Bright Christmas
A
Supergirl “Jemie” Christmas Adventure
During
Christmas break, Jemie's train chugged north into Hillstown Station
on a cold and snowy afternoon. She had been called by her
grandparents, who lived in a cabin on the hillside, for a very
special mission. Looking out the window, she remembered growing up
playing in the snow and bonding with the animals. They were her best
friends growing up. But this trip was all about business. It seemed
that someone had removed all the Christmas lights leading down to the
city overnight. Every Hillside resident wanted to know who? And,
better yet, why? Her grandparent's knew that she was the best at
solving a mystery, so they called on her right away. At her city
school, she was known as Supergirl “Jemie,” and there was no
mystery she couldn't get to the bottom of. This case would be no
different. She hoped it would be a walk in the park, or rather snow,
depending on how you look at it. Jemie's train finally came to a
stop. She wasted no time in grabbing her sled and making her way
out onto the platform. “Perfect weather to get to work!” she
exclaimed as she tightened her favorite red scarf around her neck.
Back
at her grandparent's cabin on the hill, she grilled her grandpa for
more details over a cup of hot cocoa and her grandma's freshly baked
cookies. “So, grandpa tell me what you know about the missing
Christmas lights, and don't leave out a thing,” she insisted.
“Well Jemie,” her Grandpa Joel explained. “It happened
overnight. The only thing we do know is that every string of bright
Christmas lights that guide our way down into the city at night have
gone missing. Every year many of us caravan down to the city on
Christmas Eve to leave our food and clothing donations. Our goal is
to get all the donations to the giant lit Christmas tree near the
City Hall steps on time. These donations go to several shelters
around the area and help feed and comfort many people over the
holidays. But, the road down is snow packed and dark. Without the
bright stringed Christmas lights guiding us, our donations may not
make it there on time.” “You have a great reputation for solving
mysteries” chimed in Grandma Jillian. “We believe you are the
best person for the job.” “Thanks Grandma,” said Jemie. “I'm
glad I can be of help. Now if I can just have one more cookie to go
on, I'll have this mystery wrapped up before delivery time.”
Jemie
wasted no time. She grabbed her sled and made her way down to the
city while it was still daylight. “This is interesting,” she
said examining the trees for clues along the way. “I can see from
all the broken limbs and missing twigs that someone's definitely on
the trail to mischief.” Then, in the distance she saw her old
friend Rugby Raccoon come racing out to her. He knew she always had
a half eaten apple or some trail mix to share with him. “Rugby!
It's great to you see you old friend.” The reunion was
delightful as she reached out her hand with a welcomed treat.
“Here's an apple for you. You sure do look hungry!” she
exclaimed. Rugby was overjoyed to see her and enjoyed the delicious
apple, but he soon became very nervous when Jemie began to ask him if
he knew anything about the missing Christmas lights. Before Jemie
could finish her questioning, he stood on his hind legs and raced for
cover up the hill. “That was quite peculiar,” Jemie pondered.
“I've never seen him act that strangely.”
Once
in the city, Jemie stopped by City Hall and asked a local policeman,
Officer Elfman, a few questions. “What do you think happened to
the lights, and who do you think might be behind this heist?”
Officer Elfman raised his brow and look straight up to the top of the
tree. “You see the top of the tree there?” he asked. “That
tree used to have a shiny lit up star. Witnesses say they saw a park
squirrel shimmy up to the top of the tree, remove the star, then
disappear up the hill. No one knows why it took the star, but due to
recent events, I'm on guard to make sure the rest of the lights on
this tree stay lit. The people of Hillstown and the city use this
tree as a landmark to know where to drop off their food and clothing
donations on Christmas Eve. If anything happens to these lights, the
landmark will go dark and shelters may not get the donations they
need.” “That's quite an earful Officer. Thank you for all your
help,” Jemie said.
Jemie spent the rest of the afternoon sledding
through the hills wondering if Rugby would come out of hiding. If
anyone knew anything, she was sure it would be Rugby. He was always
the smartest and most loved of all the other animals. It was then
that Jemie heard a very familiar ringing sound nearby. “Why that
could only be...yes it is! It's Mr. Jingles! She looked around and
saw him standing alone in the snow. She'd known the shy soft spoken
Moose since he was a baby and once tied jingle bells around him at
Christmastime as a way of finding him out in the snow. He was a true
friend and she could always count him for help. “Mr. Jingles!”
she yelled as she reached over and hugged him around the neck. She
offered him one of her grandmas delicious cookies and brushed the
cold snow off his soft brown fur. Then, she wasted no time in
telling him she was there on business and if he could help her find
some clues that might help solve the Christmas light mystery. To
Jemie's surprise, he gave his head a good shake and with one ring of
his bells, led her further up the snow packed hill to a wide clearing
near an old abandoned cabin. There in the folds of the snow lay
piles of tangled Christmas lights and one rather dim star. According
to the carefully laid out diagram of broken off twigs and tree limbs
in the snow, the animals had masterminded a plan to black out the
road to the city. The next step in their plan was to distract the
officer from the giant tree at City Hall and make off with the
remaining lights. If the move was successful, the landmark tree
would darkened. “Ah! The plot thickens!” declared Jemie.
According to this diagram it would appear that the final step would
be for the animals to sneak away with boxes of food donations while
the caravaners were stuck on the dark snow packed road. “Very
Clever!” shouted Jemie, who was already working on an idea to foil
the plan. “Mr. Jingles, I'm going to need your help. I've got a
plan to stop this caper and restore the lights in time for Christmas
Eve delivery time. But, I'm going to need your help. There's just
one thing I can't figure out. Greed can't be the only motive here.
So, why would they go through all this trouble to sneak away with a
couple of boxes of food on Christmas Eve. I'm pretty sure Rugby has
a good answer though, and I'll find out what it is or my name isn't
“Jemie”!
The
animals had but one cold night left before Christmas Eve. All was
quiet at City Hall. Too quiet. “This is it,” said Jemie. “I
can feel it.” She and Mr. Jingles had devised a plan to keep a
lookout on the City Hall steps for any suspicious animals roaming by.
Jemie took cover behind a park statue and stashed her sled under a
nearby bush. Mr. Jingles tried to blend in near the road at the edge
of the hill. Jemie had told him to shake his head if he saw anything
come down the hill. The sound of this bells would be the sign that
it was time to take action. Officer Elfman was in on the foil. His
job was to guard the tree and wait for Jemie's signal. The stage
was set. All there was left to do, was wait.
The
evening grew colder, but each held their posts. Finally, Jemie heard
the signal. She peeked out from behind the statue and could see
first hand what Mr. Jingles had seen. It was her long time friend
Rugby crossing the city square followed by a few other familiar
animal faces. “Mr. Rugby, you'll have some serious explaining to
do when this is all over,” whispered Jemie to herself. Rugby
snuck around the City Hall corner. Jemie moved unnoticed clutching
her scarf closely as she moved nearer to the scene of the would be
crime. The animals began to scuffle to distract Officer Elfman, but
he ignored all their efforts. Rugby then decided to take matters
into his own hands and made a dash for the lighted tree. Just as he
reached the City Hall steps, Officer Elfman shined a bright light
upon little his startled face. Jemie jumped forward into Rugby's
direct path of the tree and reached her arms out to protect its
precious lights. “Aaaah!” shouted Rugby at being caught red
handed. “Jemie, how could ruin our plan like this?” Rugby
cried. “Rugby, are you admitting to being the one who led the
animals to remove all these lights leading to the city?” questioned
Jemie. “Yes,” admitted Rugby. “But not for the reason you
might think.”
“We
didn't mean any harm to these nice people,” he explained. “You
see, a few years ago the Hillstown residents decided to start storing
their extra food to donate this time of year. This eventually caused
us to start going hungry, because after the first snow came each year
we were unable to feed off the land. So, after listening in on
the residents and figuring out their route, we devised a plan to stop
it by taking the Christmas lights. We figured that while the
caravan was stuck out on the dark snow packed road, we could run in
unnoticed and take back some of the food we needed to survive.”
Jemie
was very touched by Rugby's explanation. The Christmas Spirit in her
heart grew twofold, and she began to think. “Despair not Rugby,
nor you dear friends,” promised Jemie. “I have a solution. If
you help me return every single light string, including the star you
took - she pointed to squirrel in the crowd - then I will make sure
each of you will have plenty to feast on come Christmas Eve.” So,
she and the animals got to work. Squirrel started by returning the
star. Mr. Jingles began organizing a recovery plan, and Jemie spread
the word of a new movement. THE DONATION CARAVAN WAS TO MOVE AS
SCHEDULED!
Christmas
Eve came and residents showed up in a caravan as expected. It was
the longest caravan Hillside had ever had. With a new movement to
donate additional food for the animal friends, donations broke any
previous record Hillside had. Everyone was overjoyed at the news!
The animal friends and residents realized that they didn't just live
in the same place, but were one big family at heart.
As
her animal friends looked on from a comfortable spot along the giant
lighted tree, Jemie announced that from this day forward, a food
drive no less important for the Hillstown animals was to take place
with the first snowfall of the season. The honor of organizing the
food drive would of course go to Mr. Jingles for all of his help and
support. And last but not least, Rugby would be the chairman of the
organization for his special interest in feeding the masses.
The
time finally came for Jemie to return home. Christmas break was
almost over and the first day back at school was a mere few days
away. Her train whistle could be heard approaching the train station
to take her home. With residents and animal friends looking on from
nearby, her grandparent's expressed all their love and gratitude for
what she'd done. “Thank you everyone for believing in me. I can't
wait to get home and tell everyone about my great adventure. I'll
miss you very much. But, if there is anything you need, just
remember to call on me, “Jemie”. And with that and a few hugs
and kisses, she pushed off on her sled down the hill. Just before
reaching the train platform, looking back once more, she waved her
hand in the air and yelled “Until our next adventure...Merry
Christmas to all and to all a very Charitable New Year!”
The
End
Wishing
you and your family a Super Christmas and Charitable New Year
From
all of us here at JEM Publications
©
2014,
JEM Publications
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