121516_SWB_DIGITAL EDITION

26 x December 15, 2016 - January 4, 2017 x www.SouthwestOrlandoBulletin.com
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25
to pour from the sky, and she was freezing
from the inside out.
“Tell you what,” he said with a smile.
“You can come stay at our house tonight.
My wife, Ella, would love to have a visitor
stay with us!”
“I couldn’t impose upon you like that,”
she said.
“Nonsense!” he exclaimed, as he pried
the bag from her little hand and placed it
in the carriage.
They drove for about 15 minutes, until
they reached a quaint little cottage on
the north side of town. Snow covered the
gabled rooftop like melted marshmallows.
When she walked in the front door, she
saw a fabulous spruce tree decorated with
popcorn, candy canes and pine cones.
She was astounded by how breathtaking
it was.
That night, after an extraordinary meal
and amazing conversation with these two
kindhearted souls, she fell fast alseep in the
cozy bed they had arranged for her.
In the morning, she awoke to the smell of
freshly brewed coffee. She got dressed and
made her way down the tiny stairs. While
descending the stairs, she heard familiar
laughter. When she entered the kitchen,
she was greeted by the elderly couple.
“Good morning, Rosalyn,” they said.
“We’d like you to meet our son.”
The young man turned around. It was
him, the kind stranger from the train ...
Child Winner
Scarecrow’s Christmas
by Porter MacCabe
Saddlebrooke
Once upon a time there was a scarecrow.
A farmer had put up the scarecrow
for harvest, but he forgot about it. The
scarecrow had a sack head, sweater and
jacket. He also had a pair of jeans with
patched knees. One night there was a
strong windstorm. During the storm, the
metal arrow from the farmer’s weather
vane flew off the house and shot into the
scarecrow’s neck. The next night, a bolt of
lightning hit the metal rod and brought the
scarecrow to life. Then, with a straw-stuffed
body, the scarecrow set out to live in the
wild.
The scarecrow was bored in the wild. He
was just sitting alone in a cave with only a
rock to call his friend. After a few weeks, he
heard a bang! He hurried outside where he
found a turkey that was being shot at. He
ran and grabbed the turkey, and then ran
away. He soon had run at least a mile, so
he put down the turkey and asked, “Why
do they hunt you down like that?”
“Because,” the turkey said, “it’s
Thanksgiving, and they think eating turkey
is better than beef jerky. You have shown
me an act of great bravery and kindness.
I thank you!”
With that, the turkey ran back to the forest,
and the scarecrow ran back to his cave.
Almost one month later, the bored scarecrow
heard a noise, so he went to check it
out. He found a man who had just chopped
down a tree. He was marching away with
the tree, happily singing songs.
The scarecrow saw this and said to himself,
“This is outrageous! How dare he chop
down a tree and sing so merrily! I shall follow
him, or as scarecrows say, stalk him
like we stalk crows, for I shall find the purpose
for killing that tree.”
A few minutes later, the scarecrow found
the man inside a house. He looked through
a window and saw the man and his family
joyously decorating the tree. Then the
youngest child put a star atop the tree and
smiled.
“What’s this?” the scarecrow asked.
“They are hanging mistletoe, and putting
strings of lights and a star on the tree. What
is this?
He turned to leave and hit a pole.
“Ouch!” he exclaimed, while reading
a banner on the pole. “Merry Christmas?
Christmas? Then I shall celebrate it, too!”
The next day, he gathered lights, mistletoe,
an ax and a star. Then he chopped
down a tree, and put the lights and star on
it. He then put up more lights and plugged
the lights into a solar panel to make the
lights and star shine. Afterward, he put up
the mistletoe and rested.
He awoke Christmas morning. There
were a box and card underneath the tree.
The card read, Dear Scarecrow, Christmas
is about joy and happiness with friends and
family. Cherish it. From Santa Claus.
He opened the box. Inside it was a book
called Christmas Carols. He opened the
book and sang a song.
Hearing the song, the turkey, a bear,
two squirrels, two hawks, a blue bird and
a partridge in a pear tree soon came.
“Come and sing with me, friends,”
Scarecrow said.
And so the animals sang and helped to
make a feast. I should know, because I am