Christmas Stash by Jennifer Ricks

Excerpt from Christmas Stash

"But why would Jeremy’s boss do such a thing?” Mom shook her head.

“Oh, it’s simple,” Claire said as she pinned up another section of the garland. “Eat and be eaten, you know,” she gave a significant nod, her eyebrows arched high.

“But will he really be able to find a new position?”

“Don’t worry about that,” Claire responded merrily. Her swollen belly jiggled to and fro as she bustled with some ribbons. “Jeremy will be snatched up in no time.”

“But, dear,” Mom said with concern, “it’s got to be before—”

“Stop worrying, Mom!” Claire laughed. “I’m sure we’ll just have time to get hired—somewhere—and find a new house—someplace—before little Isla joins us.”

Mom’s lips were still a thin line, but she didn’t voice any more doubts.

“Angie!” Claire set down the figurines she was arranging on the mantel and hurried to her sister. “You’ve got it all wrong!”

“What are you talking about?” Angie countered.

“You’re supposed to do the advent counting down, not up.” Claire pulled the tole-painted pieces from Angie’s hand and began rearranging them the other way.

“But this way you just think of the date,” Angie protested.

Claire ignored her. “There,” she said, stepping back and smiling, the advent numbers beautifully arranged counting down. “Now you can turn them to today.” Claire waddled back to the box of decorations to select her next prey.

“Christmas Nazi,” Angie muttered as she walked out of the living room toward the kitchen.

The 244th Ornament by Jennifer Ricks

Excerpt from The Two Hundred Forty-fourth Ornament

Two hundred and forty-three glass ornaments of all colors and sizes adorned Kayley’s Christmas tree. Some were shiny Christmas red and gold. Some were frosted with sparkling paint. A few were clear with dainty pictures or patterns inside. Rich plums, crisp ice blues, even a few warm orange and yellow ones—all glowing and blinking like a Christmas miracle.

It was an obsession. Kayley knew that well enough. Hadn’t her mother complained about it for years? Even in high school, Kayley couldn’t resist picking up a box of shimmering orbs from the clearance aisle of the department store.

Kayley couldn’t quite put her finger on why she loved glass Christmas ornaments so much. She loved their variety in color and luminance. She loved the sparkle. She loved that she never could choose a favorite piece from her collection. Maybe some people felt that way about flowers in their garden or books they’d read. But Kayley’s heart belonged to her collection of Christmas decorations.

Now she owned two hundred and forty-three beautiful Christmas ornaments. She also had her own townhouse and her own Christmas tree , so Mom couldn’t complain about the ornament collection anymore, or the boxes that stored them for the other eleven months of the year. Likewise, Kayley didn’t need to complain about all the frumpy, homemade ornaments on her parents’ artificial tree. She had her own holiday space to decorate with her own taste, and that’s just what she wanted. Kayley sat back on her heels to see the effect of her last sprig of tinsel and took in a deep breath of fresh pine. Perfection.

Christmas was Kayley’s favorite time of year. It meant a two-week vacation from teaching. It meant crunchy snow and melted marshmallows in warm cups of rich cocoa. It meant a tangible excitement in her second-grade classroom that drove her crazy and giddy all at the same time. It meant talking of Santa Claus and wearing red and listening to old-time holiday favorites on the radio. It meant a big enough holiday—a whole season in fact—that it filled up her time and she didn’t have to worry about anything else in her life. Or anything that her life lacked.

The Monday of the last week of school, Kayley had started easing into what she liked to call “Holiday Week.” The kids were too excited for vacation to focus for the last five days, and Kayley was an experienced teacher who knew when to give up. For the past three years, she had observed Holiday Week in her classroom. She scoured all her materials and the Internet to find enough “review” activities to cover most of the week—review activities with a Christmas theme. Worksheets with trees and holly and snowmen, history excerpts of events that happened in December (thank you, George Washington), and even science demonstrations about the water cycle and snow. The spelling list for the week consisted of evergreen, sleigh, reindeer, tinsel, carol, pumpkin, and (just to be more culturally diverse) dreidel. Ironically, Kayley never did any Holiday Week activities about Christmas ornaments. Her exquisite collection was something she kept at home and to herself.

The week had gone as Kayley had planned—borderline mayhem the entire time. No one wanted to stay in their seats. Everyone wanted to compare Christmas lists. Crude versions of the most popular Christmas songs spread around the school to be snickered at in corners. And someone was told that Santa Claus wasn’t real.

Meet Jennifer Ricks

Jennifer Ricks is the author of two stories in the anthology: Christmas Stash and The Two Hundred Forty-fourth Ornament.

LDSP: Hi, Jennifer. Welcome to your obligatory interview here at the Checkin' It Twice site. Just so you know, I tried to bribe your husband Brian to give up some of your most embarrassing secrets but he was true and faithful to you. Wouldn't tell me a thing. So you'll have to give me the lowdown. Got any fascinating facts about your roots?

Jennifer: I grew up in Clayton, California, a paradoxical small residential city crammed in the east end of the plethora of San Francisco suburbs. Clayton now has fame as the inspiration for the setting of Brandon Mull’s Candy Shop Wars (I actually attended Mt. Diablo Elementary School, just like Mull and his characters), and the Mount Diablo in Rick Riordan’s The Lost Hero is a mile away from my childhood home.

LDSP: Wow! That's almost as cool as saying you grew up in Forks, Washington! Do any cool stuff now that you're an adult?

Jennifer: I am in the thick of raising two young children (my son is almost three and my daughter is almost one). My biggest dream had always been to be a novelist, but since my son was born my most important goal became being a good mom. But writing is still a close second. I am going to finish writing my novels someday, but at the moment I am sure that completing the potty training badge for my motherhood course is more important.

LDSP: Been there, done that. And I totally agree with you. Do you have any time for hobbies while potty training the kidlets?

Jennifer: My husband and I love reading books aloud, but some of the classics that we have wanted to read haven’t been in print. Also, when reading aloud, any bad language is a lot more awkward and more difficult to pass over, so we have started designing and editing our own editions of public domain books. Our first project, The Red House Mystery by A.A. Milne, was a wonderful success (and is available for sale), and we have many more plans for other books, when the children give us time to work on them! You can check out The Red House Mystery and other titles (as we finish them) at familyclassicseditions.blogspot.com.

LDSP: What a wonderful project! I'll have to check it out. As busy as you are, why did you decide to enter the LDS Publisher story contest?

Jennifer: The Two Hundred Forty-Fourth Ornament was inspired by two of my best friends who were first-year teachers when I wrote it. Teachers as unsung heroes was on my mind, so Kayley’s story emerged from that. As for the inspiration of my other story, Christmas Stash, I am the third of eight children in my family. All throughout my growing-up years, my mom would tell us over and over again that although we squabbled daily, our siblings were destined to become our best friends as adults. We always rolled our eyes at this. But as with everything else, of course Mom was right. My siblings really are my best friends, especially the ones I used to argue with the most. Developing these adult friendships has been, and continues to be, a learning process, and Angie’s experience with it in Christmas Stash reflects some of my own feelings about this part of growing up (which I am still working on!).

LDSP: Do you have any other published stories or books?

Jennifer: I have a story in  Sing We Now of Christmas: An Advent Anthology, another Christmas story anthology released this year (http://adventanthology.wordpress.com/). My work has also been published in all four magazines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (you can search for my name at lds.org/magazine).

LDSP: Several of our authors also have stories in Sing We Now of Christmas. That's wonderful. As a mother of small children, you must dread the moment the discover the truth about Santa. How did you discover it?

Jennifer: What do you mean? I still believe! ☺

LDSP: Oops! Never mimd. What is your favorite Santa memory from your childhood?

Jennifer: On Christmas Eve my sisters and I would try to stay awake to “catch” Santa Claus. The tradition also turned into a competition of sneaking into the family room to open our stockings before our brothers. When we were really little, we were sure that our parents put sleeping pills in our dinners because we could never stay awake until Santa came! When my older sister got too old to believe in Santa Claus, she would fall asleep during her “shift” of keeping awake on purpose so we wouldn’t find out the truth. She also told some wonderful lies about finding a lost leather glove on the fireplace one year and hearing sleigh bells. She loved knowing something that the rest of us didn’t, and memories of all these Santa exploits still make me laugh.

LDSP: What was the best book you’ve read this year?

Jennifer: This year I discovered Robin McKinley (I had never heard of her books before—was I living in a cave, or what?). My favorites are Pegasus (I’m going to die of anxiety until she finishes the trilogy!), Chalice (amazing!), The Blue Sword, Rose Daughter, and Beauty.

LDSP: I've read several of her books, but not all of the ones you've mentioned. What new books are you looking forward to reading?

Jennifer: I’m really excited about Princess of the Silver Woods by Jessica Day George (I love all her books!), Son by Lois Lowry (the fourth book in The Giver series—wow!), The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan (I’ve heard that I’ll be just as anxious for the next one, too), and I just finished Palace of Stone by Shannon Hale (wonderful!).

LDSP: Those sound great. And I'm reading Palace of Stone right now. So far, I like it. So what do you—

Baby: Waaaahhhh!

LDSP: Uh-oh! I guess I better let you go. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful Christmas!