The Smoky Skedaddle

Once upon a time, on a cold and snowy Christmas night in northern Wisconsin, Amber snuggled into bed with her brand new giant baby doll. She had gotten several things that morning, including a spy kit, an old heirloom necklace from her grandma, a giant box of chocolates, and a gift card to her favorite toy store, but her favorite gift was the giant soft baby doll that she now snuggled with. As she thought about her day, she decided to get back up again, and write about this tremendous and life changing day in her diary.

The morning had started promptly at six a.m., when her dog, Sasha, had awoken the family with an excited Christmas howl. Amber's feet hit the ground as soon as her eyes opened. It was Christmas morning, and the presents under the tree were waiting to be opened! After her parents were awakened, and the delicious breakfast of homemade pancakes and freshly cooked sausage was eaten, the family watched a classic Christmas movie before they began to open presents. When present tome finally arrived, the house became messy quite quickly. Tissue paper was thrown and boxes were ripped open. Amber squealed with glee as she unwrapped a giant doll that was as big as she! She was so excited about receiving the doll, that she couldn't even wait to go to bed again! But, there were many more plans for the exciting Christmas Day before that could happen!

Amber and her family sang some songs, and danced around the Christmas tree with glee. They all began laughing as they imagined how silly they must look, dancing around in their living room, but it was fun! They had a snowball fight in the back yard, made creamy hot cocoa, built a snowman, made snow angels, and went sledding down the hill that was so big, it seemed to be a mountain. Next, they went to grandma's house and made cookies, gingerbread men, and Christmas chocolates for the family dinner. At the family dinner, Amber looked at the feast of turkey, ham, green beans, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, roasted squash, creamed corn, cinnamon carrots, crescent rolls, pies, and cookies. The only thing Amber wished to change was the size of her stomach so that she could eat more! She was jealous of her cousin, whom her mother said, was going through a growth spurt and could, "eat an entire cow if he set his mind to it!". One day, Amber thought, I will it as much as he can, and I can enjoy all of the foods that grandma makes!

To end all of the excitement of the day, the entire family went caroling from door to door, singing the beautiful songs that Amber had learned in church. They sang, "Silent Night", "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem", and "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen". They even snag a few songs just for fun like, "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" and "Frosty the Snowman". The family returned home, and Amber squirmed out of her snow-soaked clothes into her warm pajamas before finally getting to crawl into bed with her giant doll.

It was the best Christmas she'd ever had, and the only thing that could make it better, Amber thought to herself, would be to snuggle up by the fireplace. So Amber snuck down the creaky stairs, threw a few logs in the fireplace, and struck a match. Just as the match was lit, Sasha came dashing across the room, knocking the match Amber had lit onto the carpet! She tried throwing her glass of water on it, but it was empty!

Amber screamed as the room began to fill with smoke. What was she going to do? Amber ran back upstairs to get her parents, but the fire quickly spread through the family's small wooden home. When the family was awakened and attempted to go back down the stairs, the staircase was already filled with flames. "Maybe we can get out through the window in our bedroom when the firefighters come!", her dad said.

Sirens screamed around the bend, and Amber was amazed at how fast the police men, firefighters, and ambulances all came to their rescue. She saw the firefighters pulling out hoses, ladders, and a...a....a trampoline? Why did they have a trampoline? Amber watched as the firefighters dragged the trampoline underneath the window of her parent's room. Then one of the firefighters screamed, "JUUUMMMPPPP!!!"

Amber was scared at first, but her Dad told her it would be just fine. Her mom wrapped her arms around her, and the warm hug made her feel safe. They all held hands, and prayed asking God to keep them safe. One at a time, they all jumped out of the window to the safety of the trampoline below, while the smoke billowed out of the window behind them.

Amber was so so glad that the firefighters had come to rescue them, and put the fire in their house out. She was so glad that God had kept her family safe from the fire. She learned, that night, to never light the fireplace by herself again. She learned to always be careful and ask her parents permission, and most importantly, she learned to trust God in everything...even when things were scary!

Thankfully, only the staircase and living room was harmed in the fire, so the fire fighters moved the family's furniture to the other side of the house where the could sleep. She and Sasha even got to share one huge mattress with her parents and being with them made her feel even more safe.

Amber snuggled back into bed thinking of all of the things she had to be thankful for. She was thankful for the best Christmas Day ever, regardless of the accidental fire. She was thankful for the delicious food she had eaten, and all of the family she got to spend it with. She was thankful for her giant baby doll, and all of the other gifts her parents had given her. She was thankful for the firefighter and police men that came to help she and her parents when they couldn't escape from the upstairs of their little house. And she was thankful that because she had written about her day in her journal, she could remember it forever.

THE END