Lionels Christmas Adventure

Lionel Learns the True Meaning Of Christmas

By Paul R. Hewlett

The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real ersons! livin" or dead! is coincidental and not intended by the author. Co yri"ht # $%&$ Paul R. Hewlett All ri"hts reserved This book or any ortion thereof may not be co ied! sold! or re roduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the e' ress written ermission of the author! e'ce t for the use of brief (uotations in a book review )*B+,&$- ./0,&10%$2.304

Isnt this awesome!?! said Skip. Yup, sure is, agreed Lionel, a huge grin on his face. he !o"s had #ust made their wa" !ack up the hill after sledding down it for the umpteenth time. he snow was still falling, hea$" and wet. Lionel had "et to make it down the hill without falling off of his sled, !ut he didnt care. %e had trou!le holding on to his metal saucer. %e couldn&t steer it, and the handles were real small on the edges. hat was one reason he wanted a ur!o '(((. %is mom and )eene"* who was too la+" to sled*were nowhere in sight though, and Lionel was ha$ing a !last. %e had forgotten a!out them altogether as he prepared to sled down the hill again. ,e careful not to !reak "our neck, Snodgrass! he heard. Id rather "ou did that than !reak m" science pro#ect again, though. Sta" far awa" from me! %-, %-, %-! here stood ad .inters. %is !udd" .ill" and a group of !o"s !ehind him chuckled at ads comment. Lionel felt his face !urning, e$en in the cold. %e pushed his glasses !ack up off of his nose and got read" to launch himself down the hill, tr"ing to ignore ad. Its oka", Lionel. /ust ignore him, said Skip. 01cept that it wasnt oka", and he couldnt ignore him. %e pushed off down the hill with all his might. %e hadnt gone thirt" feet when he lost his grip on the sled and flew head o$er heels, somersaulting down the slope. .hen he finall" came to a stop, his glasses were cocke"ed on his face and he was co$ered in snow. %e heard laughter from the top of the hill and looked up. ad sat down on his saucer sled. %e !arel" fit on it, as !ig as he was. ad then started to push off down the hill. Lionel reached into his pocket without thinking and s2uee+ed his .al!aun foot. I wish Tad wasnt here! here was a !right flash. he ne1t thing an"one knew, ads sled was shooting downhill as fast as a speeding train. %e hit the snow ramp, launched in the air o$er a half3!uried fence, and landed in a cow pasture. %e rocked this wa" and that, tr"ing to a$oid running straight into a cow. %is screams could !e heard from the top of the hill. Still, his

sled would not stop. It soon $anished from sight. .ill" and his !uddies #ust stood there with their mouths hanging open, looking at each other, and wondering what to do. he" finall" snapped out of it and ads whole crew ran off down the hill after him. Lionel knew he had to !e more careful. .hen he used the .al!aun foot without thinking, it made his wish come true in its own strange wa", !ut that was $er" risk". It was !est to !e careful what he wished for, !ecause he ne$er knew what might happen. -nd now he had to follow !ehind to make sure ad was oka". -s much as he disliked ad, he felt !ad and wanted to make sure that ad was all right, e$en if it meant ruining the rest of his afternoon. It was*after all*his fault this had happened. I should never have used that darn Walbaun foot! It never gets anything right! -fter rounding up Skip, he started off after ad. hirt" minutes and a little more than half a mile later, .ill" and the crew finall" found ad still on his sled, clutching it as tightl" as he could. %is mouth was wide open in a silent scream, and his e"es were wide in terror. Lionel peaked around the side of the tree he was hiding !ehind. %e&s fine, !udd", he whispered to Skip, who was standing !ehind him. hank goodness. I thought for a minute he might reall" get hurt when he #umped that fence, said Skip. 4h oh! said Lionel, his $oice rising, no longer worried a!out !eing 2uiet. 5&mon, Skip! Let&s get outta here! Lionel turned and gra!!ed Skip !" the #acket and dragged him awa" from their hiding spot. .haaa* Skip started, !ut ne$er finished as he saw ad, .ill", and the rest of their friends running their direction. Lionel and Skip took off in the other direction as fast as the" could run to get awa" from them.