Author: You!

She was as blind as Santa without Rudolph

written by: 

Chelsea Peyton

Kasie Pryor

Ashley Metz

Jamie Peyton

Tommy Metz

It was the night before Christmas and Santa was nowhere to be seen.

All you could hear was the crackling of the fire; and Santa’s sugar cookies waited to be munched on.

Unfortunately, Liz (the owner of said fire) had mistakenly put out dog biscuits for Santa to gobble down rather than sugar cookies (you see she was nearly as blind as a bat and in her haste, she grabbed the wrong prescription glasses and even more unfortunately, the smell of sugar cookies was an imposter... plug in smell makers come in every scent these days). So there the "cookies" sat, in all their glory.

As they sat on the kitchen table, Liz waited for her warm Christmas dinner to cook and thought about how kind it would be if Mr. Friendly (her not so nice neighbor) had a warm dinner too. If only he were nice enough to accept the offer though. Liz and her four girls, so curious, go up to his front steps every year and leave a pie coupled with a Christmas card hoping to break Mr. Friendly of his un-inviting smirk; maybe this year he’ll be more pleasing to be around. Maybe he does have a soft spot, she thought.  As usual, his Christmas spirit was low, and as Liz always told her girls, Christmas spirit played a very important part in Santa’s whereabouts.  At this rate, Santa will never get to those “cookies”.  

As some might have guessed, Mr. Friendly did have his heart broken.  This damage was done by his not so friendly wife, 15 years ago around this time. This is why he never has Christmas spirit, nor does he care to be around his thoughtful neighbors. The truth of the fact is he was happy to be rid of such a nit-picky wife.  And his heart breaking had little to do with her leaving, and more to do with the memories she left behind.  Mr. Friendly was simply scared that Liz might try to set him up with another over bearing woman; she did after all set him up with the last four.

Liz had little realization of her fondness of Mr. Friendly; she only wanted to see him happy…and sought after his soul mate for that reason.  Liz was blind in more ways than one.  It’s a good thing she asked for better eye-sight from Santa and being that she was good all year, and probably put down on the ‘nice’ list; she was bound to get more than she bargained for. 

Proof of Santa started to become evident the next morning.  After a few more slices of Liz’ pie and a trip to the hospital, Mr. Friendly started to live up to his name.  Liz walked outside in hopes to catch Mr. Friendly taking his morning walk, when she slipped on some ice.  With a broken leg and damped cheeks, Liz was carried to the hospital with Mr. Friendly by her side.  Months spent in recovery, Mr. Friendly being her care-taker, Liz pulled through.  Her fondness grew to love, and she wasn’t the only one who realized this gift.

‘The Friendly’s’ found out the true meaning of Christmas as Santa gave them the best gift of all time, love. Love is the most important thing anyone can have, and it comes from many different things (from family or neighbors…from your friends who are always there for you). But that year, they found the greatest love of all. It was the unexpected love; the kind that finds its way around you and blinds you for very long periods of time. Liz realized her passion for Mr. Friendly’s happiness would only be complete if he were in her life. This is what makes Christmas so special. Love is the most sought after, and the most underestimated.

Merry Christmas!

May you find your true love.

Come up with the most odd, cryptic, or ridiculous scenario you can imagine, and write it as the first line of the story in an email.  Forward the email to a friend to write the next line (have them return the email, so you can keep up with the story).  After that, share it with another friend to write the third line, and so on.  Enlist as many friends as you want.  Once everyone’s written a line, write another line, and pass it around again.  The only rules?  Build the story in new and unexpected ways.  The weirder, wackier, and more ridiculous the better. 

Need help getting started, try one of these prompts:

-       You go to the grocery store and realize all the food has been replaced by toasters.

-       You bring home a kitten from the animal shelter and learn it speaks perfect English.

-       Once upon a time, there was a girl named Kyra who wanted to create a magical roller skating rink.

-       The Happy Book