EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the 10th chapter in a 12-chapter fictional tale that will run through Christmas Day. Parents are encouraged to read aloud to their children.

“Yes!” Dad exclaimed. Finally, his tree was down, and the other remaining contestant was just about to knock his down as well.

Third place. They were still in it. He tossed his axe and quickly strapped his tree to the sled, taking off down the hill the second he was finished.

He was sore, sweaty, and completely out of breath, and having a great time. He reached the bottom of the hill and took off for the town square. Even though it felt like hours, he knew the others were only minutes ahead of him. He glanced back to see the final contestant was halfway down the hill with his tree. It was going to be a tight race.

Townspeople lined the streets and cheered them on as if it were a parade and not four grown men in ridiculous sweaters hauling trees around like their life depended on it.

“Hurry!” his wife yelled as he ran past, heading for the tree stands in the town square. “I love you!”

Once the tree was in place, he rushed back to her, kissed her cheek and she was off.

She’d been studying the picture of a decorated tree while she waited for her husband, and she knew exactly what she was looking for.

As soon as she entered the store it was difficult to not stop and gawk at how beautiful it was. Display after display of every type of Christmas decoration possible filled every aisle.

Ornaments lined all the walls, sorted by color. She needed silver and blue, so she quickly found them on the wall and grabbed the specific shapes she had memorized. As she put them in her basket, the last contestant burst through the door, so now all four of them were running around attempting to out shop each other.

She headed to the displays with all the lights, knowing she needed C9 bulbs. The big vintage lights were Gabby’s favorites, so they always used them at home. She smiled to herself as she tossed them in her basket and headed to the garland in search of nutcracker strings, which were a favorite of Noah’s. The fact that the town seemed to know their personal likes and dislikes when it came to holiday decor seemed a bit too coincidental to her.

She reached up to grab the only box of nutcrackers when it was snatched away by a woman in a sweater covered in Christmas bows.

“Hey, those are mine!” Mom said.

“Sorry dear, but my tree calls for nutcrackers also.” The woman smiled sweetly.

“But…but there’s only one!”

Shrugging, the other woman rushed outside with her full basket of trimmings.

“Well, drat,” Mom said, hurrying to the tree toppers on the other side of the store, her last item. She would just have to find someone from the relay and tell them there was no more of the garland she needed.

She instantly found her star, beautifully designed with blue lights and crystals. She turned for the exit when the lady with the bow sweater came bursting back inside. She threw the nutcracker garland aside and ran to the back, yelling frantically “I need toy soldiers, not nutcrackers!”

Grinning, Mom grabbed the garland and ran. Exactly 12 minutes later, she was certain her tree was as close as it was going to get to perfect, and she’d managed to get into first place!

She ran across the street and into the Candy Cane Cafe, waving to all the cheering people, including her husband.

“Mom!” Noah stood on his stool, waving at her from the counter. She hugged him tight, tagging him into the race, and stepped away so he could focus.

Noah got to work eating his giant slice of fruitcake. So far, he was the only one eating. But when he was almost halfway done, two more teams rushed in — team Christmas cow, and a contestant wearing a sweater featuring a blue dinosaur on a snowmobile.

“I got this,” he said to himself. Taking a deep breath, he chugged some cocoa and got back to his task, determined to win this thing.

Read chapter 11 in tomorrow’s newspaper.