Snow! | Dad with Bow and Arrow | Little Skier | Beebower Productions
The Greatest Christmas Present Ever
He hoped against hope in his seven-year-old heart that it would be under the tree. All Dad wanted for Christmas was a Red Ryder BB Carbine-Action Two Hundred Range Model Air Rifle from Hanna’s Hardware! Every kid in Townsville, Pennsylvania had one, but him. Dad didn’t get it last year, but he felt certain this was his year.
He’d played it cool, casually working the gun into conversations with his Dad and Grandpa Beebower. All kids know you can’t be too heavy handed with these things or the adults won’t take the bate at Christmas time.
His mother already told him he’d shoot his eye out. She predated Ralphie’s mother in “A Christmas Story” by 34 years. And she honestly thought he’d shoot his eye out. She was also convinced he’d shoot the telephone line instead of the pesky starlings that hung out on the telephone line that Dad hoped to hunt. She was a definite no.
But his Dad and Grandpa Beebower appreciated my Dad’s rodent trapping skills and hunting ambitions. They could see lots of uses for a BB gun around the farm, namely cutting their rodent control time down considerably.
Christmas morning dawned cold and bright. Dad raced down the creaky farmhouse stairs to the living room and surveyed the Christmas presents. He checked under the Christmas tree, around the back but nothing shaped like a Red Ryder waited for him.
He didn’t give up though. His parents often hid one special gift for the kids. They doled out very few clues, forcing the kids to be resourceful in the present hunt. Dad, being quite mischievous, had a pretty good handle on the hiding spaces all over the house. It didn’t take him long to narrow down the possibilities to an ironing board closet near the living room.
He whipped the door open in expectant glee. And there it sat—a Red Ryder BB Carbine-Action Air Rifle from Hanna’s Hardware! His dream had come true. This was—without a doubt— the best Christmas ever!
Dad wasted no time, grabbing the box and setting up target practice in yard. It didn’t take him long to figure out how it worked. All of those hours of watching the “Lone Ranger” and reading the comic strip Red Ryder payed off! In no time, Dad became a sharpshooter, thus fueling his obsession with all things Western. And unlike his movie counterpart Ralphie, Dad did not step on his glasses nor did he shoot his eye out.
Now It’s Your Turn
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