My first children’s story ever written appears in the light-hearted collection of Christmas stories, The Best of Twisty Christmas Tales. Proceeds from the sales of this book go to the Muscular Dystrophy Association of New Zealand, so please consider grabbing a copy and enteraining your kids this year while helping out a worthy cause.
Here’s a sample:
“Holly peered at her ledger through thick spectacles, marking lines off the endless scroll of looping parchment. “Apartments take so long because of all the alarms. Imagine if every Christmas Eve, there were thousands of burglar alarms going off in every city and town all over the world. We’d be out of business quick-smart. And no, you can’t skip out to get a hot dog, so stop asking.”
Rudolph looked around. Scarlet light from his glowing nose cut through the hovering snow like a disco show.
“You’re just chicken,” Jack goaded, jangling the bells on his boots. “Bok bok.”
“I’m here to do a job, just like you. Now, get units DF45-X19 and DF45-X20 ready to go.”
Jack stomped to the pile of packages on the back of the sleigh. The next two deliveries were sitting on top in perfect order, ready to pass to the elves running back and forth from the building’s air-conditioning vents. “Come on! One night a year we get away from the workshop, and we don’t even get to see the sights and savour the local wares. It’s not fair.” He sniffed the air and caught a whiff of sauerkraut and mustard. It made his mouth water. Ever since they’d swooped in over the Brooklyn Bridge, he’d known they were in Hot Dog Heaven.
“We visit every city on Earth, and lots of other amazing places. Most people never see a fraction of what we see.”
“What, rooftops and air ducts and chimneys? Oh, the glamour. And it’s always work, work, work. Have you ever thought about how the Boss squeezes time, and figured out how long we really work on Christmas Eve? We should be getting paid overtime! We should at least be allowed to sneak off and grab a hot dog!” “
