I thought it would be fun to start out the story with a line from a Christmas song. I asked my Facebook friends to give me a line, as well as a number between 800-1600, which would be the number of words in my story.
After getting so many great responses, I then got the idea to include LOTS of Christmas song lyrics into a story. I chose "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose" for my opener. The person who gave this suggestion, picked the number 999. So, here is my 999 word story, that includes MANY lyrics from Christmas songs.
How many can you find???
“Chestnuts roasting on an open
fire. Jack Frost nipping at our noses.
This is silly. I’m not feeling very
Christmasy,” Zack said to Jill as he reached for another blanket. The chill in
the air was definitely not going to be covered up by the puny fire they had
going in their yard.
“Well, I’m dreaming of a white Christmas,” Jill began. “But since there is no snow on the ground, I
figured sitting by the fire would be the next best thing.”
“Seriously, Jill, I can barely feel my toes. The fire is slowly dying. Can’t we go inside
and decorate the halls with boughs of holly or something instead?” Zack urged.
He wasn’t feeling the Christmas cheer his fiancé promised sitting by the fire
would bring.
Zack gathered the blankets and stood up to head for the house. “Baby,
it’s cold outside. I’m going in. I’m
sorry.”
Jill let out a sigh and followed behind.
To be honest, she was freezing too.
Trying to put a little Christmas in Zach’s heart this year was tough for
some reason.
Inside, she grabbed supplies to start wrapping presents. Maybe seeing the
gifts that would light up their niece and nephew’s faces on Christmas day would
help Zach find the Christmas spirit.
“Honey, would you like to help? Pick out some paper and a bow for this
one,” She said as she tossed the Cinderella doll onto Zack’s lap. “Make it look good, but don’t outdo Santa.”
Rolling his eyes, Zack said, “Sorry to burst your bubble, but there’s no
Santa.”
“You can say there’s no such thing as Santa, but as for me and Grandpa,
we believe!” Jill replied as she curled ribbon to top her nephew’s
present. Everyone thought she and her
Grandpa were crazy, but they enjoyed keeping the magic of the holiday alive in
their hearts.
“We stopped believing once. And then one foggy Christmas Eve…” Jill began
telling the story Zack had already heard several times.
“Yeah, yeah, I know. Jolly ol’ St. Nicholas.” Zack teased. He wasn’t going to believe her story about
seeing Santa dancin’ and prancin’ in Jingle Bell Square.
Ignoring him, Jill placed the last wrapped present under the tree. “It’s
beginning to look a lot like Christmas!” She said in a sing-song voice. Just
then the doorbell rang. She and Zack both jumped up to get the door. Through
the window, they saw their neighbors Rick and Jane holding a plate of cookies.
“Our finest gifts we bring,” Jane said with a smile as she handed the
plate to Jill. Seeing that Rick and Jane had more plates to deliver, they kept
the chatter short.
“Thank you so very much!” Jill told them.
“We wish you a Merry Christmas!” Zack said with enthusiasm. As Jill
closed the door, a smile grew on her face. She knew Zack would come around.
“Wow! Where did that come from?” She asked. Zack just gave her a wink and walked to the kitchen to
set the plate down. Jill followed behind
and was delighted when he handed her a cookie.
“What do you say we head downtown for a bit?” Zack asked. “I always like
watching the tree lighting and hearing the carolers.” Zack was slowly starting
to feel the Christmas spirit.
“Yes, I’d love to!” Jill couldn’t believe he made such a festive offer.
On the way to Main Street, Jill noticed the stars were brightly shining. Her heart was so full of Christmas cheer. She
placed her hand on top of Zack’s.
“I’m so glad you are trying to be less of a scrooge,” She told him.
With a chuckle, he replied, “And in case you didn’t hear, Santa Clause is
coming to town.” He loved teasing her.
In some strange way it was actually cute that she chose to believe in
Santa.
Main Street was littered with
people. Children laughing, people
passing. In the air, there’s a feeling of Christmas. Jill looked over towards the pond. Seven
swans a swimming let her know it wasn’t cold enough for the pond to be frozen.
“Look Honey, the swans are still
swimming and you couldn’t even handle sitting by the fire with two heavy
blankets.” She got her chance to return the heckling. Zack just put his arm
around her as they walked towards the Christmas tree that was about to be lit
with hundreds of brightly colored bulbs.
“Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree”, the children’s choir sang.
This brought Zack back to age eight, when he got to sing carols around the big
tree with his choir friends. The spirit was settling nicely into his heart.
“It’s the most wonderful time of
the year, you’re right,” He said as he kissed Jill on the head. Out of the
corner of his eye he saw a one-horse open sleigh that appeared to be giving
rides.
“5, 4, 3, 2, 1…” The crowd
counted down to the lighting of the large tree.
As the lights came on and filled the street with a warm glow, there was
clapping and cheering. Zack and Jill joined in.
“Thank you for bringing me here
tonight,” Jill said before she kissed Zack’s cheek.
“You are very welcome. And thank you for trying to help me get in
the Christmas spirit.” Zack replied as his eyes wandered over to the horse
drawn sleigh.
“Since we’ve no place to go…” He said
as he pointed to the sleigh.
“I’d love to!” Jill squealed with excitement. The couple climbed into the
sleigh. Jill told the driver how much she wished they would be dashing through
the snow instead of rolling on wheels.
The driver handed them each a cup of hot chocolate and said, “I don’t
know if there’ll be snow, but have yourself a cup of cheer.” Jill smiled.
Zack snuggled up close to his
soon-to-be bride. “Consider this sleigh ride your gift,” he told her.
“Baby, all I want for Christmas is
you.” She said with a wink.
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