Write On! Online – December Challenge Winners

Thanks to everyone who entered the Write On! Online December Challenge – Holiday Traditions! Here are the winners:

1st Place:
Barbara Watkins
(Prize: A medium-length one-reader iScript; the 1st Place story is posted below)

2nd Place:
Adam Bein
(Prize: Save the Cat! Strikes Back by Blake Snyder)

3rd Place:
Shella Udoh
(Prize: The Pocket Screenwriting Guide by Mario Moreno and Anthony Grieco, compliments of The Writers Store)

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THE DECEMBER CHALLENGE: HOLIDAY TRADITIONS!

1st Place Winner – Barbara Watkins, “A Lifetime Gift from a Christmas Past”

Precious memories of a very special Christmas some 40 years ago still remain deeply embedded in my soul. When I close my eyes and reflect on that Christmas Eve so long ago, I’m transported back in time. My sister, brother, and I made a list for Santa early that evening as we sat in the kitchen and enjoyed the sweet aroma of pumpkin pie baking in my mother’s kitchen – yes, baked, not store bought. Later that evening, I sat on the edge of my bed peering out the window, listening, and waiting, for some sign of Santa’s reindeer. I recall watching my mother as she sat sewing by hand one baby outfit after another; you see, my little sister would be entering this world shortly. I didn’t see much of my daddy that night; only glimpses of him coming in and out of the garage – which, by the way, was off-limits to us kids. After being told once again that I had better get to sleep if Santa were to come, I hurried off to bed. Somehow, in my little heart I knew there would never be another Christmas as perfect as this. I awoke that Christmas morning to find Santa had left everything on my wish list under the tree. I received that beautiful red bike with the training wheels … the one that took my daddy hours to put together; the little cookware set that looked just like my mother’s, and a suitcase full of baby doll clothes for my Thumbelina baby doll. The clothes my mother sat sewing for hours were not for my new baby sister, but for my doll. However, this would be the last Christmas we would all celebrate together. My father was killed in an accident at work shortly after my baby sister was born. Since that time, there have been many Christmases full of laughter and joy, but none as memorable as from my youth. My children and grandchildren enjoy the same sweet aroma of pumpkin pie baking the night before, as they write their list to Santa, anxiously awaiting his arrival. I try to instill in my young ones what I learned at a very young age; the greatest gift does not come wrapped beneath a tree, but rather is the time we have together with our loved ones joyously celebrating our lives.

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Thanks again to all who entered. Remember, the deadline for The Write On! Online – January Challenge: Review Yourself is January 31st. Also check Write On! Online on February 1st for information on The February Challenge!