#i hope they bring me home a baby penguin or something. maybe a lion.

[satans-knitwear]

pov. we are on safari, we spot a rare wild creature, it has no fear of humans and allows us to feed it. it immediately harvests our souls.

[littlereyofsunlight]

When the Holiday Spirit’s True

My Steggy Secret Santa gift for @lavellenchanted for the @steggyfanevents exchange. Happy happy and merry merry—I hope you enjoy the story AND have a wonderful 2019!

**

And these are the gifts we keep And this is the morning that we breathe And then we see These moments are the only gifts we need — In the Morning, Jack Johnson

**

“A penguin costume?” Peggy frowned down at the note Lillian handed her. “Whatever for?”

“Christmas pageant, Mummy!” Lillian replied, turning back to her after school snack.

“I’m quite certain there were no penguins present for the birth of Jesus, darling.” Peggy chewed on the inside of her bottom lip, thinking. “Still, your father should be able to sort you out something suitable.”

Later that evening, as Peggy worked through her backlog of emails from the Thanksgiving break, she overheard their precocious daughter in conversation with Steve.

“I’m gonna be a penguin, Dad.”

“Is that so?” Steve’s reply seemed a little distant. There was a splash and a gurgle in the background. Bathtime for Hal, then. “Why do you want to be a penguin?”

A beat. Peggy could imagine the look on Lily’s face as she thought through her response; their daughter was a little copy of Steve. “Well actually, the roles were assigned by Ms. Beckman and Mr. Lewis.” Another pause. “And penguin is better than a reindeer’s bottom.”

Splash. “Oh, sorry, buddy.” Steve apologized as the baby gave a shocked cry at the water Steve had no doubt surprised him with. “Lily, could you start again? Why did your teachers assign you the role of penguin?”

Lily’s long-suffering sigh was a scarily accurate copy of Peggy’s. “For the Christmas pageant, Daddy,” she explained, patience wearing thin, judging by her tone of voice.

“Christmas pageant?” Steve repeated, his own voice sharpening in that way Peggy knew foretold an oncoming rant.

“Yes, Dad, the Christmas pageant. There are reindeer and penguins and elves and we sing Silent Night and Jingle Bells and Come Y’All Faith-fool—”

“Come All Ye Faithful?”

“—and at the end Mr. Lewis comes out dressed like Santa.”

“Do you sing any other songs?”

“The big kids are singing.”

“What are they singing?”

“I don’t know, big kids songs.”

“Are they all about Christmas?”

“Yep.”

“Nothing about other holidays? Maybe Hanukkah?”

“What’s that?”

Steve, it turned out, was getting pretty good at that patented sigh as well. Peggy tuned him out as he explained the holiday to Lillian while finishing Hal’s bath. These emails weren’t going to reply to themselves, and she would need to nurse Hal soon.

Much later, after Lillian’s bedtime routine and another round of quieting fussy baby Hal back to sleep, Peggy’s eyelids were closed before she’d even crawled fully under the covers.

Steve cleared his throat as he tossed his balled-up socks into the hamper.

“If you put them through the wash and dryer that way, you’ll end up with damp sock balls in the fresh laundry.” She still hadn’t opened her eyes.

Peggy heard Steve move over to the hamper and pick out his socks. “Did you know about this?”

“I’ve been dealing with your socks for seven years, yes.”

That sigh again, as he sat heavily on his side of the bed. The mattress dipped and heaved, signs that Steve was arranging a mountain of pillows to sit up against. They were going to have a chat before she could sleep, it seemed. “Did you know about the Christmas pageant at Lily’s school?”

Peggy rolled over and looked at him, his handsome face so grave despite the subject matter. “She handed me a note about needing a penguin costume this afternoon.”

“And you’re okay with this?”

She blinked. What there was to not be okay with, she wasn’t sure.

He went on. “I know for a fact that several of Lily’s classmates practice faiths that don’t celebrate Christmas. This sounds exclusionary. All the songs they’re singing are Christmas songs. Some of them are hymns!”

“I’m not following, darling. Christmas seems like the dominant holiday this time of year.” Steve had been off on a mission just before Halloween, and by the time Peggy had realized she needed to get Lily a costume, half the stores had already switched to Christmas gear. Lilian had stoutly refused to go as one of Santa’s elves, resulting in a rather madcap dash across several neighborhood Duane Reades in search of the desired princess dress. Initially she’d wanted to go as Black Widow, but Peggy drew a line at catsuits on six year-olds.

“We send our child to a public school.”

“...I’m aware.” If he kept her up much later, Peggy would need to dig up some of those luxe under-eye masks Pepper had gifted her just to feel presentable in the morning.

Steve’s voice reached new levels of incredulous. “Separation of church and state?!”

Oh. “How very American,” she replied, a bit frosty.

*

But Steve was like a dog with a bone. Now that he had an inkling of how Christmas had taken over the entire month of December, he kept uncovering new traditions to be upset over.

One night he bolted up from his laptop, eyes wide. “This is madness!”

Peggy was nursing Hal (Peggy was always nursing Hal.) “Hmm?” She glanced up from the tablet perched precariously on her knee so she could skim a mission report.

“Did Lily tell you about the Elf on a Shelf?” Steve was using his Captain America voice already, and whenever he put that voice on at home, Peggy almost wished for another ten repeats of Baby Shark with their daughter belting along off-key.

“No, darling,” she said, deftly juggling baby and technology so Hal was at her other breast. “Is it a new television program?”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “I thought we agreed we’d limit her screen time.”

“So we did. What’s this Elf business, then?” Peggy tried to smile but then the baby made use of the tooth that had broken through just the other day.

Steve ignored her gasp of pain, building up a head of steam. “It seems most of her classmates wake up each morning to find this doll in a different spot, getting into some kind of trouble, as a reminder from Santa to be good.”

Peggy frowned. “That doesn’t sound right.” Hal was dozing off, so she motioned for Steve to swap with her. Her heart swelled briefly as she watched him cradle their son in his big hands. His spoiling-for-a-fight face softened as he looked down into Hal’s milk-drunk eyes, a shade lighter than Peggy’s, cinnamon rather than chocolate.

She took the proffered laptop and scanned the site Steve had been reading. “These are so elaborate!” She looked back at Steve. “Who has time to do all this?”

Steve tore his gaze from Hal’s face. “Peggy, this is just priming children to accept living in a surveillance state!”

Peggy shook her head, scrolling through the list of ideas, with photos illustrating the scenarios. “Those are teeny-tiny flapjacks. I can barely feed myself and our children, now I’ll have to feed an elf?”

An angry gurgle made Hal sound as though he was agreeing with one or both of his parents. But then he spit up all down Steve’s shirt, so the conversation was shelved.

*

On a video conference call at headquarters one afternoon, Peggy’s assistant interrupted her with something akin to semaphore or interpretive dance from the doorway of her office.

“Pardon me, Secretary General Guterres, it seems I’m needed urgently. I trust we can continue this conversation before the next assembly?” Peggy smiled and thanked the former prime minister before signing off.

Quinn stood there, wringing their hands. “Ms. Carter, I’m sorry to intrude—”

Peggy could feel her blood pressure rising. “And yet you have, so it better be life and death.” She heard their gulp from across the room.

“Well, ma’am, it’s your husband.”

She shot out of her chair. “Steve’s not on assignment, he took the month off.” She jabbed blindly at her phone, pressing the receiver to her ear with a shaky hand.

“No, ma’am, he’s not…” Quinn’s response faded from her hearing as the call connected and Peggy heard Steve’s cell ringing.

Peggy’s annoyance overtook her relief like a lion bringing down a sick gazelle. “If he took on something at the last minute without bloody clearing it with me, I swear to Christ—” There were any number of situations the organization had been monitoring over the last few weeks that could have blown up spectacularly, or certainly would, if Captain America chose to insert himself.

“Peggy?” Steve’s greeting sounded especially guilty, which only enraged her further.

“What have you done, you great impulsive pratt, what ridiculous endeavor has your god-complex led you to now?”

There was a moment of strained silence on the other end of the line, but Peggy didn’t hear gunfire or explosions or Clint Barton’s voice in the background, so that was slightly reassuring. Still, the utter gall of Steve to go running headlong into danger, with no thought to his wife or children at home.

Eventually, Steve found his voice. “God-complex?”

“Um, Director Carter?” Quinn had crept into the room and stood at her elbow, whispering.

“Out with it,” Peggy snapped, unclear whether she was speaking to her husband or her employee.

Quinn shrank back but managed to squeak out an answer. “Your daughter’s teachers wanted to speak with you about the emails Mr. Rogers keeps sending them about the holiday pageant.”

Peggy felt her eyes roll back into her head of their own accord. The Carter-Rogers family’s trademark sigh exploded from her lungs. “Steve.”

“Yes, love of my life?” She could picture the too-innocent look on his face just from his tone of voice.

Peggy counted to three, for all the good it did. “Have you left the tri-state area?”

“I am at our home in Brooklyn, with our children.” A faint “hello, Mummy!” sounded down the line. “Lily says hello.”

“Love and kisses,” she replied automatically.

“Did someone tell you I was somewhere else?”

Peggy raised an eyebrow at Quinn, who still stood there, pale-faced and sweating. “Not exactly. Now, what’s this about you emailing Lillian’s teachers?”

Another wary pause. “How much do you know?”

“I know we’ll need to come up with an extravagant offering, if they’re calling me to get you to back off.” Peggy leaned back in her chair and adjusted the waistband cutting into her stomach. “Honestly, Steve, you can’t dictate every aspect of our child’s education.”

Steve sniffed. “But I got them to add a Hanukkah song.”

“Well then, let’s say that’s the end of it, shall we? Give those poor young people a rest. Between you and Lillian, how are they to have any energy to deal with the rest of the class?”

“Okay,” Steve agreed, contrite. “I’ll drop it. For this year.”

That would have to do. “Excellent. Now if you’ll excuse me, Quinn and I need to review when it’s appropriate to interrupt calls with high-ranking members of international governing bodies.”

“Well, have a good afternoon. The kids and I can’t wait to have you home. Love you.”

“Likewise, darling,” Peggy replied. Then she hung up and turned the full force of her disappointed face on her assistant.

*

“Did you know that Immaculate Heart around the corner celebrates midnight Mass at ten pm?” Steve asked Peggy one afternoon as they folded the laundry side by side.

“I certainly did not,” she replied, focused on pairing Hal’s tiny socks. He’d soon grow out of them, and no part of him would ever be as small as he was now. Her baby was already so much bigger than when he’d been born. Soon enough, Hal wouldn’t be her baby any more. She closed her eyes against a sudden rush of tears.

Steve shook out a fitted sheet and handed two corners to Peggy without looking at her. They both stepped back and quickly tucked their corners, paired sides and folded in half, then quarters, then eighths. Steve smoothed out the wrinkles on the top fold, shaking his head. “I knew everything was going to be different from the moment I first came back.”

He put the sheet onto the linens pile. “But the thing of it is, the differences never stop. Every time I think I’ve gotten the hang of living now, something comes up to put me right back at square one.” He took up one of Lily’s tees, running his fingers over the puffy letters on the front that proclaimed her a “future engineer/princess” whenever she wore it. “I know we don’t go to church.” He folded the shirt, turning it into a tiny square of glittery fabric in his hands. “But going to Mass with Ma was one of our few Christmas traditions.”

Peggy stopped folding to look at Steve. “Darling,” she said, putting a hand on his arm. “We can go, of course we can go.”

His eyes were shining when he looked up at her, the corner of his mouth quirked up in what might have been a smile. “Nah.” He scratched his nose. “If I can’t put Lily through three hours of mind-numbingly unintelligible Latin, what’s the point? And if Hal’s there, we run the risk of a dirty diaper smell combining with the incense into some kind of chemical weapon.”

Peggy laughed with him, but noted the way the corners of his eyes stayed tight. “Well, I could go with you, anyhow. It’s been a few years, but I bet I can still follow along all right.”

That earned her a real smile, at least.

*

Peggy contemplated, not for the first time, whether Natasha might be giving their daughter spy lessons. The cache of presents in the crawl space above the master closet seemed untouched, but as Lily had found every other hiding spot, Peggy wasn’t so sure that the little girl had just gotten better as covering her tracks. Her back twinged as she reached in to pull them down and she groaned.

“Peg? Everything okay?” Steve asked from the doorway, just back from his run.

She stepped gingerly down the ladder. “Could you please fetch the gifts at the back up there?” Peggy pressed her hands into the small of her back and stretched, feeling some of the tension release as she did. “Perhaps I’ll need to ask Santa for a massage,” she murmured to herself.

Steve handed down the packages to her while she admired the view of his back muscles in the too-tight workout gear he favored. As he came down with Lily’s final present in his hands, he puzzled over the tag. “From Santa?”

“Jolly old fellow, spreads Christmas cheer to good little girls and boys?” Peggy sorted through the other presents, checking the tape at the seams for signs of tampering.

He turned the box over in his hands. “Santa did stockings, at most, back in my day.”

Squinting at a tiny rip in the paper, Peggy didn’t catch the note in his voice. “Perhaps he has better funding these days, dear.” No, not a tear, a cut made by the associate at the store who’d wrapped the thing.

“Hold on, Peggy, is this the big castle she’s been begging us for?”

“That’s what we agreed on for her big gift, yes.”

“But you labelled it from Santa?”

Peggy concluded her inventory, satisfied that either Lily hadn’t sussed out this hiding spot, or that she was, in fact, exceptionally good at six year-old espionage. Either way, she could be proud. “I’m not following the thread, here, Steve. What is the problem?”

Steve’s eyebrows were drawn together on his forehead, his hands on his slim hips. “Peggy, we really shouldn’t be teaching our daughter that the most expensive gifts come from some man she doesn’t know. The big gift should be from us.”

She sat on the bed, suddenly very tired. “Well then you can write a new tag for the present, I don’t care.”

“I just want us to be mindful about the messages we’re sending.”

“Yes, and while you’re being mindful, and harassing the teachers, and raging against the commercialization of the season, I’m just trying to get through a bloody holiday without an international incident sidelining our plans!” Finally, it was Peggy’s turn to let loose. “You do so much for our family, Steve, but there’s even more you don’t know needs to be done! The teachers’ gifts and the scheduling and the gift wrapping that has to happen before the presents even come home, because our daughter is a super spy, plus trying to keep the mood festive even though you’ve been shitting over every aspect of the holiday this year.” 

She threw up her hands, too angry to even look at him. “Oh, not to mention the fact that I’m pregnant, Steve. Again. Hal isn’t even a year old, so well done, us. I’m tired all the time and hormonal and weepy and at this point, on Christmas Eve, I don’t even feel like celebrating. I hope you’re happy.” She marched into the ensuite bathroom and slammed the door behind her. She went to run a bath, but remembered she wasn’t supposed to soak in hot water, so she turned on the shower instead and sat down, breathing hard, as steam started to fill the room.

Steve knocked on the door. “Peggy?”

She didn’t respond, only picked up a brush and began running it through her hair.

“Peggy, I deserved that.” No Captain America voice now, just Steve, abashed and remorseful. “I’m sorry. I’m going to give you some time to cool down, but then I hope you’ll let me make it up to you.”

Peggy bit her lip, her resolve softening already.

“And Peggy?” She pictured him leaning against the jamb, the way he did many nights while she went through her toilette. “That’s great news about the baby. The best damn present you could have given me.”

Crying now, Peggy opened the door. “You have been an absolute shit, Rogers.”

He took her in his arms. “I have,” he agreed. She twined her arms around his neck. “I’ve been a real Grinch.” He held her close, and she rested her head on his shoulder, tears dripping on his shirt.

“I’m not sentimental over these sorts of things,“ she sniffed. “And I’ve come through hundred of high pressure situations before, I don’t know why this one got to me.”

Steve pulled back to meet her eyes. “Maybe because I’m supposed to be supporting you, not adding to your stress?”

“You usually do support me!” Peggy protested, the tears passing as quickly as they had come on. “And I can see how hard this Christmas has been for you.”

He nodded. “That’s no excuse for my behavior, though. I should have dealt with it better.”

She sniffled again. “Well, do better now.”

Steve squeezed her tight. “You got it. How about you hop in that shower and I’ll deal with the presents, okay?”

Peggy looked up at him from under her lashes. “You can deal with the presents, but I think you need a shower, too.” She plucked at his sweaty tee. “You can scrub my back as your first act of penance.”

Steve laughed and let her lead him into the bathroom.

*

On Christmas morning, Peggy woke with a start. Steve’s side of the bed was cold, and it was past ten, judging by the stark winter sunlight streaming into the room. The scent of bacon wafted under her nose before she was fully awake. As she lay in bed wondering if she could realistically sneak in a few more minutes of rest, Lily galloped into the room.

“Mummy!” She zoomed around the bed. “Dad wouldn’t let me come in until breakfast was ready but it’s ready now and then we have to open presents and so it’s time to get up, get up, get up!”

Peggy laughed and sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “Thank you for letting me sleep in, dearest.”

“Daddy said you two were up late watching for Santa.”

As if on cue, Steve appeared in the doorway, Hal strapped to his chest and a tray in his hands. Peggy raised an eyebrow at him. “Daddy said we were up late, did he?”

Steve blushed. “I was trying to explain why you were so tired.”

“Well, Lily, your Dad and I were just so caught up in the holiday spirit, we didn’t realize how late it had gotten.”

Lillian clambered up into bed beside Peggy. “I tried to stay up, too, but I was too knackered.”

“Well, we still weren’t up late enough to help Santa with his packages.” Peggy cuddled her close. “Did he leave you anything?”

“Yes, there are presents under the tree I haven’t seen!”

Steve raised both eyebrows. “I guess I’ll have to give Nat a call later.” Peggy shrugged. “I made you an apology breakfast.” He gestured with the tray.

“I can smell it from here!” Peggy said approvingly. “A lie-in, plus bacon. You are well on your way to being back on my nice list, Steve.” He grinned at that.

“Can we eat it in bed?” Lily asked.

“I suppose it is a special occasion,” Peggy replied. “Come sit with us, darling.” She motioned for Steve to join them. He handed off the tray and unwrapped Hal from his carrier, settling him in his lap.

“Tea, bacon, sausage, eggs, tomatoes and the last of that banana bread Sharon sent over,” Steve said, indicating the plates practically overflowing from the tray. “Merry Christmas, Peggy.”

Peggy looked up into Steve’s clear blue eyes to see the love shining there. “Thank you, Steve. Merry Christmas.”

[benito-cereno]

Santa Claus Letter 2017

So for years, starting in the 1920s, JRR Tolkien would write letters to his children as Father Christmas, including fanciful drawings and tales of FC and his friend, the North Polar bear, exploding the Northern Light gunpowder or fighting goblins.

Upon the birth of my own nephew last year, I decided I would steal this idea. Even though he is only a year and change old, nevertheless I composed a letter for him from Santa Claus. Theoretically, I will continue to do this, making the letters longer and more intricate as he gets older until he decides they’re stupid and that they should stop.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the skill for drawing or fancy lettering that Tolkien did, so I just had to type it up. Maybe future letters can include drawings.

I understand that this is obviously past Christmas and most of you have already thrown out your tree, but I still haven’t seen the neph for Christmas yet, so this got put off a little in favor of other holiday stuff. I hope you will forgive.

Anyway, I thought I would share it with you here under the cut (even though it does give away some of my Santa Claus secrets!). Feel free to reblog this, or if you want, to use it as a template and alter it for use with a child you know and love, but please do not republish this without my permission. Thankssss.

You can read 2015′s letter here and last year’s letter here.

Santa's Workshop

Beyond the Riphean Mountains

Beyond the North Wind

True North Pole

December 20, 2017

My dearest [name],

Here it is, your third Christmas! Amazing! It seems like only yesterday you had your very first Christmas for the very first time, and here we are at three. Three, you know, is a very special number.

Three is the number of sisters that I secretly gave bags of gold to when they couldn't afford to get married. I threw the bags of gold through the window (chimneys were not invented yet) and they landed in their stockings, which were drying by the fire. This was the first time I ever gave someone a gift by night and it gave me the idea that I might keep doing it. It's worked out pretty well so far!

Three was also the number of boys whom I saved from a wicked innkeeper who stuffed them in a pickle barrel so that he could steal their money. This is how I was named as a special protector of children, the title of which I am most proud. (The innkeeper works for me now, helping me bring joy to children to make up for being bad many years ago. Don't worry about running into him, though. He mainly helps me visit children in France.)

Three is the number of innocent men I once saved from punishment by catching a sword in my bare hand. Three is the number of generals, also innocent, whom I saved from punishment by appearing to the Roman emperor in a dream and telling him what had really happened. (These stories are not as famous as the other two, but I am still fairly proud of them.)

Three is also the number of gifts brought to the baby Jesus by the Wise Men: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The Wise Men were the very first Christmastime gift-bringers, and all the rest of us, like me or Grandfather Frost, whom I told you about last year, are merely following in their footsteps. In fact, in many countries, children expect to receive gifts from the Wise Men more than they do from old Santa Claus! In these countries, they get their gifts later, on January 5 or 6, which is still a very fine day to receive gifts. This day is called Epiphany, and it marks the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas. Children will set out food for the Wise Men's camels, and the wise old travelers from the East will leave them presents in exchange. You can tell the Wise Men have been to your house because they will write the letters “C+M+B” on your house with chalk. These letters can stand for their names—Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar—or they can stand for words that call for a blessing upon the house in Latin. (I will not make your mommy or daddy have to try to say Latin words out loud to you if they read you this letter. Maybe one day you will learn to read Latin and you and I can write letters to each other in a language that was very common when I was your age, but which is not so common now.)

There is a song I like very much that says that “The past and the present and the future, Faith and Hope and Charity, The heart and the brain and the body give you three as a magic number.” Three is also the number of a mommy and a daddy and a [name]. A magic number.

I can see that it has been much colder where you live this winter than in the other years that I have written to you. That may explain why we have not seen much of Jack Frost and his brother this year, but I can see also that it has been icy cold down there without much snow. I think this is very rude of Jack, to bring cold but no snow. Very inconsiderate. Jack himself would say that it only snows when his grandmother, Holda, shakes the feathers out of the blankets of her bed, so perhaps she has not done much cleaning this year. On the other hand, Jack is well-known as a teller of tales, and I'm not even sure that Holda really is his grandmother. The only grandparent I've ever known him to have was Grandfather Frost, but I do know that he was adopted, so who knows what may be true?

I have also seen that you love animals very much. This is something you would have in common with my friend and helper Rupert, who tends to the animals on our farm. We have a very unusual farm, as I believe I have told you before. We don't raise pigs or cows here. I don't think they would like the cold very much. Instead we of course have reindeer, which are very famous and I suspect already familiar to you. We also have horses, including my most famous horse Amerigo, and donkeys, and goats. These are not so unusual to have on a farm. But Rupert also takes care of moose, alligators that I take to Louisiana, white kangaroos that I take to Australia, dolphins that I take to Hawaii, and even a number of werewolves, though they can mostly take care of themselves. We also receive visits from a very special Camel and Mule, but they don't usually stay long, as they have gifts of their own to deliver. There is of course also Callisto the North Polar Bear, and her cub Arcas, whom I have told you about before, but they really live in the sky and only come to visit us sometimes.

But those are only the farm animals. The True North Pole is also home to a number of wild animals that live in the thick forest of fir trees tended by Mrs Claus and her wood nymphs that surrounds the workshop. These animals are protected by my friend Belsnickel, the fur-trapper who would rather be alone in the woods than live in the workshop. These woods are home to a number of magic reindeer who have not yet been trained to pull a sleigh, as well as animals such as Arctic foxes and Arctic hares, and birds like snow buntings. You should look up pictures of these animals if you have never seen them. They look very different from animals in [state]! I will also tell you a secret about the North Pole: even though many people like to make pictures or movies about penguins at the North Pole at Christmastime, the truth is that penguins live at the South Pole, not the North Pole. It's true! You can look it up. It would be better for people to draw me and my elves being visited by puffins, which is a bird that actually does live around the North Pole. They are just as cute as penguins, if not more so in my opinion, so far as that counts.

If you travel out beyond the silver fir forest, you will eventually hit the Riphean Mountains, which are a very dangerous place to visit, but which are home to our friends the griffins, which are magical creatures that look like they are part lion and part eagle. You can also look up pictures of these if you have never seen one. (There are not many at zoos, so I suspect you would not have seen one there.) The griffins are led by their noble but dangerous king Lunicursor, whose long-standing war against the moutains' one-eyed giants to protect their large hoards of gold has the added benefit of helping keep unwanted visitors out of our workshop on the other side of the mountains.

At any rate, all of these animals—every one of them—says hello and merry Christmas to you. Even King Lunicursor gave a grim-faced but solemn nod of approval when I told him I was writing you this letter. Sometimes when you are older, you may feel lonely or sad, which is okay, but remember that somewhere far to the north some reindeer, some foxes, a bear as big as a dinosaur, the king of the griffins, and a silly old toymaker know your name and hope you have a good Christmas.

Please send my warmest greetings to your mommy and daddy and all your family, and to all your animal friends from all of mine. I will visit soon to fill your stocking as you have been very good this year, as ever. See you soon!

Your dear friend,

Santa Claus

[yourmotivationguru]

Stories For Kids In English

Every night when I tuck my son in he insists on listening to bedtime stories for kids. I narrate his favourite stories for kids in English and slowly he drifts into sound sleep. Seeing how much my little one enjoys his bedtime stories I started compiling a list of famous Bedtime Stories, Bedtime Stories For Kids , Children Stories, Children Stories With Morals, English Story For Kids, Fairy Tales, Kids Moral Stories, Moral Stories, Moral Stories For Children, Moral Stories For Kids, Short Stories, Short Stories For Kids, Stories For Kids In English, Very Short Stories For Kids.

Few of these kids moral stories are classic fables and some are modern ones! This amazing collection of best moral stories for kids will keep your children entertained while also instilling a love of reading in them.

Top 28 Stories For Kids In English ECY-1 (Age 2.5 – 3.5 years)

1. What baby bunny wants to become when he grows up

Papa bunny tossed baby bunny in the air. “What will you become when you grow up?” he asked.

“He will be a policeman with many badges on his uniform,” said mamma bunny. “He will catch the bad guys and bring justice to people.”

“Oh no, I think he will be a magician,” said papa bunny. “He will wear big hats and do incredible tricks.”

“Why can’t my baby brother be a cowboy?” asked his brother. “Cowboys can ride horses!”

However, the baby bunny didn’t want to be a policeman or a magician or even a cowboy when he grew up. He smiled with joy when the granny bunny said: “He can be anything he wants to be!”

Moral - You can be anything you want to be. As long as you believe in yourself and work hard.

2. Walden-Can

My name is Walden Can and I can do everything!

I can brush my teeth in morning and at night.

I can take a bath and make my cheeks look white.

I can even brush my hair and I do not fight.

Do you know how I became so bright?

Because Walden Can eat peas and plums, broccoli and spinach and everything RIGHT!

Moral - Eating healthy makes you healthy and strong!

3. The Owl who slept in the night

At night, when the whole world goes off to sleep, owls wake up.

One day a curious little owl made a decision to stay awake all day, instead of night.

And so he did.

When the night came he hid beneath his blankets and covered his ears so he won’t hear his friends playing.

He waited and waited till he was sure that all the other owls are ready for bed.

At dawn, he emerged from his hidey-hole and discovered a world full of colours!

He stood mesmerized by the beauty of it all.

But when the night-time came around again, the little owl knew that the stars above his head are the most dazzling sight of all.

Moral - Happiness is being content with what you have!

4. Wendy’s wonderful web

Wendy the spider wished that she could spin a perfect web just like his friends.

But her webs weren’t perfect.

They were wibbly-wobbly.

When the wind blew, Windy’s web was the first one to be blown away.

Determined, she started making a small web one morning, in the shape of a triangle.

Whoosh went the wind and the web was blown away.

Windy didn’t give up, she made another web, this time in the shape of a square.

Whoosh went the wind and the web was blown away.

Windy sighed and made a longer web in the shape of a circle.

Whoosh went the wind and the web was blown away.

At last, it dawned upon her; why not use all the shapes in my web? Excited she started spinning a wonderful web.

Whoosh, Whoosh, Whoosh went the wind but Wendy’s web stayed strong!

Moral - Determination is the key to success!

5. Peter penguin’s bad mood

Peter was a grumpy penguin who was always in a very bad mood.

He took off his grumpy coat and threw away his grumpy hat. But he was still grumpy.

He tried to read a book. But he was still grumpy.

He took off his grumpy shirt and threw away is grumpy socks. But he was still grumpy.

One, two, three. SPLASH!!!!!!

In he went into the nice and cold water. He played with his ducky in the tub.

And little by little he was no longer grumpy.

As Peter Penguin fell asleep, he knew tomorrow would be a wonderful day because all his grumpiness had been washed away!

Moral - Happiness is a choice. You can choose to be happy!

6. The lonely rainbow fish

The Rainbow Fish was the most beautiful fish in the ocean. She had shiny scales in red, green and blue.

One day a little blue fish asked her for a shiny scale.

“Get away from me,” said the proud Rainbow Fish.

The little blue fish got very upset and told all the other fish.

From that day on all the other fish wanted nothing to do with the Rainbow Fish.

The Rainbow Fish was lonely and sad so she went to the wise old octopus and asked for advice.

The wise old octopus said “Go back to your friends and give each one of them a shiny scale. You won’t be the most beautiful fish in the ocean but you will be happy to have friends.”

The Rainbow Fish went back and gave the little blue fish and all the other fish a shiny scale and from that day on the Rainbow Fish had best friends.

Moral - When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed!

7. Harry and the purple crayon

Harry was very imaginative.

One day he decided to go for a walk and he took his favourite purple crayon with him.

He drew the moon and the moon started following him in his path as he continued his walk.

Along the road he drew his favourite tree with his purple crayon, moving a little further he drew a beautiful sea with a boat to sail.

When Harry reached the shore, he wanted to go back home.

So he drew the window to his bedroom, he drew and drew but none of them matched the windows in his bedroom.

Harry was unable to find his window.

Suddenly, he remembered- “Oh!!  My bedroom’s window is where I drew the moon!”

So he drew the window around the moon and he finally reached his home.

Moral – Be patient when problems arise and focus on the solutions not the problems!

8. Happy birthday, moon

One day Mr. Bear looked up at the moon and thought, wouldn’t it be nice to give the moon a birthday present.

But he didn’t know the moon’s birthday, so he climbed up the tree and asked- “hello moon!!” But the moon didn’t reply.

“Maybe he is too far away!”- said the bear.

So he paddled across the river and hiked through the forest and mountains. He felt much closer to the moon and so he shouted- “When is your birthday?”

The voice echoed and the moon replied- “when is your birthday?”

The bear replied- “its tomorrow.”

The moon replied- “its tomorrow.”

The bear was happy so he asked: “what do you want?” And the moon replied- ‘What do you want?’

 The bear said – “I want a hat” and the moon replied- “I want a hat”.

Oh goody! The bear thought. Now I know what to get for the moon.

The bear said “I love you” and the moon replied “l love you too” and they both became the best friends forever while wishing one another Happy Birthday!

Moral – Giving with a good heart, will never go unrewarded!

9. The Ant and the Dove

One hot day, an ant was searching for some water.

She came to a spring, but to reach it she had to climb up a blade of grass.

While making her way up, she slipped and fell into the water.

A dove sitting on the nearby tree saw her and quickly plucked a leaf and dropped it into the water to save the drowning ant.

The ant moved towards the leaf and climbed up onto it. Soon she reached the dry ground and was safe at last.

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Just at that time, a hunter nearby was about to throw his net over the dove, hoping to trap it.

The ant saw this and quickly bit him on the heel.

Feeling the pain, the hunter dropped his net and the dove flew away to safety.

Moral – One good turn begets another.

Read On To Enjoy More Stories For Kids In English

10. Foxy talks to the cave

Foxy Fox lived in a cave.

One day when she came back to the cave after hunting for food she observed something strange. Foxy Fox saw a set of large footprints going into the cave and none coming out.

“Some huge animal must be inside,” “Oh dear! What shall I do now?”  she thought.

Suddenly, Foxy Fox had a clever idea, she shouted, “Hello there, cave. How have you been today? I am back,” shouted out Foxy pretending to be talking to the cave.

Lio Lion was inside the cave. Surprised he thought, “I didn’t know that caves could talk.”

Outside, Foxy Fox shouted again, “Hey cave, aren’t you going to welcome me today?”.

Lio Lion got worried. He didn’t want to lose his dinner. “Hello there, welcome back home,” roared Lio Lion.

Foxy heard this and her suspicions were confirmed. She turned around and ran away as fast as she could.

Moral - By being alert and keeping his wits about him, Foxy was able to survive!

11. The Ant and the Grasshopper

An ant and a grasshopper lived in a garden. They were very good friends.

It was springtime and the grasshopper was having a lot of fun playing, singing, and dancing in the sun.

But the ant was busy collecting food grains and storing them in its house.

The grasshopper said to the ant, “Hey,’ Ant! Why don’t you come outside and play with me?”

The ant replied, “I can’t. I am storing food for the winter when there won’t be anything to eat!”

The grasshopper laughed at the ant and said, “Why are you worrying now? Winter won’t come for long!”

Finally, when winter came, the grasshopper did not have a single grain of food to eat. It began to starve and feel very weak.

The grasshopper saw how the hardworking ant had plenty of food to eat and realized its foolishness.

Moral - Hard work never gets wasted it pays off today or tomorrow!

12. The bird who couldn’t sing

Mama bird sang good morning and all the baby birds sang back except the youngest baby bird who could only sing off key.

He tried and tried but no pretty song came out. Days went by but he still could not sing like his brothers or sisters.

Then came the day when the birds had to leave the nest for the flying lessons. Baby bird got lost flying around and his brothers and sisters were nowhere in sight.

He flew and flew over many towns and along his way heard many wonderful sounds.

A kitty purring, a puppy barking, a cow moaning, a duck quacking, a piggy oinking.

Baby bird realized it was okay to sing off key. He didn’t have to sound like everyone else.

Baby bird thought to himself – “Everyone is different and that’s what makes each one of us so very special!”

Moral - We're all unique, just never in the ways we imagine!

13. Don’t push the button

Hi, my name is Larry.

Welcome to my story.

There’s only one rule here – Don’t push the button!

Don’t even think about it.

It does look pretty nice though, maybe you should give the button one little push!

Ah! Now I’m yellow. Push it again!

Eww!  Now I’m yellow AND pink. Push it twice!

Now there’s two of me, push it a bunch of times

Uh-oh! Now there’s hundreds of Larry!

Shake the book to get rid of all the extra Larry’s!!!

Okay, now scratch Larry’s tummy to get him back to normal.

Hehe! That tickles! Okay, much better. Let’s NOT push the button again!

Moral - Don't get encouraged to do something that you're not supposed to do!

13. The rooster and the fox

There lived a clever fox in a forest. Once, he was searching for food. Suddenly, he spotted a fine, fat rooster seated on the branch of a very high tree.

The fox could not climb up the tree to catch the rooster, so he asked the rooster politely, “Dear friend, why are you sitting so high on the tree? Don’t you know that the king of the forest has forbidden all the animals from killing one another? ”

The rooster sensed something was fishy. He asked, “Does that mean that the lion would begin feeding on grass now?”

The fox said, “Let us go to the King and ask for the clarification.”

The rooster was intelligent. He said, “Why don’t we take some friends along with us? I can see a large number of hounds approaching this way.”

“Hounds!” the fox yelled in panic. He started running for his precious life.

The rooster laughed at the fox’s evil plan. All the birds sitting on the tree cheered the rooster’s intelligence.

Moral - Beware of a sudden offer of friendship!

14. The power of prayers

In a small village, there lived a young boy named Fred. He had a cute little puppy and he called him Timmy.

Every day he played with Timmy and Timmy followed him everywhere.

One morning, Fred woke up to find Timmy missing. He searched the kennel, his house, and the neighbourhood, but couldn’t find Timmy.

Fred became sad and wept. His mother told him, “Pray to God, my dear. God listens to children’s prayers and will bring back Timmy.”

So, Fred prayed to God. “Dear God, I love Timmy. Please bring him back home safe.”

The next day, Fred went to search for Timmy in their neighbourhood. He found Timmy behind a bush, fast asleep. The little puppy saw Timmy and barked happily.

Fred and Timmy went back home hopping. He told everyone how God answered his prayer.

Moral: God always answers your prayers!

15. The boy who cried wolf

Once there was a shepherd boy who had to look after a flock of sheep.

One day, he felt bored and decided to play a trick on the villagers. He shouted, “Help! Wolf! Wolf!”

The villagers heard his cries and rushed to help him. When they reached him, they asked,

“Where is the wolf?”

The shepherd boy laughed loudly, “Ha, Ha, Ha! I fooled you all..”

A few days later, the shepherd boy played this trick again.

Again the villagers found that the boy had tricked them.

Sometime later, a wolf went into the field and started attacking the sheep.

The shepherd boy ran towards the village shouting, “Help! Help! Wolf! Help! Somebody!”

The villagers heard his cries but they laughed because they thought it was another trick.

Moral: We may not believe someone who often tells lies, even when he tells the truth!

16. Two fighting cats and a monkey

One day two cats found a loaf of bread. Both wanted the bread so they started fighting.

Along came a monkey. “Why are you fighting?” he questioned.

The cats snarled, “We are fighting because both of us want to eat the bread.”

“Why don’t you cut it in half?” asked the monkey.

 “We don’t want the other one to get more, so we are not able to share it.” answered the cats.

“All right,” said the monkey, “I’ll cut it in half for you.”

The monkey tore the loaf into two but one bit appeared slightly bigger, “let me get them to the same size,” he said and ate a little from the bigger piece. Then the other part looked bigger, and so he ate a bit of it too.

The fighting cats didn’t realize that the clever monkey ate the entire loaf.

Moral: When two people fight the third one always gets the profit!

17. The rooster and the jewel

A hungry rooster hadn’t eaten in days.

He was scratching and digging in the dirt trying to find some food.

He scratched and dug and finally, a beautiful jewel emerged.

He was amazed at how the gemstone glittered.

“This is a very fine and beautiful thing,” he thought, “but I would rather have one tasty kernel of corn instead.”

Moral: What is a treasure for one may be worthless to another.

18. Two men and the bear

Two men were strolling down a forest path when they came across a bear.

One man scampered up a tree and escaped the bear’s claws.

The other man knew there was nothing he could do, so he dropped to the ground and played dead.

The bear went up to the man and sniffed about his ears. He pawed at him a few times. Thinking the man was dead, the bear walked away.

After the bear left, his friend came down from the tree.

“What did the bear say to you, friend, when he whispered in your ear?” asked his friend.

“Oh!” answered his friend, “He just told me that I should think twice before travelling with friends who leave you alone in times of trouble.”

Moral: Friendship is tested in times of trouble.

19. The peacock’s complaint

A peacock was very unhappy with his ugly voice, and he spent most of his days complaining about it.

“It is true that you cannot sing,” said the fox, “But look how beautiful you are!”

“Oh, but what good is all this beauty,” moaned the dishearten bird, “with such an unpleasant voice!”

“Each one of us has their own special gift.” said the fox.

“You have such beauty, the nightingale has his song, the owl has his eyes, and the eagle his strength. Even if you had an eloquent voice, you would still complain about another thing.” announced the fox.

Moral: Do not envy the gifts of others. Make the most of your own.

20. The wind and the sun

One day the wind and the sun argued over which one was stronger.

They spotted a man travelling on the road and took up a challenge to see which one could remove the coat from the man’s back the quickest.

The wind began by blowing strong gusts of air. The man could barely walk against the strong wind.

But the man clutched his coat tight against him.

The wind blew harder and longer, and the man held his coat against him tighter and firmer.

It was now the sun’s turn.

He gently sent his beams upon the traveller until the man became so warm that he took off his coat and headed for the nearest tree for some shade.

Moral: Gentle persuasion is stronger than force.

Read On To Enjoy More Stories For Kids In English

21. The dog and his reflection

A dog was walking home with a large slab of meat, in his mouth.

On his way home, he walked by a river.

Looking in the river, he saw another dog with a handsome chunk of meat in his mouth.

“I want that meat, too,” thought the dog, and he snapped at the dog to grab his meat which caused him to drop his own dinner in the river.

Moral: Too much greed results in nothing.

22. The Frog who won the race

One day, a group of frogs decided to get to the top of a high tower.

 A lot of people came to see them.

Even before the race had begun, everybody was saying that the frogs would not get there “You’ll never reach the top of the tower!” they said.

Little by little, the frogs felt disappointed and discouraged, except for one of them that continued to run.

Everyone cried out, “Give up! Give up! You’ll never get to the top!”

This led all the frogs to abandon the race, except for the one frog that continued to run and finally reached the top.

Astonished, the other frogs wanted to know what his secret was.

And it was then that they found out that… he was deaf!

Moral: Be deaf to discouraging words and always follow your dreams to the end.

23. The proud kite

Once there was a large and proud kite.

The kite soared higher than all the other kites, but it longed to go higher and higher.

It saw the clouds and the birds way above and resented not being able to get up there.

The kite blamed the string for holding it back.

The string was not happy with this situation and thought it was unfair.

One day, the wind was particularly strong. The kite ascended rapidly. Before long, the string hit its limit and the kite rose no more. “Stop holding me back, let go of me!” said the kite.

Well, the string had had enough and it let go.

Without the string attached, the kite dropped to the ground. The kite was badly injured.

And it learned its lesson that it needed the string to fly and was happy ever after.

Moral: Sometimes it’s the things that you think are holding you back are actually responsible for your growth.

24. The Goose with the golden eggs

Once upon a time a man and his wife had a good fortune and they found a goose that laid golden eggs.

But they started being greedy and thought they are not getting rich fast enough.

Being blinded by their greed they imagined if the bird lays the golden egg, she must be made of some precious metal inside so he and his wife decided to cut it open and become the richest people overnight.

However, when they finally killed the goose they were very surprised to see that the goose’s inside was just like any other living animal.

Moral: Your greedy nature can become the reason for your downfall.

25. Cocoon and the butterfly

One day, a man saw a cocoon, he was very fond of butterflies and he knew this cocoon is soon going to be a beautiful butterfly so he decided to watch.

He spent hours watching how the butterfly was struggling and trying hard to come out of the cocoon.

The man couldn’t take the pain the butterfly was going through so he decided to help.

He bought a scissor and made the opening a little bigger so that the butterfly could move out without much struggle!

Unfortunately, the butterfly looked no more beautiful, had withered wings, swollen body, she couldn’t fly anymore.

Although the man wanted to help the butterfly and the process she was going through of struggle would make her a strong and healthy butterfly but it was disturbed in between and she had to suffer the consequences.

Moral: Patience and struggle make us shine.

26. The blind man with a lamp

Once there lived a blind man in a small town.

He always carried a lighted lamp in his hand whenever he went out at night.

On one dark night, he was going with his lighted lamp in his hand. A group of men were passing that way.

They saw the blind man and made fun of him.

They said,” O Blind man why do you carry the lighted lamp. You are blind and cannot see anything?

The blind man politely said, “This lamp is not for me, but for you people who have eyes.

You may not see a blind man coming and push him.

They felt ashamed and begged pardon.

Moral: Think twice before you speak.

27. Bad company

A rich man had only one son.

The son fell into the bad company and developed many bad habits.

Worried about his son, he thought of a plan to mend his habits.

He went to the market and bought some fresh apples and a rotten one.

He came back home and asked his son to put all the apples along with the rotten one in a basket. The son did the same.

After a few days, he asked his son to bring the apples. As he opened the basket he was surprised to note that all the apples had become rotten. He felt sad.

At this, his father told him to see how one rotten apple had spoiled all the rest. In the same way, one bad companion could spoil all others.

The father’s advice had the desired effect. The boy gave up bad com­pany and became good again.

Moral: Better alone than in bad company.

28. Teeth of the elephant

Once a hungry mouse found a nut. He started to bite into it but its cover was hard and thick.

Irritated the mouse prayed aloud to God, “Oh God! Why did you give me such tiny teeth? I have food here but I cannot eat.”

Immediately he heard God’s voice, “Dear Mouse, go and look at the other animals teeth. Whosoever’s teeth you like will be given to you.”

So the mouse went to the forest and saw the elephant. He was impressed by the long, white tusks of the elephant.

The little mouse asked the elephant, “Sir, are you happy with your long beautiful teeth?”

At this, the elephant replied, “Friend, these teeth are just for show. I cannot use them to chew food as you do. At least you don’t have to bear the heavy weight of your teeth.”

Hearing this, the mouse thanked God for giving him the tiny teeth.

Moral: Count your blessings

Hope you enjoyed this unique collection of – Bedtime Stories, Bedtime Stories For Kids , Children Stories, Children Stories With Morals, English Story For Kids, Fairy Tales, Kids Moral Stories, Moral Stories, Moral Stories For Children, Moral Stories For Kids, Short Stories, Short Stories For Kids, Stories For Kids In English, Very Short Stories For Kids. Stay tuned for more kids stories on yourmotivationguru.com

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