Otto’s Lantern Dare — Every night, Otto the gnome tapped his lantern three times—plink, plink, plink—then rang the tiny bedtime bell for the forest mice. Read the full story →
Every night, Otto the gnome tapped his lantern three times—plink, plink, plink—then rang the tiny bedtime bell for the forest mice. He liked the job because it was small and quiet, and the snow smelled like cold pine needles.
Until one night, the bell would not ding. Because of that, Otto crawled under the big Christmas tree, where nobody ever looked except runaway pinecones. Because of THAT, his hat bumped the tree stand, and a secret door popped open with a squeak. Out rolled a toy kazoo, a crumb of cookie, and the missing bell clapper.
“I can fix it,” Otto whispered, though his knees wibbled. He tucked the clapper back, rang DING-DING, and the mice cheered so loudly that snow shook from the branches. If you spot Otto’s lantern, you’ll know where the sneaky little door hid in the cold pine night.
