Non-fiction. A 'story' about stars (this is more of a tale/description). Hmmm.... what could this be about? I hear you asking. This is my non-official application for stars to be considered the #1 symbol. Not that some symbols are superior to others, but... hearts are definitely not numb er #1 in my book. Yes, I love a good heart, but it's curved and weird to draw. A star is super easy. You have that little trick you learn when you're little, and feel so proud of yourself

Contemporary "Mum?" Kieran shivered as he was wrapped in his mother's scarf, and Tom was wrapped into his Dad's. Tears glistened Mum's eyes, but her smile stayed strong, even as her voice faltered through the gentle, "Yes, my boy?" The twins huddled between their parents, hiding their faces into their thin clothes. Kieran continued, blocking Tom's ears with his gloved hands, "We're not going home are we?" They were waiting for their car to be inspected, to see if they'd be on

Contemporary The family never had much. That has to be stated, before you can understand this story. This is a story of how to give, when you don't even have enough for yourself. For the last few years, it had been just Stanley and Dad. Even before Mum left three years ago, their wealth hadn't been plenty. Now, at his school, a Secret Santa was being hosted. It's a great concept, in theory, but in Stanley's opinion it just adds stress to everyone's lives. He tried his best to

Contemporary Now, I need to let you know we rarely buy many new Christmas decorations. We love to keep our old ones, and build our collection through our memories. But this year is different. It's our cousin's first Christmas, and we want to make it extra special, so while we're out Christmas tree shopping, we're also looking for the perfect bauble or decoration to gift her, so she can also make life-long memories. I had such a decoration, and so did my sister. Mine was — no,

Fantasy There is a word in German which I want to tell you about: Vorfruede. It’s one of those ‘untranslatable’ words, which encapsulates the “joy on anticipation”. It literally means before (vor) joy (fruede). I think you can tell where this is going. Throughout the month of December, I hope we’ll bring about Vorfruede, by exploring the meanings of Christmas one at a time, from the 1st to the 25th of December. Now, I have to go through some of the maintenance before we can c