A touching, remarkable Christmas story Written by:

Ignacio, Guillermo ,Vicky, Maríaand Carmen. ( Upper-intermediate,morning group)

”It was three o’clock in the morning when the phone rang”.

That night he arrived home. It was really a very cold night and he was extremely tired. Christopher had been working very hard the whole day and he hoped to sleep some hours before waking up early to go to the airport and take a flight to Madrid. He took a nice warm shower and went straight to bed; just then the clock in the living room struck ten p.m.. ‘Surely I’ll fall asleep immediately’ he said to himself while he set the alarm-clock at three in the morning. ‘The flight is taking off at seven so if I get up at three, I can prepare the conclusions for the trial’, he thought.

Christopher was worried about his most important witness because he was a child and he did not know how the jury was going to react.

He wanted the boy to talk about what had happened with the goal of prosecuting the Capo. The boy was the son of a servant who had worked for the alleged capo many years. Fortunately when the phone rang, it was the same time he had set the alarm clock, so he could rest the hours he had foreseen. First thing he thought was that the phone call was surely related with the boy. He was obsessed with him. Christmas was just around the corner and Christopher knew that his mother wanted to spend these days with the child ....

She was a hard-working woman but these days she was depressed because she had lost her job. Christopher tried to help her not only the son, also met with her .Actually he loved her.

Suddenly somebody was at the door, shouting his name. Christopher opened the door ,and to his surprise Father Christmas was standing there . Four reindeers were waiting for them :

- Come on, some people need you

They got on the sledge and flew over the attic.

Some sandwiches and coffee on the table and a beautiful card:” I wish mum and

Christopher are with me on Christmas Eve”

At the top of an enormous tower a beautiful Christmas tree..........

By Jesús.Hermelinda, Begoña. Yvonne y Amalia ( Upper-intermediate,morning group)

It was three o’clock in the morning when the phone rang. I had gone to bed just only two hours before, so I woke up with two different feelings, angry and worried. It was not common to receive any call at those hours, so I was sure that it should not be good news. Quite worried, drowsy and scared I picked up the phone . To my great surprise it was someone who dialed the wrong number. The person apologized and I went back to bed. It was only 1 week for Christmas and I got lost in thoughts. Unfortunately I could not fall asleep anymore and finally I got up. Abruptly I saw a shadow behind the window but I didn’t think of anything bad.I got out of my bed again when suddenly someone struck the window of my bedroom. He was my neighbor, who was coming to bring a package that the postman had left

him in the morning since I was not at home. I took the package and closed the door. I asked myself: Why did he give it to me at these hours? I didn’t understand and I stayed staring at that package wondering what it could be.Before opening the package I decided to have a cup of tea and tried to relax , but when I was opening the box a nasty smell made me feel extremely sick. It was terrifying! Inside the box was a cut finger. There was a ring and the worst was that I recognized that jewel, it belonged to my grandmother. She had given it to me as a Christmas present one year before she died and I kept it as a treasure, because that Christmas was her last one. Then I understood they were trying to send me a terrible message. Obviously, they had caught Marcus, and they already knew we were near to discover the truth. The wrong call, my neighbour, …..perhaps they were other pieces of the puzzle, and I had only one week left to complete it. It depended on me these were not the last Christmas for Marcus and for me, too. The next morning I went to see my neighbour. I wanted to know who had given him the package and what that person looked like. He told me: Madeleine, the postman gave me the package because you weren’t at home. I don’t know any more.I only know that the postman was a tall man and I didn’t see any special thing. I didn’t remain very convinced so I decided to talk to Marcus. Why had someone given me the jewel of my grandmother? And the worse thing of all was whose

finger it was.My God! I exclaimed jumping in the bed completely sweaty. It had been a frighten dream. But the phone was still ringing. I picked it up and asked:’Who is it?’. ‘Sorry, did I wake you up?, I’m concerned about it’, Marcus whispered with a scared voice,’ but last night I went to bed after eating a harmful dinner and I dreamt that someone had cut off my ring finger and it had been sent to you through mail, and what’s more...I can’t find our mother’s ring.If you believe it was a dream, I guess I have to disappoint you, Marcus. A dream which became reality. Disastrous circumstances have happened in the last 24 hours here and I am absolutely petrified. In fact, I received a packet with an amputated finger with grandmom’s ring on it.

At this moment Madeleine’s sister,Mary, came into the house without ringing at the front door and she had been listening to all the conversation of their siblings and at the same time she presumed that a strange conversation was going on.Marcus wasn’t aware that Madeleine had been suffering amnesia since she had the accident a few months ago.Finally the awaited day came, Christmas. Madeleine was going with Marcus to a Christmas party at Mary’s best friend. Madeleine would meet her sister at her friend’s house.While she was dressing up, she thought about the nightmare that she had had the last night. She finished combing and she knocked on the door of Marcus´ bedroom.When they arrived at the party, Mary

was waiting for them in the garden. Mary gave a kiss to Marcus and embraced her sister strongly. Madeleine realised that her sister had something in her right hand. Oh my God, she said to herself.That´s the ring!

Written by :Eva, Cynthia, Nayra and Tony. (Upper-intermediate,

Morning group )

It was three o’clock in the morning when the telephone rang.I woke up scared, it was the cold night of December the 20th and we were all asleep. I answered the phone slowly and I could hear a distant voice that at first did not recognize and I thought who could call so late . Finally I could recognize the voice, it was our brother Luis, who was stuck at New York airport in the middle of a snow storm. We expected him to come to Las Palmas in the morning to spend Christmas at home with the family....But it seemed that we wouldn’t be able to meet all together this

year because of the strong blizzard which, according with the weather forecast, was the most aggressive snow storm in the history of New York. For this reason, John Fitzgerald Kennedy airport was completely collapsed and no plane could take off or land on it. Only a Christmas’ miracle would bring Luis back home...During two days the family was seized by uncertainty. The blizzard was increasing and even the cell phones didn’t work, so we hadn’t heard anything from him.It was December 22nd in the morning and we were watching the Christmas Lottery on television. I was wondering where Luis would be in that moment when suddenly, I heard a number, and something familiar came to my mind. It was my lottery number! The first Christmas miracle had succeeded... I couldn't believe I had won the Christmas Lottery! So I started to phone the whole family. At first, everyone thought it was a joke, but then they realized it was true. Everybody was completely excited, but then I thought of Luis again... Thus I tried to phone him straight away. Despite the

problems with the phone line, I could talk to him for a few seconds. He told me he was in Argentina, because the blizzard had stopped a bit and luckily he could catch the first flight to Buenos Aires, (at least, it was hot there). Then he had to hang up. But suddenly, I had a great idea...With the money we had won, I bought plane tickets to Buenos Aires for the whole family, in order to spend Christmas with Luis, regardless of the cost.Chance or Miracle? I don’t know, but... Merry Christmas!

Written by: Carmen, María F., Cathaysa, Dalila and Yolanda.

(Upper-intermediate,morning group)

It was three o’clock in the morning when the phone rang. It was a strange night, there seemed to be a chill in the air.I picked up the cordless phone and I heard my uncle saying something I didn’t expected to hear from him. But incredibly, he invited me to celebrate the Christmas holidays in his colossal castle. I was amazed. I had been once there, but I didn´t remember it very well.

The castle was on the outskirts of the city, in a very lonely area surrounded by high trees, where at night you could only hear the howling of the wolves in the fog during the night. It seemed too frightening! I hesitated to go there, it might be dangerous, because behind the hidden castle

strange things had happened...aauuuuuu !!!! My family had told me a lot of stories of that castle since I was a child, and I didn’t know what to do.

Reluctantly, I decided to go. It didn’t seem suitable to refuse the invitation. So, I set off with slight luggage. The journey was quieter than I thought. When I arrived at the castle it had changed completely. It wasn’t like I remembered. The castle was gloomier than the landscape that

surrounded it; it was completely dark and the whistle of the wind simulated voices which whispered my name… Or were they really?

At first I played it down; however, I heard this sound was gradually nearer my ears and I felt that someone was near me, so I tiptoed through the main entrance; then I opened carefully the squeaky door and I could sense that something was out of place.. so I started to go upstairs to know where my uncle was, looking for him in every room and calling him. Five minutes later I saw a man running downstairs with a big red sack. I shouted to him . Although I was a little scared, I decided to run after him. I followed him into a

room. Afterwards, I turned on the light and I saw all my family surrounding the Christmas tree. They had just begun singing a beautiful Christmas carol. At first I just smiled. Then I looked at my family with my eyes wide open and I burst out laughing. A few minutes later, I was crying with laughter and I couldn’t stop. Suddenly, appeared my uncle dressed up as Santa Claus and asked me what I was laughing about but I shook my head, and I couldn’t say anything.

I was really astonished!!! I looked at my uncle in surprise and my family roared with laughter at the same time!! I hope that something as amazing as this will ever happen again!!!