We’re back for our final week featuring young authors.  David Smith won first place in the second Young Writers Contest, sponsored by Writers Forum and Enjoy Magazine.  The theme of the contest was “The Gift”.  Congratulations to all of our young writers and welcome, David!

The Gift

by David Smith

Only seven more days until Christmas!  Mark could not wait!  Christmas was his favorite holiday and his list this year was very long.  He wanted: a Nintendo 3DS, a PlayStation 2, a bunch of Lego sets, a few movies, four posters, a Giants jersey, and a lot more!  When he went to school all the talk was about toys, toys, and more toys.  On contrast, at church the preacher said Christmas was about the day Jesus was born.  When Mark was asleep he heard a tiny voice saying, “Mark, Christmas is not about toys or getting, it’s about giving.”  The next day Mark thought about his dreams the night before and wondered what it all meant.  Finally, he pushed it to the far corners of his mind and got ready for school.

Mark was taking a math test when the principal called him to the office.  His parents were waiting for him, they had some bad news.  They told him that after they had taken him to school they left the stove on after making breakfast and the curtains over the stove caught on fire and burned the house down.  Mark was shocked!  His parents said that they were going to the homeless shelter.

Each day everyone helped out to keep the shelter clean and prepare food.  Everyone did their part.  Every day the preacher came by and told the true story about Christmas.  Mark knew that there would be no Christmas gifts this year, and that was okay.  He had his family and a warm bed to sleep in.  It was a gift just to be at the shelter with the nice people who gave every day to run it.  Mark remembered the weird dream he had.  Now he understood what Christmas was about.  It was about giving.

A Note from the Webmaster: If you’re a Writers Forum member in good standing and would like to be featured on Member Monday, please send your submission to writersforumwebmaster@gmail.com. Submissions should be 75-750 words, appropriate for all ages and error free. Please include a short bio, a headshot and any related links. The author retains all rights and gives permission to Writers Forum to publish their submission on the website and/or in the newsletter. Thank you!