by chasten
A wonderful story but even at 70 you made me cry. There aren't enough stars for this story. Thankyou.
I think I just read the winner! Chas, that was incredible. My eyes are still teary. 5*
Dang you brought tears to these old eyes. Definitely your best yet.
Just a great story!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
You've a talent for beautiful stories. Thank you for this one. Possibly the best Christmas story I've read.
Damn you chasten, now I am sniffling and everyone is going to think I have Covid-19. Despite looking slightly intimidating in real life (my wife laughs when she tells me how I scare some of her friends), I am a big softy at heart and this story got me good.
As a Canadian who has lived most of his life 500 km North of the US border, I have never seen a Caribou in real life, but will concede that these ones can live wherever they want. You don't need artistic license with Santa's reindeer, it's a given that they are magic.
This is an instant holiday classic. Thank you.
What a wonderful story , warm , romantic and ever so poignant .
Well done, keep up the awesomeness
Holy smoke this was good, the best Christmas story ever, 5 stars!
Dammit, now the dog leaning on my leg is wondering why I'm crying.
Good story. Very good.
Wonderful,story
Beautiful,and inspired story of love and flying pie pilfering. Loved it.
This is one of those stories that makes you stop after you've read it because you know you just read something really, really special. Lovely story and thank you so much for sharing it. Beautiful, amazing, lovely <3
What an amazing work! "Pie Thief" just moved "Meet Me in the Middle" out of my top three favorites on Lit. Thanks for sharing.
The best I have read on lit. Wish there were more stars to give. Made these 80 year old male eyes leak
This easily has the substance to be a Christmas classic. Amazing writing!
Thank you for sharing a wonderful Christmas story. I expect that this will be a top contender. I look forward to reading this every Christmas. A little softer on the romance and it is a great Hallmark Channel Christmas Classic!
Chasten, that story was nigh on perfect. It had everything a reader could ask for and more, perfect timing, pathos and bathos. It took a while to realise what was happening, but from then on it was a sleigh-ride all the way to the bitter-sweet ending. I'm privileged to have read it.
Thank you, sir.
As I would expect from you. Thanks for writing and for sharing.
This story was wonderful, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The way he met Nadie and how their relationship developed was very engaging. Of course, Pie Thief (the caribou / reindeer) was fantastic. And I truly loved how Pie Thief got them to the hospital so Nadie could safely give birth to their daughter. The tie-in with Santa and his reindeer was tremendous as well, and I thought the ending was perfectly fitting.
This is as near to perfect as one can get.
Thanks for writing.
OMG! What a sleeper this one was! Sneaked up on you and "gotcha" at the end. Left me feeling warm and fuzzy, and wistful! Worth the time to read and the 5 starm ratinf, wishing there was a 6.
A slight quirky style but such a wonderful story of a fairy tale romance. Loved it from the humorous start to the emotional end, gradually being drawn in and almost didn't see the end coming. Well deserves it's rating.
My words seem inadequate, so I’ll steal yours. “Somehow magic could happen...” Thank you.
At 70, as of yesterday, I am pretty well burnt out on the classic seasonal movies. This gem of a story, handled respectfully, could easily provide some new entertainment in that genre. I would welcome it and doubt that I am alone in that sentiment. This could become an instant classic.
The idea of Father Christmas having off-season side gigs in whole food, pro-biotics peddling and ruminant husbandry had me giggling.
Whether or not Jed and Nadie would be even in the bed at the final scene or just gone was my one question. But in that Canadian sensibility, of not causing any disturbance, of course they had to be there, so there was no worry caused to the kids.
The fun bit in stories like this is that all the cards were on the table at the beginning. You had to read them from the dealer's position for them to make sense, though. Just like in teaching, you tell them what they're going to see, you show them and then then you tell them what they just saw. When the faces light up in the eureka moment, that's when it's done right.
Kerstman wasn't the only one with a twinkle in his eye during the reading, nor the writing if I'm guessing. Fun and a sweet tale. Thanks!
You don't deserve a 4.9, you ought to get a perfect 5.
I just read Pie Thief..... Wow. Still have tears. Very well written, your descriptions were very well done and you seemed as though you grew up on a sleigh (pulk, if you will). I’m impressed. Gave you 5*, Thank you for such a well crafted story, and for ALL the effort that went into your offering. Wayne
One of the warmest love stories you could read at Christmas. Thank you.
Lots left to the imagination; tonnes of suspense; and no unnecessary erotic detail. Great story!
Excellent story, with the ending taking me by surprise. Great work.
This is one of those stories that put a smile on your face. It scared me about the ride to the hospital, I was thinking something bad was going happen. The ending bought a smile and tears at the same time. Great writing.
I really have to do something about the dust in this room...
That was amazingly moving. I loved it.
What an amazing, wonderful twist! And to rdcyclist: I don't know where in the world you are, but your dust has spread here, to where I am...should really invest in some quality dusters.
10 stars, if I could.
Well done, chasten
I don't want to make more work for you but this really should be expanded into a novel. This is a great story that could become a classic book.
With a little judicious editing that's a killer Hallmark movie. I loved this story!
Took me a while to get around to reading winner entries, but now I’m glad I did. Wonderful story and in many places surprising. I was impressed by how you compressed a whole lifetime to just four lit pages. As a Finn I have to object to Santa Claus living in Canada, but I forgave you that blasphemy at “Tanssija”.
Well done and congratulations!
First story of yours that I read.
... And it won't be the last. This story definitely deserved the honour of placing in the 2020 Winter contest. This story did not go in the direction I was thinking but you did a wonderful job of making Santa more human, if that is possible. Worth 6 stars!
This is an incredible story and I am so happy that it was highly appreciated! I look forward to reading it as a classic every Christmas week in the future!!! Thank You for sharing such a great story!
is what this surprising, fun, sweet, loving story deserves. Thank you! BTW, I think you didn’t at all get Canadian phrasing but it’s alright. Besides, so much of it comes in the pronunciation and that just isn’t gonna happen here, eh?
Beautiful Christmas-story. Worthy of Christmas. You deserved the award.
This (as others have pointed out) is both a well-made and a sweet story (probably sweet enough for Pie Thief).
I don't think I found a "Ville-Claire" in Ontario via Google, but I found the Ontario beer and what "TSC" might stand for (and I found at least 1 of the Native words as from Ojibwe (the people once known to Americans as "Chippewa") : ) ) -- and I already knew (from reading) of McMaster U. in Hamilton, Ontario and of the Canadian word "toque" -- so I figure some serious research was done -- and Thanks to the author for that : ) (I'm a New York City-area person, but I've done more reading (I think) about Canada (not so much about hockey, but about Canada) than the average American who has only visted Ontario and Québec a few times (mostly in summer).
I'm also quite impressed by the editing: no very-distracting errors in spelling or confusing changes of names for characters. : )
Thanks to the author for the story.
Ethan (not the fictional son of Jed and Nadie) in New York City/"nycreader" when speaking up in the Literotica universe.
Not sure I can add more to what's already been said, but you deserve all the praise you've received for this wonderful story. My only knock is that you didn't let it go longer so I didn't have to put down my kindle and now go do something resembling work. Fortunately, I'll have the afterglow memories of this story to keep me company. Every so often a story truly deserves more than 5 stars and this is such an occasion.
Had my suspicions when he named his team "Thunder" and "Lighting".
It isn't often that a romantic story will trip my triggers as thoroughly as this one did. Excellent writing, and I have to admit that I never saw the Santa plot twist coming...since I grew up in an area with some unusual characters, his quirks didn't even cause a blip on my radar.
Bravo!
Of all the places I would find a story to bring tears to my eyes. I'm a big one about Christmas and this story took my breath away. Even getting towards the end of the story I still didn't have a clue. So well done, I think it should have been in first place, loved it. Thank You.
In every way a pleasure to read and think about. You did well.
This story should lead the way in the Hall of Fame here ... not one of the best. It is the best I've read here. Thank you for all the wonderful pictures
Ah, I remember my mom's schneken. I used to watch her rolling out the dough, placing the filling of brown sugar, cinnamon, and currants (?) on the dough, rolling the whole assembly into a tube, then cutting the individual rolls out of that. Endlessly fascinating to my young mind.
Great story. Thanks.
SoMike
Nice story. I attended McMaster University in the 1970’s. The undergraduate on campus bar “The Downstairs John” holds many memories for me! “The John” sold more beer per week than any bar in Ontario at that time. It always had live dance bands and lots of single girls to dance with! There was also the “Ratskeller” bar (usually called “The Rat”) which had live easy listening entertainment. It was the 4 best years of my life.
How I missed this the first time around I'll never know..... just glad I found it through the best stories link. What a fabulous story.... getting book marked for sure. 5 stars, squared!
Fantastic, I’m going down the list reading all of your works. Thank you for your efforts and your generosity! You have given an old curmudgeon a lot of smiles as well as tears. You are very much appreciated. Jim
What a wonderful story.
Not sure how I missed this.
Probably the best Christmas Story on this site. Well Done!!
(keep 'em coming)
Definitely 5 stars. Heartwarming and bittersweet too. The kind of life that I wish that I could have been granted, but it was never my luck to have. You done good.
So, I finish reading todd172's latest for the fifth time and I glance at the message at the end and see his recommendation of you and others (who I now have to read all of) and look down your list and catch on Pie Thief. Now that the tears are mostly dried up I just have to say THANK YOU very much. Gal
This story has just moved to the top of my personal favorites. There were words and terms I needed to search for to get the meanings which added to the story. There were the romantic twists that crept into the story and my heart that added to the life of the characters. Then came the tears of joy and sadness at the end. Truly one of the best of the best. Miigwech.
I too am a Tod172 follower, just finished "Pie Thief", what a rush wow, kind of saw it coming , didn't want to believe it, finished it,now looking for a tissue.
Thank you for sharing your stories.
I thoroughly enjoyed this wonderful, heartwarming tale.
5+++stars
That Sir, was a beautiful story! I don't know how you come up with them but I'm glad that you do and sharing them with us is special. Thank you! 5 BIG HUGE TWINKLY STARS! Thank you.
You got me hook line and sinker. What have I been missing? Flawless story 5+
What an absolutely wonderful story and tale.Stood me up and made me reread the sled ride three times.Fantastic!!
Wow what a story. Chasten’s best for sure; as others have noted, five stars ain’t enough.
Wow! At first I didn’t see the point in introducing Pie Thief. Then…boom! Amazing! Thank you for this magical story.
This story ranks up there as one of the best. Thank you for taking the time to craft this story.
A really sweet, touching story. Chasten has an amazing ear for dialog, his characters speak as real people. Wonderfully crafted tale!