Once upon a time, in a small town called Snowypoint, a little girl named Polly Blacksmith lived with her friend, dog, and mother. Polly is a thirteen-year-old girl who loves to snowboard and celebrate the holidays!

As Polly and Ruth sat on the floor talking, Polly's mother walked in and said, "Girls! Why don't you go get changed and go play outside? It has been snowing for the past few hours." The girls looked at each other, then nodded their heads and walked to Polly's room.

While Polly was looking for clothes, Ruth said "this is my first time in the snow since I moved here, I am so excited! What do I wear? Is this okay,?" as she pointed to her small shirt and ripped jeans. "How about this instead,?" said Polly, handing Ruth a hat, mittens, and a big winter jacket.

"Hey, Ruth, how about we go to the mountain to snowboard and ice skate? I know you are good at ice skating," spoke Polly as she was looking at Ruth with a big smile on her face. "Fine, let's go! I'll race you to the top," expressed Ruth. The girls began running up the mountain giggling, singing holiday music, and beaming with joy to be playing outside in the snow.

Right before Polly snowboarded down the mountain, she looked at Ruth and noticed she was skating but wanted to tell her something about Christmas in two days. "Ruth! Come here, I need to tell you something!" As soon as Polly said that, Ruth made her way to Polly quickly. The girls looked back and forth at each other before Polly sat down on the ski lift, pointing to the spot next to her. "Let's talk about Christmas in two days," said Polly quietly with her voice quivering. 

Ruth looked at Polly with concern as Polly began to speak. "Well Ruth, we haven't been friends for a very long time, but I thought you should know why I have been so distant about talking about the holiday season," as tears were rolling down her eyes. Ruth gave Polly a small rub on the back, reassuring her that everything will be okay. Polly said softly, "my dad has been gone for a year and he always told me that he would come home for Christmas, but looks like he won't make it this time. That is why I am not looking forward to this Christmas anymore. I miss him so much."

The next two days went by faster than expected. Polly, her mother, and Ruth began wrapping presents for each other on Christmas Eve before finishing decorating the tree. Polly looked around her house and smiled a little bit before saying, "If you were here, you would have loved how mom did things. I miss you, I just hope you are in a better place, dad."