The Girl Who Missed Christmass

Hello, this is Natasha and Prince Bertie, the Frog asked me to tell you a story about a girl who missed something very important, very important, because she was asleep. Have you ever slept right through something terrible and missed it, like your favorite television program or your birthday or even Christmas. This is the story of a girl who did just that, she missed Christmas, but do not worry, Bertie says, maybe just, maybe the story ends all happily, but then maybe it’s not, just need to listen and find out.

There used to be a little girl named Natalie. Natalie was six. She lived in a nice house, on a nice street. She had a little brother named Joe and a dog named Marmalade. And most of the time Natalie was happy. She played with her friends. She was playing with her dog. Sometimes she even played with Joe – when he did not annoy. But Natalie did not like it. Get up.

Every morning her father came to her room and said: “Come on, Natalie, it’s time to get up.”

And Natalie said: “One more minute.” ”  Now, now, you will be late for school,” said Papa.

“Just one tiny minute,” Natalie would say. “Pleeeeeeease … ..”

“Now, Natalie.”

“It’s so warm in bed,” Natalie moaned.

And it lasted every morning. Dad shouted at Natalie to get up. Mom screamed at her. And Marmalade, the dog barks. And Joe was already up. And then my mother screamed at her again. And the dog will bark even louder. But Natalie just pulled the lid behind her ears. Because Natalie really, really, really hated to get out of bed in the morning.

“You know, Natalie, one day you will miss something really important, because you stay in bed too long,” said Papa.

As it happened, something very important must happen. The nights grew longer and the leaves fell from the trees, and soon Natalie was very worried because she was approaching Christmas.

And she had so many different things about which she asked.

She wanted a new game for her DS. And the doll in which real tears were crying. And a new DVD.And many, many, many things. Of course, she had to rehearse for the school game – except that she almost missed her, because she was asleep.

And she had to go look at Santa in the grotto, but she hardly noticed it, because she did not want to get out of bed.

“I just do not know what to do with this whole dream,” Mom said. But Natalie did not care.

If I want to stay in bed, why should not I? she decided to herself.

So, finally, on the eve of Christmas. And Natalie was so excited that she was lucky enough to fall asleep. She wanted to stay and see if she could really see Santa. She struggled to stay awake as much as she could.

But in the end she went to bed. And she was asleep. And she was asleep. And she was asleep.

At one point she heard Dad coming into the room to wake her – but she just rolled over, put the pillow over her head, and went back to sleep again.Finally she decided she had been so long in bed that it was starting to get boring.She pulled away the pillow and looked towards the window.It was morning.“Wow, it’s Christmas day,” said Natalie. “I’m so excited.”

She looked towards the end of her bed.But where was the stocking? she wondered.Where had Santa left all his toys?Natalie jumped out of bed, and ran downstairs.She was quite out of breath – because she’d never jumped out of bed before.“Mum, Dad, its Christmas,” she shouted.She glanced around the room.Joe was playing with a new toy car.Mum was folding away some used wrapping paper.Dad was reading a boring looking book with no pictures — in fact, the sort of book Mum gave him every year.And Marmalade the dog was eating something that looked suspiciously like turkey leftovers.“Mum, Dad, it’s Christmas,” shouted Natalie, even louder this time.There was a silence.Everyone looked at her-everything except Marmalade, who was busy eating turkey.

“It’s Christmas…isn’t it?” said Natalie, more quietly now.“You mean, it was Christmas,” said Dad.“You slept right through,” said Mum.“We tried to wake you,” said Dad.“But, but, but….” said Natalie.“I told you you’d miss something important one day,” said Dad.“It was really good,” said Joe. “We had loads of food, and loads of presents.”  “And I missed it,” wailed Natalie.And she started to cry.And cry.And cry.

“Sorry,” said Dad. “It also means you didn’t get any presents from Santa. But don’t worry, there will be another Christmas next year.” “It’s not faaaaair,” wailed Natalie.“But I always told you you’d miss something important if you didn’t get out of bed in time,” said Dad. “Now, help me clear away all this wrapping paper….”

But Natalie just walked out of the house.She walked through the garden.And across the park.When she got there, she cried and cried.She was so upset about missing Christmas.And she didn’t know how she could wait for a whole year.

Now, it so happened that it was still very early in the morning.And the sun was only just coming up, so it was still quite dark.And at that very moment, Santa was just trudging his way across the sky in his sleigh on his way back to Lapland.

He was very tired.And so were the reindeer, because they’d been all around the world delivering presents to all the children.But, even though he was tired, he couldn’t help noticing one little girl sitting on a park bench all by herself.

And crying and crying.“Whoa there Rudolf,” said Santa. “I wonder what’s wrong with that girl.”“Maybe she didn’t like her presents,” said Rudolf, who was hungry and tired, and wanted to get back to his grotto to get some food. “Kids today! No gratitude….” “We better see,” said Santa.And so he pulled the sleigh down into the park.“What’s the matter?” asked Santa.But Natalie was so upset, she just kept crying, and her eyes were so full of water she couldn’t see anything.

“Huh, she’s probably upset because she only got one , ten Polly Pockets, and a dozen Barbie dolls,” said Rudolph. 

“Kids today! When I started this job they were happy with a small piece of wood and an orange. The stuff you have to carry noawadays. It’s hardly surprising my back hurts.”“Didn’t you like your presents?” said Santa.

Natalie rubbed her eyes, and then looked up.And she gasped.Santa was sitting right next to her.“Oh-my-gosh,” she said. “Is it….you?” “Shhhhh,” said Santa. “You see I’m not really supposed to show myself to children.” “We’ll be in trouble for this,” moaned Rudolph. “I told you we should have gone straight home.”But Natalie gave Santa a hug.“You see Santa, I slept right through Christmas….and now I’ve missed it.”“Oh dear, oh dear,” said Santa.Then he looked towards the house.“We’ve still got a few things left in the sack,” he said. “So go inside, and check the fireplace in your bedroom in a few minutes.” “But, but….” “Just go,” said Santa.So Natalie stated to walk home.And Santa returned to his sled. “We do not do other shipping, we,” said Rudolph. “Because, this is overtime, that’s what it is … I need extra carrots for this.” “Oh, come on, you lazy beast,” said Santa.

And then Natalia returned to the house. She could not believe her eyes. On hi-fi played bells. Everyone was dressed in hats. And her mother overheated some turkey and cooked fresh potato-roast. “We thought that we would start Christmas,” said Dad. “Only for you”. And Natalie jumped up, and then ran upstairs. Because in the fireplace in her bedroom there was a stocking bursting with presents – there was a doll with real tears, a princess on a white pony, a game for her, and finally, after she opened all the other gifts from Santa, there was one special from Dad – Alarm clock!

So until the end of the day, Natalie had a better Christmas.

Do you know what? In a couple of weeks it was the first day of a new term. Dad entered the bedroom. “Wake up, Natalie. It’s time to go back to school, “he said. He looked around. “Natalie,” he said, worried. “Natalie …” But he could not see her anywhere. Then he heard a voice below. So he rushed to the kitchen. And Natalie got out of bed, put on a school uniform and scratched her hair and cooked breakfast for everyone.

“I will not be late for anything, Dad,” she said.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4tEOpXepNHYQXpObWw2anZuRWM/view