It is a beautiful Christmas eve afternoon.
Of all the friends, Dog is the one who likes to be outside the most. Dog was happy to shovel the snow that came overnight. Dog wanted to use some of the excited energy that was building up to help get ready for the festivities to come.
After shovelling, Dog gathered wood for the fire.
Hedgehog likes the snow too, maybe not quite as much as Dog, but Hedgehog got out the toboggan to try out the new snow. Do you see the hare, white for winter, hiding behind a tree? And does that tree look a bit like Omi's tree?
Hedgehog went over to the gentle hill beside Dog's freshly shovelled path.
"Hey!" said Dog, "Don't make me have to shovel that again!"
While Hedgehog played, Dog built a fire. Then Dog brought all the presents down to the fire pit circle.
"Come on over Hedgehog," said Dog, "and let's call the others."
Hedgehog stuck the toboggan in the snow and came over to the fire circle.
"COME OUT! COME OUT! The fire is ready!" they called together.
T1 came out first. Do you see T1's turtleneck sweater? Clever, right?
T1 settled close to the fire.
T2 came next.
T2 found a place on the other side of the fire, away from the smoke.
Frog came out last. Frog does not like the cold, but also, Frog was getting the cookies ready.
All the friends were around the fire.
The friends had drawn names. Each of them prepared a special gift for the name they picked. They decided not to tell who the gift was from. To increase the mystery, all the boxes look the same. Dog helped out again by distributing the gifts. They were labelled D, F, H, T1, T2. Can you figure out what that means?
"Who should open a gift first?" T2 asked with an excitement that asked, "Me?"
"I think Dog, because Dog is always so helpful," said Frog. It is a mystery to Frog how Dog can enjoy being outside in the winter and doing all the winter jobs.
Dog opened the box carefully.
"Wonderful!" Dog exclaimed, " I wanted a mug and now I am ready to have some hot chocolate along with those cookies!"
Dog picked T2 to go next.
T2 got a book. It is a book that T2 is very interested in.
Frog tried not to roll his eyes.
"It looks like a book you will finish," Frog said charitably.
Frog was next.
Frog received a fly! How perfect is that!
"Thank you, very kindly!" said Frog. "I will try not to eat it all at once."
The friends smiled at that idea. Frog always ate flies whole.
Then it was Hedgehog's turn. Hedgehog also received a book. Hedgehog was thrilled to get the next instalment of the series Hedgehog was reading.
"Maybe we can read together on the couch," Hedgehog said to T2, encouragingly.
Finally it was T1's turn. T1 was a bit awkward opening the box. The tape was really stuck.
T1 got it open.
"Ah, look!" exclaimed T1, "just what I wanted!"
T1 showed the ball of yarn.
"Frog, will you teach me to knit?" T1 asked. "I need more turtleneck sweaters."
The friends shared the cookies. Frog, T1, T2 and Hedgehog went inside to warm up.
Dog stayed outside to tend the fire.
After a while, Hedgehog came outside to keep Dog company. It was slowly getting dark.
Hedgehog said, "The others are wondering if it is time to come out and wait for the faerie lights."
"It won't be long now," said Dog.
Frog, T1 and T2 came outside and joined Dog and Hedgehog around the fire. They waited quietly. There's no guessing what faeries will do or when they will do it. That's what makes it so fun to live with faeries.
There was a little hum. Lights danced on around them, brightening up their world.
Behold! And glory shone around.
Peace on earth.
Love to all!
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