Jingle Bells in an Apple Tree beats a Partridge in a Pear Tree Every Time

This is a story about trying to save the magic of Christmas for my daughter. True story.

 

Jingle Bells in an Apple Tree beats

a Partridge in a Pear Tree Every Time

Written by: T. L. O’Neal

 

    Christmas is a magical time of the year, especially for little children. What happens when the magic is taken away from them before it’s time? It’s never easy and in a way it’s the first sign that your child is growing up and the reality of the real world starts to show. I remember when I was a kid and found out there wasn’t a Santa Claus. It hurt a bit realizing that there really wasn’t any magic in the world anymore. I found out that plus that the Easter Bunny, and Tooth Fairy were both fake too, that was a hell of a blow for a kid. But I guess it didn’t matter, they always did creep me out anyways, along with clowns but I always did like what they brought. All of them except the clowns; they just terrified the begebbers out of me. I‘m still working all of that out in therapy.

 

   Anyway, several years ago this happened to my youngest daughter. It happened like it usually does, her older brother told her that Santa wasn’t real. He heard it at school or knew it already; whatever the case; misery always loves company and he told her.

 

   She had been living a sheltered life ever since kindergarten when she was hurt in school and ever since she had been home schooled. So you can imagine how we were overly protective of her.

 

   After her brother did this, she was devastated and came to us and asked if Santa was truly real? We assured her that he was, partially because we didn’t want to see her feelings hurt, or maybe it was just the fact that we weren’t ready for her to grow up. Whatever the case, we had to do something about it and save Christmas for her.

 

   So we devised a plan to try to set things right again. We came up with the idea to find some jingle bells and to leave them in the apple tree beside her window on Christmas Eve night. You know, as if they had fallen off of one of the reindeers while they were taking off. This seemed like a good plan to us both but it being late, getting them would have to wait till tomorrow…Christmas Eve. 

 

   Now I don’t know how many of you have shopped on Christmas Eve before; it’s nothing short of pure hell and mayhem. And to try to find jingle bells was even harder, especially the ones on a strap like the reindeers wore. This was going to be extra hard to do, and the fact that I had a phobia of crowds didn’t help none either, but I ventured out into the madness anyway on my quest for jingle bells. And madness it was too, people fighting over cell phones and Gameboys; anything and everything that was for sale. I‘ve never seen such pushing and shoving in my whole life, you would expect this behavior from kids but the parents were acting the worse. I was at the point of throwing some elbows back myself, even if it was somebody’s grandma. She can get it as good as she gives, that’s what I say.

 

   All I wanted was a single strap of jingle bells and it seemed that no one on God’s green earth had one. Hell, a lot of people didn’t even carry them or ever even heard of such a thing for that matter. Store after store I went looking those jingle bells and fighting crowd after unruly crowd. You would think that it being Christmas and all, that people would be nicer than they are. You know like in those holiday specials; I guess they were all watching ESPN at the time they were on.

 

    If the stores weren’t bad enough, I had all of that traffic to deal with too. People are as nasty on the road as they are in the stores, with all the blowing of the horns and riding your bumpers, it’s enough to make you scream. I was starting to get a little ill tempered at all of these people and then remembered how my father always acted when he drove; he could of given these people lessons. He kept his hand glued to the horn and the other with his fist out of the window; which was a hard feat to do and drive at the same time. Not to mention how he could string four-letter words together to make your ears burn. With that in my head I calmed on down because the last thing I wanted to do was to be like him. After all, I had a mission to complete.

 

   So here I go from one store to the next, asking for jingle bells and being looked at like I was foolish. I went to so many stores that I can’t even remember how many, everywhere was sold out of everything and I was starting to get desperate. I found some of those little, single bells but that was about it. I just had about given up hope when I got to the last store. At that time all of them were closing up so their workers could go home to be with their families for Christmas Eve. That’s where I wanted to be and should have been, but I was on a mission and I was going to give it all I had.

 

    Just when I was on my last nerve and wishing that Santa would bring me a Valium, like right now… I found one. The jingle bells on a strap that is. The poor thing was in the bottom of a display rack with a lot of other things that fell off the stands and it looked like it needed a home; plus it was only $3.99, a bargain in my book any day. At that moment I would of paid a hundred dollars for it. Of course I probably spent twenty bucks on gas and my nerves were shot, but still a good deal because it was going to make my daughter happy. Anyways, to me those bells shined as bright and pretty as a Christmas star and I was happy to have found them. So I snatched it up and started to understand why those people acted like asses the way they did. If someone tried to take those bells away from me after all the hell I’ve been through, I believe I would have to kill them. Or at least hurt them really bad.

 

   After all I’d been through, now was the time I dreaded the worse… standing in line. So I picked out the shorter one; it was about as long as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. There were a few people in line that their heads were so big that they looked like those balloons too, but that’s beside the point.

 

   While I was in line, I was thinking to myself about my wife at home making a tag to go on the bells and a card. I thought, boy she really got the pie job in this deal. I’m fighting these crowds and putting up with asses and she’s doing that. But anyhow, the tag said, “Property of Santa” and it was written in fancy letters and covered in pretty glitter. It was a nice looking tag, and it looked like it came from the real Santa Claus too. The card was extra pretty and had a special message in it just for her. She did a really nice job on both of them.

 

    I finally did make it back to the house with my prize and boy was I glad to be back home. I showed this great find to my wife and we planned out how we were going to work the little production after the kids went to bed.

 

   After they all went to sleep; which is never easy on a Christmas Eve; we went to work on our little plan. As I went outside into the cold, my wife went into our daughter’s room to wake her up. Which wasn’t easy being that she was on a lot of medication at the time and she slept like a rock. While I was sitting out there in the cold waiting, I just about froze my jingle bells off. Finally she did give me the cue and I started ringing those bells outside of the window and throwing rocks on the tin roof to sound like hoof beats from the reindeer. In retrospect, it probably would of been better if I had used smaller rocks, because they sure hurt when they came off of the roof and hit me in the head.

 

   Anyhow, as I was ringing the bells, getting hit in the head with rocks and freezing, I could hear that she was up. With one more good ring, I threw the bells up into the apple tree and ran around the house to the front door as they were coming out of the back of the house. My wife and daughter went out and were looking around to see what all the noise was.

 

Then my wife said to her, “What’s that up in the apple tree?”

 

With that my daughter replied, “It’s jingle bells!”

 

   While my wife pulled them out of the tree, my daughter’s face lit up as she admired them and the realistic tag and they then found the card on the ground. My wife told her that they must of fell off of one of Santa’s reindeers. After that, nobody could have told her that Santa wasn’t real.

 

   She came back into the house all happy and was telling everyone and showing off her prize.

 

“Look Daddy, Santa’s reindeer lost some bells!” She said with a big smile on her face.

 

   I just smiled real big and hugged her. Seeing that smile on her face and the happiness in her heart was worth all that I went through that day to get those bells.

  

   With our mission complete and my daughter as happy as she could possible be, the kids went back to bed; the youngest with her jingle bells and my wife and I enjoyed the peace and quiet of the night. We were right proud of our Christmas good deed for the day.

 

   A bonus in all of this was that it even put some doubt in our son’s mind on the reality of old St. Nick. Those jingle bells were a mighty prized object on that Christmas and you could see the envy in his eyes over them. Sometimes it pays to believe, don’t you think? All in all everything worked out just fine and it seemed that we saved the magic of Christmas for at least one more year. It was the best $3.99 I ever spent and to tell you the truth, it added a little magic to my Christmas too.

 

Reviews

[Chloe..Across the Unive..]

You always have alot of humor in your writing .. i laughed alot reading this but more so i felt happy to know you and your wife were so determined to make your little girl happy and as you said, keep her a child just a little longer to boot.. but what you did was sort of like a Christmas miracle for your daughter.. this story is so beautiful and full of your usual wonderful humor and love.. really did enjoy reading this ... A good story and wonderful reading.. so sorry about the trouble you had, you are so right about the shoppers acting like kids, worse even! loved it, T.

Chloe
xoxo

[Eagle Cruagh]

Thanks for putting Christmas back in my life, Terry
and Judi .
I was getting real sour on the whole scheme until I read
this story and believe it or not, it cheered me right up.

I think Santa did a little number on you too, T.
When you came up with those jingle bells, I`ll bet your
whole life changed a little.
This was a good story, a great write and it was wonderfully
done. THANK YOU !
----- Eagle Cruagh

[Kelley Pascoe]

I understand this quite well because I have 3 kids myself and the older ones are always trying to spoil the youngest ones hopes and dreams. This had your funny touch T! Loved it as I loveall your work.
Thanks for sharing.
Kelley

[Antony]

Hey T, I see you haven't lost your touch with the story telling, this was a heartfelt one, not your usual humorous story but told as only you can spin them my friend. I also would like to comment about your little saying, about having your head so far up somebody's a*s, you would be able to see your friends, I was in hysterics with that one, still smiling about it. Funny man, you're the best. Thanks for this story T.
Tony

[Bubo]

What a wonderful giving thing to have done, to go to so much trouble, and yet restore faith in your little one
that Santa does exist, and I can imagine her smile is a treasured memory, i loved this story, that feel good factor, of things being good, working out and at the cost, well worth it!
Christmas can bring miracles!
You always write with great imagination and flair with your wit and charm, i love reading you!

[L.P. Hawkins]

Your masterful skills have created a crazy-good story filled with humor and love. It's a pleasure to read something so heartfelt. You truly brought the spirit of Christmas to your readers but most importantly, to your family. A thousand "atta boy's" aren't enough for the world to show you their appreciation for the magic you had created but here's one anyway: Atta boy!

[Carole]

T, what a great story. I love your style, as always. This is chalked full of the wonderment of Christmas. I could see you out fighting the crowds with one thing on your mind..."Gotta find those jingle bells!...Gotta find those jingle bells!" You even had me on the edge of my seat...."Lord, please let him find the jingle bells,...please let him find the jingle bells!" Just like a movie. That being said, your story was written well from beginning to end, full of suspense and excitement from start to finish. I would have loved to have been a teeny tiny mouse just to get in on your daughter's expression when she heard all of the commotion and then went out side with your wife to see the jingle bells in the tree.

I still remember the day I was walking home from grade school with a friend and if my memory serves me correctly, I was about 9 when a friend lowered the bomb on me. All I could think was, "Is Patty on crack, or what? She has got to be kidding! I'm sure she is mistaken..." But, so it went....I came home and popped the question and went through the whole list: "What about the Easter Bunny and the Tooth fairy? Are they YOU too???" I really don't think my mom wanted to tell me the truth...That day sucked. But, such is life in the fast lane.

Great write, as always. (((Hugs))) to you and Judi! Carole

[Sean Allen]

There's no Santa? I still believe, and stories like this prove that he is real.

By the way, I was talking to a customer with a 6 year old sitting in their shopping cart the other day and the subject of the tooth fairy came up as she was newly missing a tooth. "What did the tooth fairy bring you." someone said... "I got ten bucks." the little girl replied.

The truth is kids is that the spirit of Santa is real, but there's no such thing as intelligent parents!

[Debra Stevens Edwards (..]

T. this is a wonderful heart warming Christmas story I laughed while reading it. But even more so because I was moved by the love for your daughter beyond your problem with crowds or anything else To make her believe again. When mine where little I keep red and white fur up in the back of the closet for the times he ripped his coat. HA HA I didn't have an apple tree. I think this is such a beautifully told story. I found it excellently done, well written, heartwarming and entertaining. GREAT WRITE!
Hugs Debby

[Fantasyfairy]

Awww, that is so sweet. What you did for your daughter was beautiful and I love it. It is always a sad time when the children discover that all the magic isn't real. I recall one year when my daughters were young, I signed all their Christmas presents, love Santa. My youngest looked at me after she had unwrapped all her presents and asked where were the rest? I asked what she meant and she said that all the presents were from Santa, so where were the presents from Mummy and Daddy? I have to say, I didn't have an answer for her, not expecting it. The following year I signed half from Santa and half from Mummy and Daddy. Now they are older and don't believe all the magic seems gone, but it still my favourite time of year, and always will be. XX

[Nicole (Carpe Diem)]

you cant stop believing in santa no matter how old you are... great story --