Tis the night before Christmas,” Grandma whispered as the fire crackled. Snow powdered the eaves and the tree outside blinked like a distant star. In a little workshop, a kindly toymaker set a crooked rocking horse by the linden tree and went home.
At midnight the toys woke. When a lost, mittenless child came by, the timid rocking horse took one brave gallop. The child laughed, the toymaker opened his door, and together they walked home beneath the hush of falling snow.
By morning the village found tiny tracks and a whisper that Christmas had come to those who dared to care.
Stake: givemeamaxwin