 2018 Sheila Holmes

All rights reserved.

Distributed by Smashwords

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Ebook formatting by Ebook Launch

Cover by WillowyWhisper Designs

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and events are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, locales or events is entirely coincidental.

Acknowledgments

Within the ‘Christmas, and You Too’ Series, this is the first book. I am grateful for the opportunity to complete this book with its characters, who have the same spiritual assets and liabilities as you and I. And all looking for someone to love them warts and all.

Daniel, my precious angel of a husband, will always be my hero. He knows exactly what I need, and when. He makes me laugh when I get too serious. He makes suggestions when I’m in need of them (whether or not I ask), and he encourages me every day to do what will give me joy. I’m blessed, and I know it.

Our daughter, DanniLaii, is one of the main joys of our lives. She is humorous like her dad, and has the greatest capacity to minister help to anyone and everyone. When I spend time with her, I am refreshed. Her biggest contribution to this story is her just being her.

Being a member of Westover Church in Greensboro, North Carolina continues to be a driving force in my walk with the Lord, and is what drives me further in writing. Pastor Don is our humble shepherd, and his teaching of God’s Word is often what helps me formulate portions of my stories. We rejoice that the Lord sent him to us.

But, my greatest thanks is to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is Everything and All Things. I thank Him for helping me continue to write, and pray that my stories will lift Him up as the only name by which we must be saved.

Books by Sheila Holmes

Wedding Woes Series

A Wedding Disaster… Or Was It?

A Catastrophic Wedding Reception… Or Maybe Not?

Wedding Designed by Email… KiirstiAan's Nightmare?

Non-Fiction

With This Ring: Creative Ways to Give Your Purity Ring to Your Future Spouse

Christmas Romance Plans (How-to) Series

Christmas Romance: 25 Dazzling Days to Romance Your Spouse 'til Christmas

The Twelve Days of Christmas: A Romance Plan

Awesome Love Series

Becoming His Awesome Beauty: Volume 1

Becoming His Awesome Beauty: Volume 2

Fixing His Broken Ballerina: Volume 1

Fixing His Broken Ballerina: Volume 2

All in a Name Series

Joyful, Joyful

From Grace Abounds Grace (coming mid-2019)

Christmas, and You Too Series

Christmas Scavenger Hunt (A Novella)

Christmas Snowball Fight (A Novella, coming mid-2019)

Grampy’s Old Typewriter Series

Manicotti Kisses: A Marriage Proposal Gone So Wrong! (A Novelette)

Standalone

Christmas Fantasy Fulfilled

Contents

Acknowledgments

Books by Sheila Holmes

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

If You Enjoyed This Novella…

A Word About Christmas Snowball Fight

About the Author

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11, The Bible.

Prologue

LONGVEIW COMMUNITY CHURCH

Singles Sunday School Class

Invites you and a guest

To

A Christmas Scavenger Hunt & Late Night Dinner

At

The Martin’s Residence

2317 Marquette Drive

Charlotte, North Carolina

Saturday, December 10th

Six o’clock P.M.

Dressy Casual

Please RSVP by December 3rd

399-555-4980

$10. Per Person ~ Remit to Jamie Martin or Tegan Bennett by Sunday, December 3rd

Chapter 1

Did you even proofread the wording before printing them out? questioned Cyndy, holding her invitation so close to Jamie’s face that Jamie had to lean back in her seat to focus it in. Although Cyndy was laughing as she asked, there was an edge to her voice that not one of the nine planning committee members could miss.

What do you mean? Jamie asked, reading through her own invitation, confusion flooding her face.

While everyone waited silently for her to read through for yet the third time, Cyndy became impatient and plainly asked, Jamie, what’s the name of our church? Are you dyslexic or something? The questions were starchy in their presentation, and several of the planning committee members winced at Cyndy’s curt voice.

Longview Community Church, she replied, still not understanding what Cyndy was getting at.

"Read what you put," instructed Cyndy.

Longview Community Church, read Jamie aloud. She looked up from the invitation to Cyndy, shaking her head with raised shoulders, and with her eyes, begging her to explain. The extreme confusion registered in her bunched together brows, and the quiet grunt that escaped her lips.

With her eyes wide, her head shaking back and forth, along with hands outstretched in frustration, Cyndy fine-tuned the question.

Jamie, how do you spell ‘Longview’?

While reading her invitation, Jamie began reading the letters one at a time.

L-O-N-G-V-… Before another letter passed through her lips, Jamie gasped, then cried out.

Oh, no! I spelled it wrong! The ‘I’ and the ‘E’ are in the wrong positions!

Tegan, ever the peace-keeper, couldn’t abide leaving poor Jamie out in the cold to suffer the teasing she was about to receive around the large dining table at Jamie’s parents’ spacious and elegant home. The very home in which the party would be held.

As she looked at each person located around the long oval table, Tegan could actually look at Bob, Connie, and Cecilia, seeing in their eyes that they were getting ready to let loose either hateful comments at Jamie, or tease her mercilessly.

Oh… you know, I never even noticed that! responded Tegan, pulling her own invitation copy from her purse, which had previously been resting on the floor next to her chair. You’d think someone who has a minor in English would have seen that right away. Huh!

Okay, okay, said Bob, who was already moving on to new items in his hyper-active brain.

Listen, he continued, Let’s move on. There’s nothing we can do about that now. And, I only have two questions rolling around in my head right now. Number 1, whose gonna pass that guacamole down here so that my naked tortilla chips don’t end up getting thrown down the garbage disposer? And number 2, isn’t it time we started working on the scavenger hunt items?

Yeah, with the dinner menu completed, concluded Tegan, I guess we should put our heads together on the hunt items. And… I’ve gotta tell you, my brain doesn’t work like that, plus I’ve never been on a scavenger hunt, so I’m relying on you guys to carry the bulk of this part of the planning.

• • • •

Ok, read ‘em back, Jamie.

Aw’right… Jamie began, here goes. Unnumbered, but… A chewing gum wrapper from a stick of gum, an unused facial tissue, one shoelace from a pair of shoes being worn, a pencil with bite marks and no eraser, one strand of hair from someone with a different color hair than your own, a breath mint or candy mint (still wrapped), a penny dated before the year 2000, a ticket from a past community musical event, a Get Well card with the words ‘I love you’ handwritten in it, an uncooked…

Of course,