It's Christmas in the City of Canada

Chapter 1

It was a cold and snowy Christmas morning in the City of Canada, deep, thick white mountains of snow drowning the streets and freezing the sea over, creating nature's own ice rink by the beach. In stark contrast, all the citizens were wrapped up warmly in their beds, wearing many layers of woolly clothing and double pairs of socks to keep them from getting cold feet and hypothermia.

Suddenly, children across the city woke up in excitement of what day it was today, shaking their parents awake. "Dad, it's Christmas! Wake up!" Calgary exclaimed to his father, Edmonton, climbing onto his bed. "Please, Dad! It's Christmas! I wanna open my presents!" Winnipeg begged his father, Winnipegosis. "Mom, Dad, come on, it's Christmas," Pictou reminded his parents, Port Hawkesbury and Stellarton.

Lots of the adults were waking up excitedly too. "Oh, snow outside, it must be Christmas," Halifax remarked, smiling as he saw the snow softly fall outside his bedroom window. "Oh, lovely! It's Christmas! Time to get roasting that turkey, then," Kitchener smiled too as he began to think up some suitably festive recipe ideas. "Oh, wow, Christmas time! Great, I'll be at the market today!" Longueuil exclaimed as he collected all his fruit candy-making kit and ingredients. "Christmas time? Guess I should make mulled wine instead of milkshakes today," Chicoutimi remarked, noticing the bitter, cold air outside.

However, a few citizens were not looking forward to Christmas at all, rather like Scrooge. "Argh... That time of year again..." Blacks Harbour moaned angrily as he whipped his fishing rod out, only to see that the sea had completely frozen over. "Too bloody damn right!" his equally irritable brother, St. John's, roared in his strong Newfoundland twang as he also noticed the frozen sea. "Christmas? Och, nae, no!" Antigonish snarled as he saw the bright lights and white snow falling outside. "Christmas? The only present I'll ever get this year is business for kids' pleasure!" Fredericton complained as he dragged himself out of bed, shivering with cold despite the fact he was wearing three layers plus socks.

For the majority of the city, however, they had been eagerly looking forward to Christmas Day with childlike excitement and impatience. The children and adults all rushed downstairs to their sitting rooms, their eyes firmly gazing at the pile of presents below the colourful glow of the Christmas tree.

Calgary and Winnipeg darted towards the first presents they lay their inquisitive eyes on, Edmonton and Winnipegosis crouching down by their side. Calgary unwrapped his first present of the day, rolling the paper off to reveal a little blue camera with handles. "Oh, guy! Now I can record all the things I want to remember forever!" he exclaimed, turning on the camera and snapping a photo of the Christmas tree and Edmonton. Winnipeg uncovered a small sketchbook for him to draw and paint in. "Now you can finally put your creativity where it rightfully belongs," Winnipegosis told him. "But where's my crayons and brushes?" asked Winnipeg.

Pictou unwrapped his first present to reveal a baking cookbook. "Ooh, this'll help me come with ideas for things to sell at my stall," he remarked. He then uncovered a rather large crinkly-looking and rough present, which gave way to an oakwood hamper containing a variety of tasty goodies, like cookies, seafood, condiments and candy. "Aw, you know I'm into my food, don't you?" he cooed at Port Hawkesbury and Stellarton, who nodded in agreement.

Halifax found a neatly-wrapped gift box sitting on top of the television set. "Ooh, I wonder what that could be," he wondered as he stepped over to the TV, gently prising the lid off the box. Inside lay an organizer with tabs so he could jot down important dates, contacts and tasks. "Oh, it's even got a little pen with it," he added, sliding the complimentary pen off the front cover and beginning to fill in his personal details on the first page.

Winnipeg tugged out a large, rectangular present from beneath the Christmas tree, Winnipegosis helping him carry it to the middle of the room. He slowly tore at the wrapping paper, a rainbow pattern showing through the holes, piquing his curiosity further. As he peeled away the last shred of paper, he found a mega art case. "Oh! So here's the crayons and brushes!" he yelled joyfully as he opened the case up, revealing a collection of crayons, coloured pencils, paintbrushes and paints. "Told you I'd get those," Winnipegosis smiled at him, and Winnipeg picked out a handful of crayons to draw with in his new sketchbook. Calgary unwrapped a new tablet which he could play games and watch videos on. For a little festive fun, he photographed himself and Edmonton in front of the Christmas tree making silly faces. Calgary began to edit the photo by adding suitably seasonal doodles and colourful writing.