Calvin, Phoebe, and Heath

Heath sat beside the family Christmas tree, playing with all the new toys he'd just opened. Phoebe and Calvin entered the living room holding something behind their backs. "Heath, we're not finished with Christmas yet!" Phoebe sing-songed. Heath looked up, instantly intrigued. "What do you mean we're not done yet?" he asked brightly. Calvin chuckled. "Well, apparently Santa Claus left this for you." he explained as he brought a worn scroll out from behind his back. Heath gasped and took it carefully. "Whoa, look at this!" he exclaimed. "It must be a thousand years old!" Phoebe and Calvin winked at each other. "Open it up, dear. What does it say?" she asked.

Heath unrolled the paper. "It's…it's a map! And riddles!" Instantly, he deadpanned and lowered the map slowly. "I've…been…selected…to…go…on….a…journey!" he figured in his little head. Heath jumped up and read the first riddle aloud. "A great big bird in a warm stone…" he followed his map until he reached the oven in the kitchen. "Aha! The roasting turkey! I knew it!" a small scrap of paper was hanging off the front of the oven. Heath read it. "Ooh, collect one spoonful of cranberry sauce as a reward!" he said excitedly as he repaid himself. He followed the map next over to the windowsill. "A light extinguished but lives on forever…the candles!" Heath pointed at the candlestick on the window ledge. Beside it was a tag that read "use this to help find the next clue". He grabbed the candle and lit it (with help from Calvin, because he wasn't old enough to play with fire himself) and followed the map out the back door.

Heath seemed puzzled with this clue. He read it over and over again to himself, trying to figure it out. "Dashing, dancing, prancing…" he repeated. He knelt to the ground, tucking the map into his belt and using the candle as a light source to look for close details in the snow. Suddenly, he saw it. "Reindeer hoof prints!" he exclaimed. "Dasher, Dancer, and Prancer were some of his reindeer!" A tag sticking out of the snow read "Santa spilled his bag of gifts as he descended!".

Heath looked up at the roof. He bolted for the ladder resting on the side of the house and scurried up, Phoebe and Calvin watching from the bottom. "You should probably follow him up there," Phoebe said to Calvin. He chuckled. "You could come too," he replied. She shook her head. "It is too early for me to be climbing an icy ladder in a bathrobe." Calvin laughed and followed Heath up the ladder. "I know this one, Daddy! He spilled his bag when he was going down the chimney!" Heath cried. He rushed across the snowy roof to get to the chimney. "Boot prints! He really was here! The map says 'grab hold and zoom down'…what do I grab onto?" He pondered the situation for a moment, then his face lit up. "Daddy! There's a rope! You hold one end of it, and I hold it as I go down the chimney! The present is in there! I know it is!"

Calvin grinned at his son's enthusiasm. "Alright, grab hold now. Hang on tight," he said as he lowered Heath down the chimney. After a minute or two, Heath called up "I've got it, Daddy! I've found it! Pull me back up!" Calvin did as his little explorer asked. Heath popped out of the chimney holding a black box covered in a dusty soot. He read the map's instructions to carefully remove the dust and blew it and brushed it all away. A tag was stuck to the box. "Give this to your mommy", it read. Heath showed Calvin. "It says to give it to Mommy!" he cried. He checked his map. "Ooh, I'm supposed to say an ancient chant! Let's go do this!" He slid down the drain pipe heroically as his father took the ladder instead.

Heath ran to Phoebe, who was waiting on the back porch. She called both of them inside and out of the cold since they weren't properly dressed and could catch the flu. Breathlessly, Heath handed her the box once they got in the house. He held up one finger as he gasped for air and took out his map. "Phew…ok…I have an ancient chant to read to you:

'Precious stones may come in red, purple, or blue,

but the most beautiful treasure to be found is you.

A daughter, a wife, and a mother as well,

you're a real treasure, as everyone can tell.

Your family loves you all day and all night,

Because you make our lives shine diamond bright.'"

Phoebe put her hand over her heart as tears filled her eyes. Calvin grinned at her from behind Heath. He put his hands on his son's shoulders. She knew that Calvin had made the map for Heath, and he'd mentioned a gift at the end of the treasure hunt, but she had no idea it was for her. Phoebe opened the box and gasped. Inside was a beautiful diamond bracelet fitted just for her. She started crying tears of joy. A small slip of paper fell out form the box and landed in Heath's hands. "You've done a good job. Giving is just as rewarding as getting, as you see. Love is priceless. Now, for excellently completing your journey into the meaning of Christmas, look at the map for your last clue", it read. Heath opened the map one more time and followed it to the front door, where he opened it and found a present sitting on the doorstep. He brought it inside and tore the paper off. Inside the gift was a complete set of explorer's tools. There were brushes and magnifying glasses, a key to ores and some gloves, a pair of new sneakers and a new hat, and so much more. Heath immediately dressed himself in all the new gear and pulled a tag off his new vest. This one said, "Merry Christmas, Heath. You'll always be on the Nice List as long as you keep searching for what's right. And you're a very good explorer. Love, Santa Claus."

Heath grinned and hugged the note close. He glanced at his parents who were embracing, the diamonds of the new bracelet twinkling from Phoebe's wrist as they told each other how much they loved one another. Heath opened the front door and looked up into the sky, just barely beginning to brighten with a beautiful sunrise. "Thanks, Santa." he whispered. He went back inside and joined his parents in the family room, feeling glad that he was able to learn such a big lesson about giving on such a special day.