Memory Lane - Stubby Pringle

"He is Stubby Pringle, born with spurs on, nursed on tarantula juice, weaned on rawhide, at home in saddle of hurricane in shape of horse that can race to outer edge of eternity and back, heading now for high jinks two months overdue. He is ten feet tall, and the horse is gigantic, with wings, iron-boned and dynamite-fueled, soaring in forty-foot leaps down the flank of the whitened wonder of a winter world."

Every year at Christmas time we read all of the favorites - The Gift of the Magi, The Three Wise Men, Luke 2, and other Christmas favorites. But, we had a special favorite that a lot of people hadn't heard of - Stubby Pringle's Christmas. I'm not even sure how we were introduced to it, except that it was one of the stories in a big red Christmas book.

This story, of true giving, is about a farm hand that works really hard for a few months to earn enough money/time off to go to a Christmas dance on Christmas Eve. His one chance a year to mingle with the other young adults his age.

But, don't want to ruin the story for you if you haven't heard it, take a look at this site where a couple decided to post the entire short story.

Or, buy it in book form - it was written by Jack Schaefer - which seems to be a collectible since all copies on Amazon and Ebay are going for $550. I purchased it as part of a collection of other great Christmas stories.