Christmas Mission Possible (Penny Rader)


Happy holidays!  Your mission, should you choose to accept it (and I hope you will!), is to use as many of the following words as you want in a Christmas piece. No pressure to use all the words.  It can be a poem, a haiku, a short story, a scene, a paragraph, or a sentence. And feel free to use a portion of the word, if need be.

Ready?  Let's play!

Angel
Believe
Christmas
Dolls
Eve
Festive
Gingerbread
Holly
Ivy
Joy
Kiss
Love
Mistletoe
Noel
Ornament
Presents
Quirky
Ribbon
Scrooge
Tree
Unwrap
Vixen
Wishes
Xylophone
Yule
Zest

And if you need some visual inspiration, maybe these will help:

by mararie, creative commons license  


by koko love, creative commons license


by HumanSeeHumanDo, creative commons license


by rika Oyen, creative commons license


I can't wait to read your offerings!

May your Christmas be blessed, happy, and merry.

4 comments:

Penny Rader said...

Since everyone's being shy, I'll go first. I used all 26 words , though not all in one sentence as I usually do in our Mission Possible challenges. Please don't laugh.

Noel awoke Christmas Eve to grumbling and burning gingerbread. She tossed on her quirky robe, a present from her nieces two yuletides ago, which sported holly, ivy, mistletoe, and xylophones, angels, and dolls. One quick pause to tie her hair back with her favorite ribbon, then Noel skipped toward the stairs. A few “festive” words rose to greet her.

Her joyful, yuletide grin widening, she snuck up and planted a light kiss on her love’s whiskery cheek. His zesty scent made her toes curl, as always. “Good morning, Scrooge. I do believe you are trying to burn down the house.”

“’Morning to you, too, Vixen.” Nick gathered her close with a warm squeeze. “Just trying to fulfill that secret wish of yours to have home-baked ornaments adorning that pitiful excuse you rescued from the wood chipper.”

She squealed in delight. “Then it’s my turn. Come upstairs and unwrap your gift.”

“You have a gift for me that isn’t under the tree?”

She nodded. “Me.”

Barbara Bettis said...

That's a fantastic story, Penny. !! Barb Bettis

Penny Rader said...

Thanks, Barb!

Mission Possible is something Reese Mobley started for WARA several years ago, after 9/11, to help us use our creativity muscles. Though we don't usually have 26 words to incorporate. More like 6 - 10, and maybe a sentence to work in. I may have gone a bit overboard this time. :D

My piece this morning was not polished up all nice and shiny. Just tried to get some words on the page.

Penny Rader said...

Mandy crept downstairs, clutching her dolls Ivy, Holly, and Noel. She took extra care to avoid the squeaky step. Christmas Eve was nearly over and she really wanted to see if Santa had gotten caught in the trap she had set. She didn’t want to hurt Santa, but she needed proof. Her brother Bobby had made fun of her for believing in Santa. Mommy had kissed her forehead and assured her Bobby was just being a Scrooge and reminded her Christmas was all about joy and love, wishes and hope. And that it was better to give than to receive. Though Mandy did like the receiving part.

She giggled in anticipation. The tree was just around the corner. It had a quirky angel on the tippy top and zesty gingerbread ornaments made from cookies Mommy had baked. Mandy had woven festive ribbon through the holes, then placed them carefully on the branches. But now she was more focused on whether Santa had come. The glow from the fireplace had faded and was nearly gone. Mandy figured the yule log, whatever that meant, had special powers and knew when to shut off to keep everyone safe while sleeping. But there was still just enough light to see piles of presents, waiting to be unwrapped.

And to see Santa quietly pinging the xylophone she’d set up next to the fireplace as he finished untangling himself from the net she’d made of mistletoe green yarn. His eyes twinkled. “Vixen,” he murmured with a grin, then –poof—he was gone.