Little Sammy Fuzzytail, a naughty little brown squirrel who should have been asleep, stared blankly out of his bedroom window gazing onto the shimmering, moonlit snow-covered ground.

Safely tucked away under his cozy fluffed up blanket Sammy thought out loud, ”I hope that I am old enough this time,” he said over and over again his eyes glistening from the reflection of the shinny acorn he dreamt of.

He believed with his whole heart that his wish would come true this year. Sammy grew two inches taller, did all of his chores, some of his sisters, and was extra good all year long. Surely, this would earn him the privilege to be able join the older squirrels on the annual quest for the Silver Acorn.

The Silver Acorn was very special, very special indeed. The acorn was the fruit of a rather unusual tree. The mysterious tree offered only one of these grand prizes per year. A reward only found by the most experienced and skilled of harvesters.

What made this prize so special was that it was enchanted. If found the single Silver Acorn would be large enough to provide a bountiful harvest, enough to last the long winter for the entire Fuzzytail Squirrel Clan.

Every year on the eve of Christmas, the bravest squirrels in Sammy’s large family would journey into the forest to hunt for the ultimate gift.
 Christmas, a time for relatives near and far, would travel back to the Fuzzytail homestead for the cold winter.

 The celebration following the hunt was a time-honored tradition. The family of squirrels cherished the tradition of the hunt, passing it down from generation to generation.

Each year memories of gatherings past filled the Fuzzytail home with love and joy, and the wooden table, adorned with nuts and berries, would warm by the firelight as it did every year.
 
Sammy snuggled up in his warm comfortable bed imagining what would come tomorrow, and eventually drifted off to sleep. The only chore left for him to do was to dream of the words that he longed to hear all year long.

“Morning! It‘s morning!” Sammy excitedly shouted as he opened his tiny squirrel eyes. He scampered down the stairs, where the arriving members of the Fuzzytail family were gathering for the Christmas festivities.

 There he was Sammy’s grandfather who was at that very moment lighting his pinecone pipe.

“Pappy! Pappy! Can I come this time? Can I? Please! Oh please!” Sammy pleaded with his wise old grandfather.

The ancient gray and white squirrel looked down upon Sammy, whose heart was racing, filling with hope.

“Sammy,” said the elder Fuzzytail pausing to take in a deep breath, “I think that the weather this year will test our success, and it will be a little too dangerous for such a young squirrel such as yourself, maybe next year my boy. But, you could do something else for me that is just as important,” Pappy told him.

“What is it Sir?” Sammy quietly asked with sadness in his voice, and ache in his broken heart.

“You could stay and help your mother and Grandma prepare for the feast tonight. Now how would that be?”  Pappy asked.

Sammy’s hopes and dreams crushed and crumbled into little bits on the floor. To stay home and help the girls, Yuk! However, he did not want to disappoint his grandfather, “Okay Pappy, I will,” he answered sadly kicking a small stone on the dirt floor.

With all hope now gone, Sammy disappeared back up to his tree top bedroom, returning to his latest hobby of starring out into the nothingness.

At that very moment, he could have chose differently, but did not. An idea popped into his small furry head. Sammy thought to himself that maybe, with daylight on his side, that he could do it, that he could find the Silver Acorn all by himself.

“All by myself,” he declared quietly. “I could do it! I will show them I am not too little I am not! Then I could be the hero, the hero of Christmas!”
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It was nearly lunchtime in the Fuzzytail house that day before Christmas, when Sammy finally finished packing his tiny penny-sized backpack with some snacks and his warmest scarf. He strapped on his backpack, slipped out of his bedroom window, and began his secret quest.

The journey began as he ran off into the deepest part of the forest where the most ancient trees towered over the snow covered earth.

Finally noticing that she had not heard anything from him since breakfast time, Sammy’s mother asked his sisters, “Girls, do you know where Sammy is?”

“I think that he is in his room,” his oldest sister answered in a tattling manner.

“Will you please go and fetch him, it is nearly come time for the men folk to leave for the hunt,” Grandma said.

After a few minutes, Sammy’s oldest sister scurried back down the staircase that she had just climbed and cried out, “He is not in his room Mother!”

“What do you mean he is not in his room?” asked Pappy overhearing the news.

“Well it seems that Sammy is not in his room,” Grandma said filling with fear for her little grandson.

“His favorite scarf is not here,” his father said, worrying after checking the coat closet. “I hope that he did not run off into the forest!”

With the family, all gathered for the hunt, everyone searched the house from top to bottom. However, after a fruitless search no Sammy.

“No luck here,” Sammy’s uncle reported, after checking the kitchen cupboard, the very last place left to check.

“Well I think now we need to go out and search the forest. We will find him do not worry,” Pappy told Sammy’s mother trying to make her feel better.

“Take the bells with you there is a storm coming! Please hurry!” Grandma said with tear filled eyes.

The search party said their goodbyes and journeyed deep into the forest to find little Sammy Fuzzytail. They began to jingle their bells so that the lost little squirrel would be able to hear them over the whipping winds.

Meanwhile, Sammy, unable to see anything that was familiar to him, decided that he was lost as the expected winter storm moved in. Snow began to fall from the darkening sky, quickly covering the existing frozen forest floor with a fresh feathery blanket.

“Where am I?” he asked himself. He looked up and down and all around, to see something, anything that he saw before. Not one thing reminded Sammy of which way would point him towards home.

“I should have marked my trail! I am so very lost!” Sammy began to cry. He grew more and more frightened as the small part of remaining light retreated from the forest that quickly became black as pitch.

Strange sounds came from all directions causing Sammy to become even more scared. With no idea of where he was or what to do, Sammy crawled into a hollow of a big old tree that stood before him. He nestled his fuzzy tail around himself, drying his nearly frozen tears, as the snow continued to fall.

“I need help, I want my Mommy!” he whimpered.

The jingle, jingle, jingle of the bells were echoing throughout the snow covered forest. The search party kept on with the hunt, not for the Silver Acorn, for something much more precious, a little squirrel lost in the forest.

Sammy’s eyes were welling with tears, “I am so scared, I want to go home!” he cried.

Just then, off into the distance, a twinkling light came drifting through the forest. Sammy noticed the floating light, quickly shut his eyes tight, and continued to whimper.

“Why do you weep little one,” a soft and gentle voice whispered.

Little Sammy Fuzzytail opened his tiny squirrel eyes gazing upon an angel, who floated gracefully in the air with a glorious sparkling blue light all around her.

“I am so very lost,” he cried. “I can’t find my way home, can you help me?” Sammy begged the angel.

“Yes, of course I will help you my little friend. First may I ask why you are not home with your family on this night?” the angel asked Sammy.

“Well, my Pappy said that I wasn’t big enough to go on the hunt for the Silver Acorn this year, so I decided to go by myself,” Sammy answered ashamed of himself.

“I see, so then it is lucky that I have found you,” she said. “Do not cry my little one all is not lost, for you have found what you seek. Look just up there,” she said pointing to the top of the tree in which Sammy sought haven.

Sammy crawled out of his hiding spot, pushed his furry head back as far as he could, starring at the top of the tree.

There it was, the Silver Acorn! Oh how wonderful! It was beautiful, and all that he dreamed it would be.

“Here you are little squirrel,” the angel said, as the precious treasure floated down from its tree top home, right into Sammy’s tiny paws.

“Thank you, oh so much!” he cheered. “But how do I find my way home?” he asked her with sorrow in his voice.

“Let the moonlight guide your way,” the angel suggested, as she lifted her arm and waved away the dark storm clouds that were cloaking the moon.

“Wow!” Sammy was amazed.

“Your prize will be your lantern,” she explained to him as the moonlight caused the Silver Acorn to glow. “Now run little squirrel, and go find your family.”

“Thank you! I shall not forget your kindness! Bye!” Sammy shouted as he ran off into the night.

It appeared that Sammy’s family too was lost, blinded by the blowing snow. They kept jingling their bells, with the hope that Sammy would hear them.

Just then, the lost members of Sammy’s family saw a shimmer of light bouncing through the forest.

“What could it be?” asked one of the rescuers.

Sammy, still running as fast as he could, heard bells jingling, ringing off into the distance.

Jingle…jingle…jingle. He could hear the voices of his father and grandpa calling his name, “Sammy! Sammy!”

“That sounds like my family! They have found me! They have found me!” the happy little squirrel cheered.

He bolted towards the sound of the jingling bells.

Jingle…jingle…jingle.

“Pappy! Daddy!” he shouted.

“Sammy! Sammy! Thank heavens you are safe!” said Sammy’s father as Sammy jumped into his arms.

The search party began to celebrate, “We have found Sammy! Wahoo!”

“You have found me!” Sammy said hugging his Daddy tightly.

“My little one, we did not find you, you found us. For we were very lost,” Pappy told Sammy.

“And look what else he has found!” exclaimed Sammy’s father.

There it was in the very paws of Little Sammy Fuzzytail, the same squirrel who had been too young to join the hunt.

Now all reunited once again, the family made their way home, guided by the light of the Silver Acorn.

Finally, with everyone home safe, the Fuzzytail family all gathered around the twinkling Christmas tree. They took a moment out of the festivities to give thanks for the Silver Acorn, and for Sammy, the hero of Christmas.