The Yule Man

Once there was a small hobbit family, only consisting of a father and his small son. Sadly, the mother had passed away when the boy had been just a baby, so the father cared for the boy all by himself. The boy meant all the world to him. The father did his best so that his son would live a happy life, even without a mother.

But like most small hobbit lads, the boy was sometimes a bit unruly. The father did his best to keep the boy in control, but many times, he noticed that he didn't have the courage to scold him and be too strict as a parent. That's why the father invented "the Yule Man". Every time the son did something he wasn't supposed to do, his father said:
"If you don't behave, the Yule Man won't bring you any presents on Yule."
That seemed to work too. To make the Yule Man seem more real, the father and his son wrote a wish list for him before every Yule. And each Yule, there was a pile of presents beneath the Yule tree, left there by the Yule Man. Hence the boy believed in the Yule Man with all his heart. It was clearly a situation in which both parties were happy – so the father kept it that way.
"It is only an innocent lie, it does no harm," the father thought.

But as boys get older, they tend to do more thinking and even get suspicious. One Yule, the boy asked his father: "Why doesn't the Yule Man bring you anything, pa?" he asked.
The father looked a bit baffled, but then replied:
"Oh, it must be that I have never wished for anything, dear son."
That seemed to settle the matter then, but it didn't end there. One autumn before Yule, the boy had been playing with his friend. When the boy came back home, he looked very upset.
"Pa, my friend says that... the Yule Man is not real, that he is only a fairy tale."
The father shook his head and comforted his son. "That's nonsense, we both know he is real. He brings presents every year."
"Yes, but couldn't that be anyone? We never see him in person, just the presents!" the boy said and continued: "This year, I want to see him myself! And I won't make a wish list that could fall into the hands of fake Yule Men. I will wish for something inside my mind. If the Yule Man is real, he can read my mind and see what I wish for."
"Well, this made things a lot more complicated," the father thought.

He started to work on a Yule Man outfit: a pointy hat, a thick coat and a fake beard made of tangled wool thread. The outfit was the easiest part though; he also had to figure out what the boy was wishing for Yule. The father kept a close eye on the boy, but he didn't reveal any clues about his wish. Time passed, and suddenly, it was the evening before Yule day. As the boy had fallen asleep in his bed, the father crept outside. He sneaked into a cottage near the Brandywine and changed into the Yule Man clothing. Looking like a meagre dwarf, he came out and sat on a pile of snow in the winter night.
"What should I do?" he thought. "I still don't know what my boy wants! He will never love me again!"
Suddenly, his mourning was interrupted by a crashing noise and loud screaming – it was coming from the icy Brandywine! The father ran down the bank and saw that someone had crashed through the thin ice that covered the edges of the river. Quickly, he removed the messy wool thread beard from his face and rolled it into a rope. "Take this, and I will pull you up!" he shouted and threw the other end of the rope to the person in the icy water.

The father was able to pull the person out of the water into safety. He had to hold his breath, because it was the most beautiful hobbit lady he had seen in ages. He gave his thick Yule Man outfit to the lass and changed back into his own clothing. "You better come to my burrow and warm up. What did you do on the ice, dear lady?"
The lass blushed. "I wanted to skate in the wintery moonlight, silly me... I'm so happy you saved me!"

Back at the burrow, the father led the lady to the fireplace and brought her some tea. Together they sat on the rug and stared silently into the fire. Then the father heard a noise: his son had woken up and stood behind them. The father sighed: "I am sorry, son, I think the Yule Man..."
But the son beamed. "The Yule Man is real! He was here just now!"
"What?" the father gasped.
"He came to my bed and apologised that he never came to see me before. And he told that I would find my present here, next to the fireplace..."
The father looked around, but didn't see any presents. "What do you mean by that?"
"I wished something for you! You never remember to wish anything yourself, silly pa."
The father gulped. "What did you wish for, son?"
The boy pointed at the drenched hobbit lady. "A wife for you! You should have waited for me before you unwrap her!" the boy added sternly.
The father blushed crimson, and the lady even more.

And crimson red were the roses in her hair when the two married during the next summer.
So, be careful what you wish for, because you might just get it.
And above all, remember this:
Don't skate on thin ice, and be nice.
The End.

The Best Presents

Here is a story I told yesterday at the Green Dragon. It's about giving presents!

You all must know the feeling: when you want to give a present to someone, but you don’t know what to give them! And it gets even harder when that someone is very special to you.
Now, I am going to tell a story about an elderly lad who wanted to give a present to his wife…
But some things got in the way.

Once upon a time, an elderly hobbit couple lived in the Shire. They were simple farmers, working hard on their fields and garden and cherishing the quiet and peaceful way of life. The husband loved pipeweed and spent long days smoking his pipe on the porch. The wife liked to get dirt in her hands and nurture her plants with love and tender care. And the husband loved her wife’s cookings. Actually, he loved everything she did. Her song could turn any bleakness into sunshine, her smile warmed up any cold heart. The husband only wished that he could show her how grateful he was for having her. But anytime their anniversary got near, he just couldn’t figure out what he could give her as a token of his love.

Once again, the anniversary was getting near, and it was a special one: they had been married for 50 years!
“I need to give her somet special now,” the husband thought. “Maybe a fine dress, a tasty dinner and a beautiful necklace would do.”
He decided to go to Michel Delving to order all those things. First, the husband went to see the best tailor in town. He ordered a dress made of the finest green silks available, decorated with the loveliest patterns.
“She should look as pretty as the blooming Shire fields in that dress,” he said to the tailor.
Then, he went to see the best cook in Michel Delving.
“Please make me the most perfect pie, one that melts on the tongue and reminds the eater of their childhood days,” he asked the cook.
Finally, he went to the best jeweller of Michel Delving.
“Please make a fine necklace with a jade gemstone, rich in colour like the Shire forests”, he asked the jeweller.
He felt pretty pleased with these gifts himself. But things got in the way…

When the day of the anniversary arrived, the husband went to collect all the presents he had ordered. First, he went to get the dress from the tailor. It was just like he had imagined: a fine, silken dress, decorated with flowery patterns.
“My wife will be happy when she sees this… as well as I, I bet she will look dashing in it!”
He took the dress and continued to the cook. There, he received a pie that made his belly rumble:
A sweet berry pie, made from fresh blueberries, cream and a lot of sugar, of course.
“This will make my wife happy… well, it will make me happy too, I guess,” he said, licking his lips.
Finally, he got to the jeweller. There, he got the most beautiful jade necklace he had seen.
“It glooms bright like my wife's eyes… it is perfect,” he thought.
So, he got all the things he wanted to give his wife and he left for home.

On the way, he spotted some lovely flowers on the field.
“Oh, flowers of course!” he thought and ran to pick up some of them. He left the dress, the pie and the necklace on the edge of the field while he started to gather a colourful bouquet.

But suddenly, he heard loud munching noise… There it was: a hungry goat was eating the lovely green dress!
“You rascal!” the husband shouted and ran towards the goat. The goat got scared ran away, trampling on the berry pie… The lad looked around in horror. Where was the necklace?

He heard screeching from the nearby tree. There it was: a greedy magpie was inspecting its newest loot, looking victorious. The husband was only left with his bouquet.

So, he had to return home, emptyhanded (except for the bouquet). His wife was sitting on a garden bench, watching happily at the sunset.
“I am so sorry, dear wife,” the husband said. “I really wanted to give you something special on our 50th anniversary, but all those gifts I prepared got lost.”
“Oh, what were they?” the wife asked.
The husband told about the fine dress, the tasty pie dinner and the beautiful necklace. The wife listened and smiled happily. “I have already received all those lovely things from you,” she said.
The husband looked baffled. “What do you mean?” he asked.
“I don’t need a silken dress; I need somet that keeps me nice and warm: a hug from you,” she said and hugged her husband.
“And when I need something tasty, all I need is a kiss from you, dear.” And she kissed her husband.
“And what would I do with all those jools, when I have all these wrinkles from smiling? To me, they are more precious than any jools you could give me: they are the true token of happiness. No one will ever take them from me, they will stay with me until my dying day. So thank you dear, for all those things you have given me,” she said.

After that, they celebrated every day like it was an anniversary with hugs, kisses and a lot of smiling, giving them even more wrinkles. We should live our lives like that too.
But a pie or too wouldn't hurt, I am sure!
The End.