Christmas+Mini+Stories+2012

Thanks a lot for writing and sending your stories. Now we'll all be able to enjoy reading them:

The little girl went to see the Three Wise Men cavalcade with her parents. They took a lot of boxes wrapped with coloured papers up to the balcony of the big house in the town's square. In the morning there were only two oranges and two marzipan figures for her and her sister. But that year it would be different, because when the Black Wise Man went down the ladder, he went towards her and said : Hello! I know you! She was tremblig, holding on her mother's hand. But, next morning, there were two oranges and two marzipan figures, once again, on her windowsill.
 * Always the same **

Nati (I2)

**Bloody christmas** He took the large knife on his right hand once again. He held it firmly. On his left hand, a thick pestle. It wasn't the first time he did it but, for a second, he trembled slightly and doubted. Perhaps the revolting image of blood flowing and impregnating all his hands last time could be the reason. Today he couldn't fail, so he aimed the knife carefully. A sudden shout paralyzed him: No dad, let me do it! Last time you hurt your fingers. You are a bit clumsy at cutting the nougat.

Joaquín (A1)

Bossy Santa She thought that Christmas had become a Shopping Party. So, she had decided to buy no presents. Santa went down to have a serious word with her: - This cannot be! You should buy expensive gifts and live these days above your possibilities. -What? Are you Santa or a banker? -I am Santa but I sold myself to the banks many years ago. Nowadays, my duty is to convince you to buy stuff. The more you buy, the better for my job. -Then, I am sorry Santa, but you'd better prepare to be one more name in the unemployment list this Christmas.

Susa (A1)

**Burglar ** It was the coldest Christmas ever. My father was in front of the fireplace; my mother, next to the TV; my little brother, playing with a Playmobil. Suddenly, we heard a strange noise in the garden. We went to see if it was our grandfather's car, which always makes a lot of noise, but instead of that we saw a man jumping over our fence. We thought he was a burglar. My father picked the phone and called the police, but no one replied. The man in the garden raised a hand and we saw his gun. My father shouted: “You all hide away!”. We did what our father said, but suddenly we saw my grandfather climbing through the window with a flute in one hand and a bag full of presents in the other.

Inés (I2)

**Christmas dinner** A single thought went through their minds across the dining room: Not again! And all eyes fixed on my sister-in-law, who looked down, ashamed. She only tried to be kind twenty years ago when she said: Oh, delicious! Since then, grandmother walks in every Christmas dinner, smiling and pleased, with a roast turkey in her hands which nobody likes but no-one dares to confess the truth.

Joaquín (A1)

**<span style="font-family: 'MS Reference Sans Serif',serif;">LET IT SNOW ** <span style="display: block; font-family: 'MS Reference Sans Serif',serif; text-align: justify;">Astonished. She couldn´t believe it!. The backyard was full of snow. She dreamed of a white Christmas every year but that was unthinkable in the village we lived in South Africa, always above 25 degrees. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'MS Reference Sans Serif',serif; text-align: justify;">I’d been seeking and keeping in secret for weeks the white foam used by the local stores to protect the machines they sold. This was the way I could give my younger sister a present I could afford. My mother helped me to crumble it up the night before. It looks believable. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'MS Reference Sans Serif',serif; text-align: justify;">Years on, we still laugh remembering the first time she saw the almost snow <span style="display: block; font-family: 'MS Reference Sans Serif',serif; text-align: justify;">Ricardo (I2)

**<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">NOTHING IS GOING TO SPOIL MY LIFE ** <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> Mary was sitting on the waiting-room’s sofa. There was no one else. She made the appointment last afternoon, in order to have time after work to do more shopping than usual because of Christmas Eve, to buy some gifts for the family after dinner, to pick up the children from school and so on… It was a really busy day, but she loved her life and her husband, and both of them had made lots of plans for the future. When Mary was called in from inside the doctor’s office, she suddenly forgot about her thoughts and stood up, and although it was a routine gynecological examination, when she was about to open the door, for an instant, she felt some deep fear. She thought: Nothing is going to spoil my life, is it? Mari Carmen (A1)

<span style="color: #202020; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">I'm keen on spending time with people you get on well, since, in winter, you have to stay in a lot. I was living for a while in my grand-parents' house, in Los Arribes. Their house was made of stone. There was no electricity, only an oil lamp. We were sitting down in the kitchen, near the fireplace. The room was totally in calm while my grandparents told me fantastic stories. I opened up my ears listening to them with bright eyes looking at the fire. The flames were dancing for us. The time passed smoothy. We were waiting for the Three Wise Men. We had to wait until 12 o'clock. At this time, the tower bells started their expectant sound. I ran into my room looking for my gifts. I found some small casseroles and.....a bright, round, big and perfect ORANGE.A MAGICAL ORANGE! For a long time I had not had an orange. I was happy. I picked it up with my two hands. "The orange is the best present that Christmas could bring us", I thought. Christmas had given me a beautiful orange and my grandparents had given me a long time to dream.
 * Orange**

<span style="color: #202020; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Concha (I2)

**<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">PEOPLE ONLY APPRECIATE WHAT HAS A PRICE TAG ** <span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;">One Christmas morning, a person gets off the subway in New York, wearing jeans and a t-shirt. He stops near the entrance, takes the violin from the case and starts to play with genuine enthusiasm for the crowd who pass by. During all the time that the man had been playing, he was ignored by everybody. Actually, nobody knew that this musician was one of the best violinists in the world playing a Stradivarius from 1713, which costs more than 3 million dollars. <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">A few days before, this musician had played in Boston, where tickets to see him cost more than one thousand dollars. <span style="color: #202020; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Conchi (I2)

**<span style="color: #202020; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">SCARY STORY ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">One Christmas morning, a boy was looking for her friend, Maria, so he went to Maria's grandmother's house. He found her grandmother there. He asked her about Maria and she told him that Maria had gone to buy some bread.Then he saw Maria and he told her that he had been to her grandmother's and he had talked to her.Maria said: It's impossible! My grandmother died ten years ago! Natalia (I2)