Stocking Stuffers: A Christmas Short Story Collection

By J.E. McKnight

Stocking Stuffers is a wonderful collection of short stories with a Christmas theme:
• As life moves forward, family traditions change. One man faces this and struggles with the dilemmas that come with it...
• A child fears he is unable to partake in a traditional pond hockey game when his skates no longer fit.
• An eight-year-old makes a wish and is surprised by the results.
• After a long trip, delivering toys around the world, Santa can’t wait to take a break – but will he be able to relax the way he wishes?

You’ll find these stories and more inside – including three poems and four brand new stories.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dream Write Publishing
• Release date: Oct 14, 2018
• ISBN: 9781988723396

Book preview

Stocking Stuffers

A Christmas Short Story Collection

J. E. McKnight

Dream Write Publishing Ltd.

P.O. Box 57083 RPO Eastgate

Sherwood Park AB

T8A 5L7 Canada

www.dreamwritepublishing.ca

Copyright ©2018 J. E. McKnight

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Without limiting the rights under the copyright reserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the author, except for quotations in book reviews and interviews. Please contact the publisher for use. Dream Write Publishing and the author are committed to providing quality literary products for all ages and provide the following in-house book rating:

General Fiction – rated fun for family!

Stocker Stuffers

A Christmas Short Story Collection

ISBN # 978-1-988723-39-6

Photos used are the property of the author; images supplied by the author.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloging in Publication

Stocking Stuffers ~ A Christmas Short Story Collection

McKnight, J. E. (b. June 20, 1975 -)

Gibbons AB

Look for this novel in E-Book and POD

Dedicated to the memory of our good friend,

Corrin Luchka-Klein

(1981 – 2018)

You are missed.

For their love and support, I would like to thank

My wife, Robyn,

My parents, Edith and Andrew,

My brothers, Patrick and Jackson,

My sister, Tara and her husband, Dwayne.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Ghost

Free Skate

Tropical Christmas

The Naughty List

A Perfect Tree

Christmas Break

New Christmas

My First Christmas

Believer

A Monster’s Christmas

Christmas on the Prairies

An Elven Adventure

Christmas Every Day

Old-Fashioned Christmas

About the Author

Foreword

I love Christmas. I always have and I get as excited as a child the closer it gets. After joining my writer’s group – Writers Foundation of Strathcona County (WFSC) in 2004, I started by writing poetry, which included Christmas poems that I made into Christmas cards I sold or gave with gifts. The WFSC Christmas parties include sharing from members who wrote a Christmas story or poem. This is where the idea came from.

When I decided to start sending out a Christmas letter, I wanted to do something different – something unique to me. I thought how perfect it would be – since I am a writer – to add a short story to my letter. And so, that’s what I did. I added my personal touch by including a short Christmas story – the same one I would be taking to the writer’s party.

All my stories are fictional – even the ones where I include memories and moments from my own life and past. This is even true with my Christmas stories. Although these stories are completely fictional and, in some cases fantastical, I always like to draw from my own life and include elements of that in the stories. I have fond memories of my childhood growing up on an acreage, from skating on the slough out back to cutting down a live tree to decorate, and the abundance of decorations on our family tree. Some things I included never actually happened but are always present in my mind such as fantasies of an old-fashioned Christmas – it looks like a romantic notion when watching it in the movies, but I can see it not turning out the way I picture it in my head – and especially how I feel about white Christmases. The pictures on the front and back covers are actual photographs from a past Christmas and winter. I chose these ones because I felt they perfectly represented the book and what I wanted it to portray.

Stocking Stuffers felt like the perfect title to me to describe what you would be sure to find inside. It is undoubtedly a Christmas book and stocking stuffers are generally small gifts that would fit in a Christmas stocking – as well, the book itself would make the perfect stocking stuffer for the reader on your list.

Stocking Stuffers includes four brand new stories written especially for this book. I hope all of you enjoy this collection and have many wonderful Christmases to come.

Ghost

I’m standing outside. I can’t bring myself to go in. I watch through the frosted window as my wife enters the warm house filled with festive decorations, a tree overloaded with gifts, and a beautifully set table. It was for her sake I came this evening. Christmas has always been a special time for her, and she always loved coming to see our children and their families, and it wouldn’t be Christmas without her. But they buried me years ago so, for now, I stay outside perched on the porch railing watching my grown-up children get their kids settled at the dinner table. I can’t hear what anyone is saying, and I want very much to go inside and be with them, but fear holds me back. I catch a glimpse of my son as he looks up from the turkey he’s carving. He hands the knife to my son-in-law and heads out the door. A knot works itself into my stomach. He saw me and now he’s coming out to find me.

He heads over to my section of the railing and I know my attempts at being invisible have been thwarted. I don’t move a muscle and the knot inside me grows larger. He kneels down in front of me and tears well up in his eyes. Taking my hand, he squeezes it tight. He gives me a hug, and invites me in. The knot slowly unwinds as we walk to the house.

I don’t even remember, now, what drove us apart so long ago.

2013

Free Skate

Every year on Christmas day – from before I even learned how to skate – my family gathered outside with the neighbours and their families and we’d skate on the large pond in my dad’s field. After the gifts were opened and we had eaten lunch, we would all pitch in to clean the house while Mom made the