It was almost Christmas. The neighbors all along the street had Christmas lights sparkling on their houses. Christmas trees twinkled I the windows, and the smell of cookies baking filled the air.

“Christmas is such a wonderful time of year,” Kris Moose said, as he CRUNCHED through the snow. He was on his way to the Roberts’ house next door. They had invited him over th bake cookies and decorate their Christmas tree.

Kris KLIP-KLOPPED up the Roberts’ front stairs. He ducked his head to keep his huge antlers from banging into the porch roof.

BZZ-ZZZ! went the doorbell.

“Hey, Kris,” said Kiley, as she opened the door.

“Kris!” Peter shouted, running to the door, too.

“Hello, kids!” Kris said. “Merry Christmas!”

“You too! Come on in!” Peter said.

But getting Kris Moose inside the house took some creativity. Kris TURNED his head right. He TURNED his head left. And he TIPPED his antlers to get his head through the door. Then he WIGGLED his plump moose tummy, and TWIRLED his tiny tail, and he made it!

“Phew!” Kris sighed, grinning.

The kids giggled.

“Come to the kitchen, everybody!” Mrs. Roberts called. “It’s time to make Christmas cookies.”

“Oh, boy!” Kris said.

The kids helped Kris TIP-TOE around the furniture and into the kitchen. Kris washed his moosey hooves and sat next tot the big counter in the middle of the room. Peter tied a big green apron around Kris’s neck to keep his blue sweater and red scarf from getting flour on them.

Mrs. Roberts showed Kris and the kids how to make the delicious cookie dough. Then she brought out her special Christmas cookie cutters. Once they had made all their favorite shapes, Mrs. Roberts put the cookies on trays and put them in the oven.

“Now we have to wait for this batch to get done before we cut any more,” Mrs. Roberts said. “I don’t have any more trays. You kids can take Kris to see the Christmas tree while we wait for the oven.”

So, Peter and Kiley helped Kris through the doorways to the living room. Kris tipped his antlers right and then left. He SQUEEZED, and he SQUIRMED, and he SQUIGGLED, and he made it!

“Look at our beautiful tree!” Kiley said, pointing to the family’s Christmas tree next to the big front window.

“We’re going to decorate it with all this stuff,” Peter said, showing Kris boxes of lights and ornaments. “We just have to be careful not to step on the presents.” He pointed to the packages stacked neatly by the tree.

Just then, the oven timer rang.

“Cookies!” Mrs. Roberts called happily from the kitchen.

Kris looked at the doorway. “Hmm. I don’t think I’ll get to the kitchen in time to get the oven. Why don’t you kids go take care of that and make the next batch of cookies. And I’ll stay and look at the tree for a while.”

“Okay,” Peter said. “Would you like to start decorating, while we bake?”

“Oh, sure!” Kris said.

Peter and Kiley headed back to the kitchen.

Kris needed to get to the tree and the boxes of decorations. He TIP-TOED past the piano and the piano chair. He SCOOTED around the end of the couch. He TIPPED his antlers over top of the lamp beside the couch. And he made it!

Kris opened the boxes of decorations and carefully took out colored glass balls, sparkly snowflakes, plump Santas, and lots of other pretty ornaments. He found the star for the top of the tree, too.

“Now, I’ve never decorated a tree before,” he thought. “But I think I can do it. I know this goes on top.” He put the star on the TIPPY-TOP branch. “There.”

Kris WOBBLED as he stood on his back legs. Then he picked up the whole pile of ornaments with his long front legs. He hung some ornaments on the right side of the tree. Then he hung some on the left side of the tree. He put the last few things in the middle. There were still big spaces on the tree that had no decorations at all. And the tree leaned a little to the right because there were more ornaments on that side than on the other.

 “Perfect!” Kris said, looking at his work. “But I’m still missing something.” He rubbed his moose chin. “I know! Lights!”

Kris found the box of lights. He pulled out the lights, but they were all tangled in a big ball of jumbled cords. He found the plug end.

“Well, now that I have the plug, this should be easy!” he thought as he held the plug end in his mouth so it didn’t get tangled again.

But as he untwisted the cord, it only twisted itself back up. So, he tried to keep the cord as straight as he could by wrapping the untangled part around his right antler. The he used his left antler. But the ball of lights wasn’t much smaller or less jumbled.

Kris unwound some more lights. Quickly, before they wound up again, he tip-toed over and looped some around the legs of the piano chair. Then he looped some around the couch legs and behind the cushions. He looped the next part around the lamp. But the ball of lights was still jumbled. So, he looped the next part around his right foot, and the next part around his left foot. He looped some more lights around the top of the tree.

Finally, he held the other end of the cord. Lights were Kris-Krossed all across the living room, all nicely untangled.

“Perfect!” Kris said.

Then he tried to tip-toe to the wall to plug in the lights, but his feet were tangled now.

He didn’t make it.

He TRIPPED. The tree TIPPED. The lamp TOPPLED. The couch SCOOCHED and the cushions SLIPPED. The chair FLIPPED. Kris’s antlers SNAGGED, and he wobbled into the presents and fell, KER-KRASH! beside the tree.

The lights were tangled and jumbled again—and so was Kris Moose. The living room was just as jumbled as he was.

Mrs. Roberts, and Peter, and Kiley rushed into the room.

“Oh, my!” Mrs. Roberts exclaimed, when she saw the mess.

“Are you okay, Kris?” Kiley asked as she and Peter came to help him.

Kris grinned. He was embarrassed. “Well, I was doing okay until this happened.” He sat up. The Christmas presents were smushed too, with moosey hoof prints and torn paper. “I’m so sorry for the mess. I was only trying to help. I didn’t mean to ruin Christmas for you all.”

“You didn’t ruin anything, Kris,” Mrs. Roberts said, picking up the lamp and setting it back on the table by the couch. “The mess can be cleaned up, and the gifts can be replaced. They’re just things. Christmas is about much more than the things we have. And the love we have for each other is much more important than how perfect the holiday turns out to be.”

“Yeah,” Peter said. “And we don’t even need the tree. You decorated yourself so well, you’ll be the best Kris-Moose tree ever!”

And they all laughed.

THE END