By Sarah Beauregard and Johannie Dufour / Translated by Katya Teague
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Once upon a time, in the town of Mount Christmas, the annual snowman con颅test was underway. This friendly competition in the park was a highly anticipated event that the town鈥檚 residents had enjoyed for generations.
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That day in December, the Morrow family was hard at work on their creation as snowflakes fell softly around them. Jeremy, a loving single father, and his kids, a teenager named Samuel and a young girl named Alice, wanted their snowman to be unique.
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As the family put the finishing tou颅ches on their snow king, Alice no颅颅ti颅ced that the large carrot they wanted to use for its nose was missing. Looking around, she spotted a squirrel running away with the vegetable in its mouth.
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鈥淐ome back here, you silly squir颅rel,鈥� the little girl shouted. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 OUR carrot!鈥�
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Of course, the squirrel didn鈥檛 listen and continued to flee with its prize. Without a second thought, Alice took off after the creature. She wasn鈥檛 going to let a thief ruin her chance听 to win the contest.
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鈥淎lice,鈥� cried Jeremy. 鈥淚t鈥檚 too late, just let it go.鈥�
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Focused on her mission, the girl ignored her father and kept running. Jeremy quickly set off in pursuit, leaving Samuel in charge of watching their things.
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Alice was surprisingly fast for a seven-year-old. She sprinted across the soccer field, clambered up the sledding hill and raced past the playground. Finally, she caught up to the squirrel who鈥檇 scurried into the hole of a tree trunk.
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Alice knelt by the tree and looked in the hole. Inside, she could see the frightened animal clutching the carrot. Behind the creature were two baby squirrels looking very scared. At that moment, Alice heard a familiar whistling sound beside her. It was Octave, the wise and magical cardinal who watched over Mount Christmas.
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鈥淥ctave, this squirrel stole our carrot,鈥� Alice complained. 鈥淲e need it to win the snowman contest.鈥�
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鈥淚 see,鈥� Octave said. 鈥淚鈥檓 sure the squirrel didn鈥檛 mean to up颅set you. He only wanted to feed his family.鈥�
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鈥淛ust like when Dad goes to the grocery store,鈥� Alice realized. 鈥淓xcept squirrels don鈥檛 have any money to buy food.鈥�
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鈥淟ook in your heart,鈥� Octave said, as he flew away. 鈥淵ou鈥檒l figure out what to do.鈥�
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Alice glanced back at the squirrel who looked apologetic as he handed her the carrot. The girl accepted the vegetable, but she promptly broke it in half. Alice handed one of the pieces to the squirrel family and smiled as the creatures cheerfully squeaked.
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By then, Jeremy arrived out of breath and Alice ran to him. She was so happy about her good deed that she jumped into his arms and they both went tumbling into a snowbank.
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鈥淐ome on, Dad! Let鈥檚 go find Samuel and finish our masterpiece,鈥� she exclaimed.
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In the end, the Morrow family鈥檚 snowman won first prize for creativity. To celebrate their success, the trio headed to the Joyous Delights restaurant where they ordered three big slices of carrot cake.
