Summary:\u00a0Ben tells his grandchildren a Christmas Story.
\nRating:\u00a0 G\u00a0 (1,375 words)<\/p>\n
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Bonanza \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n At the End of Their Rope<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s all this commotion? Santa doesn\u2019t like it when children shout and pinch each other.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not my fault!! He took my dolls, ALL of them, grandpa!\u00a0 He\u2019s put them somewhere \u00a0just when we were about to have tea party.<\/p>\n “Make him GIVE THEM BACK!!!<\/p>\n \u201cDarling, Grandpa still needs his hearing, bad as it is. What do you know about this, Junior?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNever saw \u2018em.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJunior \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSee!\u00a0 He\u2019s the awfullest, most hateful person in the world. I wish he was lost somewhere instead of my dolls.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d suggest that you don\u2019t really mean that, but I\u2019m guessing you actually do.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEvery word.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTell you what.\u00a0 If you two will sit down quietly, I\u2019ll tell you a story about a time when your papa and his brothers were young and liked to shout at each other.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut my dolls!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd after the story, the three of us will find your dolls. Won\u2019t we, Junior?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n XXXXXXXXXX<\/p>\n \u201cIt was just about this time of year on the Ponderosa. The herds had been moved to winter pastures, the garden had been harvested with every bean and potato stored in the cellar, and the roof, windows, and doors had been checked, fixed and sealed up for the winter. We were even ready for Christmas! There was only one thing left \u2013 time on our hands.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s good, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019d think so. But sometimes, too little to do is worse for a person than too much to do. It can make a man touchy and quick to take offense. That\u2019s how it was with me, your daddy, and his brothers. We were getting on each other\u2019s nerves something awful We were so used to working together, we\u2019d forgotten how to just be together.<\/p>\n \u201cDid they pinch each other?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf they could think of something to do to each other, they found a way to do it. Let\u2019s just say, there wasn\u2019t a lot of Christmas spirit in the air. It got so bad, I needed to get out of the house. The problem was out of the house meant into the cold and snow. We\u2019d had a few days of dreadful weather with icy winds blowing and curling around the mountains dumping another foot of snow onto the ground. Hardly the time to take a stroll.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t have mountains around here.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, you don\u2019t. When I look outside that window, I see the undulating prairie is covered with pure white snow, glowing with dazzling brilliancy beneath the cold rays of the sun.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe \u2018what\u2019 prairie is doing what?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNever mind. I read that somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo, there I was, head throbbing and as cross as an old mule.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t any better than my boys except that I hadn\u2019t pinched anyone. I knew I needed space and time to cool off.<\/p>\n I bundled up ready to face the outside, opened the door, and then nearly changed my mind. Snow was everywhere, ice hung down from the roof, and a gusty breeze stung my cheeks. However, I had decided I wanted to take a walk, I had dressed for taking a walk, and I wasn\u2019t going to let a little bit of winter make a liar out of me.\u00a0 My sons were watching, eyeing me with little smirks to see if I would back down.<\/p>\n \u201cThat wasn\u2019t very nice of them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, we weren\u2019t being very nice to each other that day, remember?<\/p>\n I jammed my hat tight against my head and wrapped a woolen scarf over that, tying it under my chin for good measure. I must have looked funny because all three boys cracked up at the sight of Pa in a Temper going out into the snow. Their laughter made me even madder, and I just about ran outside. Let me tell you there was no running that day.\u00a0 The snow was already close to my knees and falling over the tops of my boots, wetting my socks before I had gotten off the porch.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t matter; I was taking a walk.<\/p>\n I pushed through that new snow, cutting a path between the house and the barn.\u00a0 I thought I would head over to the corral and check out the boards. It took more out of me than I liked to admit just to struggle those few hundred yards, with my head down against the wind and my arms out for balance.<\/p>\n By and by, it occurred to me that I should have already reached the corral. Where was I? The icy wind had gone from somewhat uncomfortable to downright alarming, and I wasn\u2019t able to pick out any landmarks. I stopped and made a slow turn in place. I couldn\u2019t even see the corral, or the barn, or the house, or anything else other than snow.<\/p>\n Grandpa had gotten lost in his own backyard.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWere you afraid?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t afraid. I simply couldn\u2019t believe what had happened.\u00a0 So, instead of making the wise decision to backtrack and go back to house, I got even more stubborn. I\u2019d gone outside to visit the corral, and by gosh that was what I was going to do. I pointed myself in a likely direction and set off again.<\/p>\n I hadn\u2019t gone more than a hundred paces before that devil wind had gotten so strong I could barely stand up. I couldn\u2019t even see my own tracks in the snow. I was in real trouble, and it was my own fault.<\/p>\n You might say I was afraid then. When you live in those mountains, you know what can happen to folks who get caught in the snow. It doesn\u2019t take long for the cold to get the best of a man.<\/p>\n Now, sweetheart, don\u2019t cry. You see your old grandpa is fine. Come on up here into my lap.<\/p>\n Well, I shivered and shook with the cold and prayed with all my strength for God to forgive me my foolishness. I repented with all my heart the bad temper and poor judgment I showed. I prayed that no matter what happened to me that my boys would be all right.<\/p>\n It seemed that the Lord must have heard my prayers because you\u2019ll never guess what happened next.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDid Papa and my uncles rescue you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat is exactly what happened. Just at the point when I was feeling very sorry for getting myself in such a mess, I looked up and could see someone coming through the snow. It was your uncle Hoss. He had a rope wound around his waist and somehow, he knew right where to find me. The boys had figured out long before I had that going out for a walk in the snowstorm was a bad idea. They had tied rope to the hitching rail in front of the house and held onto it as they followed my tracks in the snow.\u00a0 When they reached the end of the first rope, one of the boys held fast there while the next boy ventured out with another rope. Hoss was nearly at the end of the third rope when he found me. We followed that rope back to your daddy and then back to your uncle. We all kept our hands on that final rope clear back to the house where we tumbled through the front door, cold and covered in snow.<\/p>\n Hop Sing had us out of our wet clothes and covered in warm blankets before you could say, Merry Christmas. We drank hot cider and talked about what a dreadful Christmas it would have been to lose each other because we were out of sorts.<\/p>\n Come to think of it, that might have been the best Christmas we ever had. It\u2019s not every day we get reminded so dramatically of how much we love each other.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat was a good story, Grandpa Ben. I \u2026 I think I know where we can find the dolls.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m proud of you, Junior. Let\u2019s go and get them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOoh, wait! Do you think we can find some rope?\u201d<\/p>\n XXXXXXXXXXC Merry Christmas XXXXXXXXXX<\/p>\n Prompt:\u00a0 The undulating prairie is covered with pure white snow, glowing with dazzling brilliancy beneath the cold rays of the sun.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\n~*~*~ Advent Calendar ~*~*~
\n* Day 10 *<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n