Many years ago, I wrote a very touching Christmas story for my neice. It’s an adventure story about a journey through the woods to acquire & deliver Michigan’s greatest Christmas tree for the state party!
Well, I finally broke it out, polished it up & finished it for publication. I know now why I never did this as doing so made me cry my eyes out several times, in fact I’m tearing up now. *sigh*
The adventure involves four of my most beloved pets which are no longer here with me. I loved them very dearly, more than most people today love their children.. they were my children.
Anywho, the Kindle version is available for pre-sale now! You can order it by clicking the image below… it will be released in 5 days on the 24th.
The print version will be available for pre-sale soon and will release on November 17th so that it will be delivered in time for Thanksgiving day story time!
The target audience is children age 6-12. I hope to release a fully animated version for next Christmas season.
Also, I need a proper illustrator who has time to do at least 10-15 drawings over the next month and can afford to do so for revenue sharing rather than up front payments. Otherwise, I’ll probably have to go the AI route as my drawing skills suck and I want it to be very nice and even if I could draw… I’m very pressed for time.
Here is the link if you wish to share: https://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Tree-Story-Princess-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B0CKW7TNR6
There is a brief preview below. It is formatted for the animation / book illustration, I am prepping the final book format today.
Enjoy!!
Plot
Each year the Michigan state Christmas tree is lit in the state Capitol Lansing and many years comes from the Upper Peninsula. Once upon a time, many Christmas trees were shipped out of Michigan's Upper Peninsula on the Christmas tree ship. This year, a massive snow storm has closed all of the roads above the 45th parallel and the only way to save Christmas is for Ashlyn and Jason to team up with their courageous pets to get Michigan's finest tree out of the forest and to the Christmas tree ship!
This story is inspired by the real ship nicknamed “The Christmas Tree Ship”, real people and pets but the story is fictional and does not relate in any way to real historical events.
Moral
Over the course of this short story, allegory will be heavily used to impart the values of cooperation, family, perseverance, overcoming adversity as well as the spirit and value of selflessness.
Intro Ashlyn & Winter
Watching tablet by fire w/Winter
The light from the fire lit the room with a warm yellow glow as Princess Ashlyn laid nearby with her new tablet computer. Her favorite uncle Jason sent it to her full of games, news and information. It was her favorite new toy and she used it to look for new toys and treats for her dog, Winter.Outside by fire with Winter
Winter is a very special puppy and Ashlyn is a very special princess. Winter came to Ashlyn mysteriously from out of a snow storm one night when she was very sad. He told her stories about one of her very good friends that had recently left her. Winter said, “I have been sent here to protect you and keep you happy, dear Princess. Will you accept?”
“Oh yes, Winter, I do!” said the beautiful princess, “I can tell you are going to be a very good friend!”Hugging winter in snow by forest
She was ecstatic at the news that everything was going to be OK and gave the puppy a huge hug before they went off to play in the woods. Each night after that, Princess Ashlyn and Winter stayed up late at night to tell each other stories by the fire.
The Christmas Tree Ship
Back by the fire/Scenes of U.P.
As the Princess looked for new toys, Winter began to tell her a story. He said it was a story about a special place where all the Christmas trees came from. It was a magical place full of snow and deer, Christmas trees as far as the eye could see and a special breed of people called Yoopers.By the fire/Scenes of the Christmas tree ship
Once a year the Yoopers would collect all of their best trees and put them on a big ferry boat that sailed through the Great Lakes. The ship would then bring Christmas trees to all the rest of Michigan. The name of the great ferry was the Christmas Tree Ship.
Michigan state tree
Sharing tablet/Scenes of a great tree
Ashlyn was very intrigued by Winter’s amazing story and wanted to know more. She picked up her tablet and started looking for more information. It was not long before she found out that the Christmas Tree Ship was real and that its most important job was to get Michigan’s most important and perfect tree to Lansing for the famous state Christmas party.Michigan’s Upper Peninsula
The princess kept doing research about Winter’s wonderful story. She wanted to know where all these wonderful trees and other things came from. It wasn’t long before she learned that the best trees came from a place called Hiawatha National Forest.Searching the Map
Ashlyn loaded the mapping application on her table so that she could find this magical place. After searching for some time, she found it right in the middle of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, very near to a small town called Marquette.
Princess Ashlyn let out an astonished gasp! “Oh! Winter! My favorite uncle Jason lives near Marquette, right by the very best Christmas trees!” Winter was very pleased that she had discovered so many secrets about the marvelous land from which the trees came.
Snow storm
Outside house in deep snow
The next morning Princess Ashlyn awoke to find that the whole world seemed to be covered in a thick blanket of snow. She tried to take Winter for a walk but the snow was too deep and they had to turn back. She started to think about the Yoopers and how they would get their trees down state in time for all the parties.
It concerned Ashlyn a great deal and she had a difficult time sleeping. She had dreams about the Christmas tree ship trying to cross the great Lake Michigan in rough seas with trees falling off into the water. Winter could sense her unrest and cuddled up close to her. She curled her arm around his warm body and snuggled into his fur, finally settling into a deep and restful sleep.
A little more below…
Later…
Trouble
Back in Atalanta
Meanwhile, in the northern part of the lower peninsula, Princess Ashlyn watched the team’s progress on her tablet. Jason had a magic GPS on his sled and the tablet had a program that showed her where they were the whole time on a very nice map.
“This is amazing, Winter!” Ashlyn exclaimed, “Uncle Jason sure was planning ahead when he sent us this cool tablet!”
Winter nodded enthusiastically as he leaned into her from the side and looked at the map with interest. He thought about the team deep in the snow and wished he could help.Trek through the forest
Many hours had passed since the team entered the woods. They traversed over many hills, through slippery valley and crossed several icy rivers. It was quite dark among the trees. “We are very lucky there is a bright moon tonight,” Avery said to Jason.
Jason nodded silently in agreement as he tucked the blanket more tightly around Abadesa while she napped.
The kitties were sleeping atop the pile of food and tools while the boys walked with sticks and snowshoes behind them. The snow was deep and cold, so Sinsemilla and Sherman had mittens on their paws to keep them from icing up.Broken sled
The large moon hung low over the horizon slightly obscured by the clouds that had only recently began to break up over the forest. The team had made their way through deep snow and many tall oak trees during the night. Now, they were overlooking a steep and rocky valley, faintly lit by moon as it played hide and seek between the trees and clouds.
As they made their way carefully through a rather tricky section of the trail, one of the skis under the sled broke from the heavy load. A sharp rock in just the wrong place sent the sled toppling to the side and the kitties flying. The dogs looked at each other and Sinsemilla gave Sherman a look that said “I knew this would happen”. She felt that Jason had over-loaded the sled as usual but knew that it would be useless to argue about it.
The boys hurried to balance the sled on its side and inspect the damage. Jason did not have an extra ski and they still had a long way to go. The moon had gone back into hiding behind the clouds so he suggested that maybe they should rest for a couple hours and deal with the problem when the sun came up so they would be able to work in the difficult conditions more safely.Waking up Winter
Back in Atlanta, Winter slept soundly on a soft bed with a warm chewy by the fire. Princess Ashlyn had woke up very early and been anxiously staring at the blinking red dot for a long time.
After a couple hours, her worries got the best of her. “Winter! Winter, wake up!” said the Princess, “I think the team is in trouble! They haven’t moved in two hours and they aren’t even at the tree yet!”
“Oh no, Princess! What are we going to do?” Winter replied.
“I don’t know, but we have to do something!”
“Yes, we do.. but, all of the roads are closed.” Winter sighed with exasperation.
Rescue
Ashlyn & Winter get a lift from Santa
Ashlyn & Winter working on ideas
Ashlyn and Winter began trying to figure out how they could help the team. The team had no way to communicate with the team, the GPS signal coming from the sled was just a simple tracking device. With all of the roads north of the 45th parallel closed there would they would need a miracle to help the team save Christmas!
Ashlyn thought very hard. “What we really need, Winter,” she said desperately “is a real Christmas miracle.”
Winter ran over to the door and began wagging his tail very anxiously and looked at the princess with big watery eyes. “You really want to go outside in this cold and snow?” Ashlyn asked.
Winter jumped up and down with much excitement.
“OK, but I’m staying inside.” the princess said with a shiver, “Just paw at the door when you want back in.” And with that, Winter disappeared out the door and around the corner. Ashlyn was so consumed with concern that she didn’t even notice that he had taken the tablet with him. She sat down by the fire and wished very hard for a solution to her troubles.Santa receives a call
Up in the North Pole, Santa was busy preparing for the big Christmas delivery mission when suddenly his video chat alert chimed.
“Whoever could it be at this hour?” Santa said to one of his elves. “Oh, my!” he exclaimed as he looked at his phone, “It’s my dear friend Winter!”
“Winter, dear friend, it has been a while!”
“Yes, Santa, I have been very busy taking care of my new friend Princess Ashlyn. I would love to chat, but... we have a bit of an emergency, I am afraid.” said Winter into the tablet.
“Winter, anything I can do to help, just say the word!” replied the ever helpful Mr. Claus.Video chatting
“Santa, as you know, Michigan is experiencing a magnificent snow storm. It has closed all of the roads north of the 45th parallel and the great state tree of Michigan has not yet made it to the port in the upper peninsula!” exclaimed Winter anxiously. “Our friends set off to take it by sled, but we fear that they have run into trouble. The GPS signal on their sled has not moved all day and they have yet to even reach the tree!”
Santa stared into his video phone and thought deeply for a few moments. “Winter, as you know.. this is the very busiest time of year for us. However, we cannot let Michigan go without a tree for their fabulous Christmas celebration, therefore we shall amend our schedule!”
With that, Santa made several quick adjustments on his tablet computer and turned back to the video chat.
“Winter, my dear friend, prepare to disembark. We’ll pick you up and prepare to rendezvous with the team! My team and I shall make all possible haste to get to your location!”
“That is wonderful news, dear Santa!” Winter replied. “Princess Ashlyn will be greatly relieved!”
“Ho ho ho!” Santa chuckled, “See you soon, my old friend!”Winter returns
Winter returned to the door and pushed on it several time with his paw. When Ashlyn opened the door to let him in, he told her to put on some warm clothes and come sit by the fire he had built. She looked at him with some degree of disapproval, but he sat so cute and wagged his tail so irresistibly that she couldn’t say no.
“I’m very glad you came out to sit with me,” Winter said, “I have wonderful news!”
Ashlyn was very curious, “What is it Winter, what could possibly be so wonderful when the great Christmas tree is in such peril?”
“I would love to tell you, Princess.” Winter replied, “It’s really quite good news, but it’s also a very special surprise. Let’s just wait here be the fire for a bit, I have a feeling we’re going for a ride!”
Ashlyn loved surprises, and she knew how much Winter loved going for a ride, but she had big doubts that they were going anywhere in a such a storm. She tried several times to get Winter to tell her the big surprise, but he wouldn’t budge. She was so curious about the big surprise that she forgot to worry about the tree.