Christmas Island

By Katherin Timeoni

Adventure along with talented, teenaged singing sensation Mandy Barrington as she experiences what most only dream about. Seeking to escape the blustery winter weather, Mandy is ready to celebrate the holidays with her family and friends in a tropical paradise.

On her seventy-acre island, Mandy is welcomed by her special animal friends; she is glad to be home again. She enjoys the carefree island life as well as the more adventurous activities of the annual Christmas Cannonball Run car race, offshore powerboat racing, and hiking and camping in the jungle. Aside from ditching the very persistent paparazzi, the tropical retreat is just what Mandy had in mind.

But days before Christmas, a crisis hits Mandys community. The local Santa Claus has disappeared, and authorities believe hes been kidnapped. The locals ask Mandy, her family, and friends to use their connections to help solve this mystery.

After a peek into Mandy's world, readers will be eager to know where her adventures will take them next.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Nov 11, 2010
• ISBN: 9781450260633

Katherin Timeoni

Katherine Timeoni works in sales. Christmas Island was inspired by her travel adventures. She lives in North Perry, Ohio.

Book preview

Acknowledgements

A special thanks goes to Marielle Marne and

Debra Christian for their editing services.

Copyrighted photo credits goes to Image Envision LLC, dero, KJ Pargeter, xunantunich, Rasmussen Images, Dennis Holmes Designs, Elaine Barker, Fotosearch, ValueClips Clip Art/Unlisted Images, Inc., DG Vinyl Clip Art/Jupiter Images, Dreamstime, Catur, Rajeshbac, and Oxlock.

Contents

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 1

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The Christmas Concert

Flickering lighters, colorful glow sticks, and flashing cameras danced in the darkness. The excitement in the air could almost be touched. Whenever the band came to town, everyone thought of it as being one of the best concerts of a lifetime, and it quickly sold out. Music lovers couldn’t wait for the show to begin. Squirming in their seats, the excited audience chanted the band’s name, Sapphire 5, over and over again. Finally, as the lights dimmed and the doors closed, last-minute concert-goers dashed in and scrambled to find their seats, climbing over the hordes who had arrived early.

In keeping with the holiday motif, the coliseum held a contest to see who would present the best Christmas display at the concert hall loges. Some of the loges did not want to be outdone, and competitors had strung thousands of mini-lights along with ornaments to celebrate their favorite yuletide theme.

As the tension built throughout the concert hall, mosh pit surfers rode the waves of fans. Oversized inflatable beach balls, painted to look like metallic Christmas ornaments, volleyed about the main floor, kept aloft by eager hands.

Look out! someone yelled, as one of these festive beach balls made its way towards the stage. Everyone roared with delight when it ricocheted off a speaker and wedged in the rafters. Security officers ran in and coaxed the giant, helium-filled toy from above with red and white striped batons.

Then at last, iridescent pastel-hued mist poured onto the stage, blinding everyone’s view of the performance area. Out of the fog, sparkles exploded from cleverly-disguised fountains, and a spectacular light show began, designed to thrill even the most jaded concert-goers.

Wow, half the crowd gasped; the others remained speechless in awe. The special effects dazzled those in attendance.

Amidst the cheery chaos, a rhythmical tempo rapped across the auditorium, carried by the powerful amplifiers to every nook and cranny. At last, the band members rocked onto the stage. Guitars loudly wailed, fierce drums pounded, and the lead singer’s sonorous voice belted out her tunes. The audience danced, their arms swaying with the rhythm as they sang along, and they called out their favorite lyrics in time with the beat.

Song after song entertained the exhilarated audience. Every few minutes or so, someone would scream out, I love you, Mandy!

Though only a few had the courage to say it, everyone that night felt it!

The crowd adored the lead singer. She was sweet, pretty, and talented, the kind of girl who drew second glances wherever she went—a shining star even without her music.

Hours ticked by, though for the audience, it felt as if the concert had just begun. Favorite hits followed newly composed selections played for the fans’ pleasure—and they yelled with approval as each new song commenced. For the grand finale, the talented five-person band played a trio of number one hits that had recently graced the billboard music charts for several weeks. To commemorate the holiday season, they sang We Wish You a Merry Christmas and Let it Snow.

When the final guitar notes sounded, and the last precious words were sung, snowflake-shaped confetti cascaded from the ceiling and swirled around the packed auditorium like a blizzard. The crowd cheered and tried to catch the delicate icy prisms in their hands.

As the band members bowed, adoring fans tossed bouquets of flowers onto the stage. Those brave enough tried to scurry past the security guards to get band members to sign their souvenirs. But the vigilant guards would not put up with any of these shenanigans and quickly escorted the reckless fans offstage!

For the final act, fog from carefully-concealed dry ice wafted onto the band’s platform. Swinging her pink-highlighted hair and offering a quick bow in her sparkly-designed outfit, Mandy waved and shouted to the appreciative crowd, Thanks for being with us tonight. We had a great time and hope you did, too. Have a safe and happy holiday, everyone.

As quickly as they had burst onto the stage, the band members, assisted by the roadies, gathered up their instruments and flowers and exited, whooping, hollering, and exchanging high-fives the whole length of the hallway to their private dressing rooms.

The band members could no longer see into the concert arena, but if they had, they would have been delighted by the standing ovation from their