The Christmas Rescue Mission…

In the snowy town of Holly Haven, everyone loved Christmas Eve. Snow covered the houses, children hung stockings by the fire, and the smell of cookies filled the air. In the middle of the town was the Christmas Tower, a tall clock that rang at midnight to tell Santa it was time to deliver presents.

But this year, something went wrong.

CLANG! The clock made a loud noise and then stopped. Its big hands froze at eleven, and the bell didn’t ring. Everyone in the square gasped.

“Santa won’t know it’s time to go!” Ellie, a clever girl with curly hair, said.

Her little brother Ben, tugged on her sleeve. “What can we do?”

“We’ll fix it!” Ellie said. “We can’t let Christmas be ruined!”

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The First Clue…

Ellie and Ben ran to the clock tower. Mr. Thistle, the caretaker, stood at the door looking worried.

“The clock is broken,” he said. “And the key to fix it is missing!”

Ellie saw small footprints in the snow leading away. “Look, Ben!” she said. “Let’s follow these tracks!”

The two followed the footprints all the way to the woods.

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Into the Woods…

The woods were quiet and sparkly, with snow on every branch. Suddenly, they heard giggles.

“Who’s there?” Ellie called.

Out came tiny snow sprites! They had frosty wings and glowing smiles. One sprite held a shiny golden key.

“We took it to play a game,” the sprite said. “But now it’s stuck in the Ice Maze!”

Ben shivered. “The Ice Maze? That sounds scary.”

“We can do it!” Ellie said. “Let’s go!”

The sprites showed them the way to a shiny maze made of ice.

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The Ice Maze…

Inside the maze, walls of ice sparkled like diamonds. Ellie and Ben walked through twists and turns until they found a frozen fountain. Inside the fountain, they saw the golden key, stuck in a block of ice.

“How do we get it out?” Ben asked.

Suddenly, a giant made of ice appeared. “To take the key, you must answer my riddles,” he said.

Ellie nodded. “We’re ready!”

The giant asked, “What has no end, no beginning, but goes round and round?”

“A ring!” Ellie said.

“Correct,” the giant said. “Now, what is not alive but grows and needs air?”

“Fire!” Ben shouted.

The giant smiled. “You are clever. The key is yours.” He touched the ice, and it melted. Ellie grabbed the golden key.

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Hurry Back to the Tower…

Ellie and Ben raced back to the tower. “We’re running out of time!” Mr. Thistle said.

They climbed the stairs to the top. The big gears and wheels of the clock were stuck. Ellie pushed the key into a hole and turned it. CREEEEEAK! The gears started moving again.

“Almost there!” Ellie said.

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A Big Problem…

CRACK! A big gear broke.

“What do we do now?” Ben asked.

Ellie looked out the window. She could see Santa’s sleigh far away. “We’ll make our own signal!”

She grabbed a lantern and waved it in circles. Ben grabbed another lantern, and together they made big, glowing lights in the sky.

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Santa to the Rescue…

Santa saw the lights and flew down with his reindeer.

“Ellie! Ben!” Santa said as he landed. “You saved Christmas!”

Ellie smiled. “We didn’t want you to miss your big night!”

Santa waved his hand, and the broken gear fixed itself. “Now the clock will work forever,” he said.

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The Midnight Chime…

As Santa flew into the sky, the clock tower struck midnight. DONG! DONG! The bell rang, and everyone in town cheered.

Ellie and Ben watched the stars from the tower. “We did it,” Ellie said.

“Best Christmas ever,” Ben said.

They climbed down to join the town, knowing they had saved Christmas for everyone.

The End!

 

 

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Follow-up Questions:

• Who took the clock key, and where did Ellie and Ben find it?
• What did the Frost Giant ask Ellie and Ben to do to get the key?
• How did Ellie and Ben let Santa know it was time to deliver the presents?