Snowstorms and Sleigh Bells

I had never seen anything like this before. A gigantic cloud barreled toward the schoolhouse. It was steadily changing colors from light grey to black. As I looked around the schoolhouse decorated with evergreen branches and holly, I noticed that all the children had seen the blizzard coming too. No one dared interrupt Miss Stacy though. She was the strictest teacher around. Getting her permission to hang up Christmas decorations was hard enough. No one questioned her unless they wanted to be bruised until Christmas. But someone had to warn the teacher about the danger approaching. I grabbed a piece of paper, crumpled it into a ball and took aim.

“Perfect,” I muttered under my breath. The paper hit the teacher square on the back, making her turn around and glance towards me and the window.

“Children!’’ She shrieked. “Go home now!’’ With those words the schoolhouse turned into a madhouse. All the girls ran to get their bonnets and shawls, the boys sprinted across the room to their lunch pails. Suddenly one of the little girls started crying. “We can’t go home now!” she sobbed. “If we do, we’ll be caught in the blizzard!” Everyone had hoped for a white Christmas tomorrow, but not like this. Then, to my relief, I heard the sound of sleigh bells outside. The door opened and covered in snow, in walked my Papa.

“Alright now” he bellowed. “If ya got a long ways home, go hop in my sleigh!’’ He grinned at me and said, “That means you too Charlotte.”

The way home was cold, I almost fell asleep several times, but the cheery sound of sleigh bells kept me awake. After the last of the children were home safely, my Papa and I fell asleep with Christmas dreams drifting through our heads.