Christmas Short Stories Anthology

Left to rot in the king's jail, and nearly forgotten, Captain Rob and his crew seize an offer to deliver Yuletide cargo to the Town of Dryden by Christmas Eve, in exchange for their release. But to reach their destination in time, earn the king's pardon, and ensure their freedom, they will have to chart a course straight through pirate-infested waters - a fool's errand while sailing under the king's colors.

It's a typical Christmas Eve. All except for the hot weather. And the head.

If Beth can't figure out a way to seduce her love's picky appetite, she fears her relationship is toast-burnt. She cooks up a plan only to have it boil over. What's a terrible cook to do? Can Beth brave a winter storm in search of a Christmas dish to save her relationship - or will the holidays be a distasteful disaster?

In 'Rumpole and the Boy', Rumpole has recently concluded a blackmail case when he finds himself babysitting a small boy. Edmund turns out to have a keen interest in criminal cases and he throws some unexpected light on the case Rumpole has just tried. Bill Wallis reads this special seasonal story starring Horace Rumpole, scourge of all QCs and friend of the criminal classes.

'Rumpole and the Old Familiar Faces' finds the claret-loving barrister spending Christmas in chilly Coldsands, staying with an old school friend of Hilda. When he is introduced to the new owner of the Old Manor House, he is surprised to realize that they've met before in more unsavoury circumstances. And Donald Compton's is by no means the only familiar face Rumpole will encounter during this particular festive period.

In 'Rumpole and the Millennium Bug', the loveable barrister is regretting the advent of the 21st century, and the arrival of a new, computer-literate clerk. But as Christmas approaches, can Bernard 'the Millennium Bug' prove to Rumpole that technology can be useful after all? Bill Wallis reads this special seasonal story starring Horace Rumpole, scourge of all QCs and friend of the criminal classes.

After Joel splashes mud from his utility truck on a pretty woman who works at the mall, he wonders how he can ever make it up to her. Holli Segal can't wait for her first big break to design the Christmas display window for Schroder Toys. But when a circuit breaker blows, she's sunk. Will Joel be able to light up Holli's Christmas in more ways than one

When Cousin Myra comes to visit for Christmas at the Osbornes' she finds her young cousins Frankie and Ida are bored with Christmas. Deciding that they have had too much of it, Cousing Myra suggests that the cousins share Christmas with some of the more unfortunate children in their community. Will Frankie and Ida give up their presents and sweets to make a merry Christmas for thir neighbors?

Test your young detective skills with these fun small-town mysteries. Can you solve the crimes before Carter does? Carter Calamity is just your average 12-year-old kid with a super detective brain. There isn't a case that he can't solve. From stolen Russian artifacts to missing singing snowmen, Carter can solve it all. Carter, together with his friends Naomi and Avi, brings every case to a close. They are the reason that Rosedale feels so safe. Can you join the team? Can you help them out? Pick up Carter Calamity's Mysterious Christmas Capers and keep Christmas safe!

It's Christmas at Camelot and that can only mean one thing...an eerie adventure is about to begin! Grab a cup of mead, sit back and enjoy this famous Christmas short story told like never before.

A Dickens Christmas story about charity, hope, and forgiveness, with a touch of remembrance and loss. This very mature story looks back throughout one's life, promises made, aspirations filled and unfilled, love gained and lost, and many other such touching moments in everyone's life. An American voice was used per listener request.

The Beggar Boy at Christ's Christmas Tree is a Christmas-time short story written by Fyodor Dostoevsky in 1876. It was first published in A Writer's Diary, January 1876. This story is also known as "The Heavenly Christmas Tree". The author begins by telling us he has made this story up, but that even so, he thinks it must have actually happened—on Christmas Eve, in a great town, at a time of terrible frost. The boy of the title, "six years old or younger," awakens in a frigid cellar, reaches for his mother, and finds she is "as cold as the wall." He makes his way outside.

Many writers used Christmas as a backdrop for their stories: among them none other than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This delightful Sherlock Holmes story is one of the first that he authored, appearing in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It is, fittingly, a wild goose chase through London!

Siblings Alexina and Stephen are down on their luck this year and resign themselves to not having a Christmas dinner. But when their wealthy, gourmand uncle James invites himself to their house for Christmas, the pair scramble to lay out a sumptuous feast, including his favorite, Mince pie. But 10 minutes before the turkey is done, an unforeseeable disaster occurs that threatens to ruin everything.

The last man on Earth is depressed and the robots charged with his care are at a loss as to how to shake him out of it. They concoct an elaborate scheme to have Christmas in May. After all, at the end of history, who cares if the dates are a little off? This story was a Hugo Award finalist in 2004.

This short story, "El Espejo de Navidad", is in Spanish. It is about a father, who is having a hard time letting go of his daughter, as she comes to the point, where she no longer believes... in Papa Noel(Santa).

Henry n’est plus le même depuis que sa petite amie Sheridan a quitté la cage. La retrouvera-t-il? Gregory adore les cadeaux; et plus particulièrement en faire aux autres. Oui mais voilà, Gregory va apprendre que rien ne vaut un cadeau qui vient du cœur.

After a blizzard in New York City, a huge snowman appears mysteriously outside of Grand Central Station and everyday seems to grow larger while also appearing at another door. What at first was funny becomes more and more menacing. Elsewhere in Grand Central, a man with an icy soul named Clinton Rudge fumes with anger at the cheerful holidaymakers filling the station. After making an evil wish, he vanishes....

American writer William Dean Howells delights us with his cautiously cynical yet endearing telling of the night before Christmas at the Fountain household. Published in The Daughter of the Storage and Other Things in Prose and Verse in 1916, Howells’ sense of realism and social criticism hides behind the humorous banter between Mr. and Mrs. Fountain, as well as relatives passing by. Raging consumerism, New Year’s resolutions, lovingly marital insults, reflections and memories, and a whole bunch of bathrobes!

While doing some last-minute shopping on Christmas Eve, a man has a magical experience. He watches a child preparing to get on Santa's lap through a shop window and is reminded about a special Christmas memory. When the child gets down, Santa makes eye contact with the man, and they are immediately taken back to a moment they had shared (in his past). So the story unfolds as he stares through a window of time at a glimpse from Christmas past....