These holiday stories remind us that miracles can touch anyone anywhere. You’ll meet gift-gambling siblings, jittery young lovers, desperate shoppers and dozens more characters ranging from newborn to ancient, vexed to vivacious. Just like you, they’re smitten, sneaky, solemn, sour, spunky, surprising—and never beyond the reach of wonder. Keith Eldred wrote these tales over decades, starting at age 13 until the complete set of 24 comprised a “story advent” that he delivered in 24 separate locations leading up to Christmas one year. The four print covers interlock into one larger image as shown here. It’s easy to get the first book FREE.
vOLUME 1 OF 4
THE FIRST SIX
CONTENTS
Nativity in Aisle 1
An expectant couple struggles in a supermarket produce section
Analgesics Bending Near the Earth
A harried father toggles between a sedated son and a poisoned puppy
You Might Ask For A Gift
A grand old dame makes an extreme request to preserve her pristine view
Nine Nine Nine
A family shifts Christmas to a once-in-a-century calendar date
Chris At The Concert
A traumatized soldier attends a holiday event
The First Time
Young lovers nervously abandon restraint
vOLUME 2 OF 4
THE second SIX
CONTENTS
The Circle of Life
A single mom combs a toy department at midnight to one-up her ex
I’m So Glad You’re Here
A new father tends his child for the first time
Janey’s Note
A shy girl refuses to leave a deathbed despite a daunting demand
The Word(s) Among Us
The coordinator of a Live Nativity must manage both animals and humans
The Recital
A college student nurses a crush during an introduction to art song
Poker Night
Siblings gamble for gifts yet to arrive from Santa
volume 3 of 4
THE THIRD SIX
CONTENTS
You Can’t Spell ChriStmAS Without It
A Christmas pageant participant fumbles a fragile figurine
Getting the Tree
A forlorn driver finds himself in a car chase to protect an old man
He Never Said He Would
A son evades his mother’s plea to bake holiday cookies
The Gift from God
On a country church Christmas Eve, a gift is unwrapped in stages
The End of the World
Confusion ensues after a family’s car is stuck in a snowbank
The Girl in the Box
Caretakers reflect on an infant’s precarious birth
volume 4 of 4
THE FINAL SIX
CONTENTS
The Trees
A curmudgeon despises his neighbors’ misplanted spruces
Merry Christmas, Peg Leg Pete
A struggling worker dares one final search for the perfect pair of boots
Back When There Books and Bookstores
A recollection of the past glories of mall shopping and blossoming love
That’s a Wrap
A charity group cleverly promotes in-store gift wrapping
Santa’s Snowberry Pie
Instructions for using an ice oven to bake Santa’s favorite pie
Resurrection
A deceased mouse manages one last surprise
