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Christmas is the happiest time of year, but sometimes something terrible happens – like a kid misses it all together.
That’s what happened one year to a girl called Natalie.
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Natalie’s life was almost perfect – apart from her annoying little brother called Joe. There was just one thing she didn’t like doing – and that was getting up in the morning. Her Dad was always warning that one day she would miss something important. And one day she did.
But fortunately this is time of year when no problem can’t be solved…. with just a little magic.
Read by Natasha. Duration 14.48.
The Girl Who Missed Christmas:
Once upon a time, there was a little girl called Natalie.
Natalie was six. She lived on a nice house, in a nice street. She had a little brother called Joe, and dog called Marmalade.
And most of the time Natalie was happy.
She played with her friends.
She played with her dog.
Sometimes she even played with Joe – when he wasn’t being annoying.
But there was one thing Natalie didn’t like.
Getting up.
Every morning her Dad would come into her room and say: “C’mon Natalie, time to get up.”
And Natalie would say: “Just one more minute.”
“Now, now, you’ll be late for school,” said Dad.
“Just one tiny minute,” Natalie would say. “Pleeeeeeease…..”
“Now, Natalie.”
“It’s so warm in bed,” Natalie would moan.
And so it went on every morning.
Dad would shout at Natalie to get up.
Mum would shout at her.
And Marmalade the dog would bark.
And Joe would already be up.
And then Mum would shout at her again.
And the dog would bark even louder.
But Natalie just pulled the cover over her ears.
Because Natalie just really, really, really hated getting out of bed in the morning.
“You know, Natalie, one day you’re going to miss something really important because you stay in bed to long,” said Dad.
As it happened, something very important was about to happen. The nights were getting longer, and the leaves were falling from the trees, and soon Natalie was getting very excited because it was getting close to Christmas.
And she had so many different things she had asked for.
She wanted a new game for her Nintendo DS.
And a doll that cried real tears.
And a new DVD.
And lots and lots and lots of things.
Of course, she had to rehearse for the school play – except she nearly missed it because she was sleeping in.
And she had to go and see Santa in the grotto – but she nearly missed that as well because she didn’t want to get out of bed.
“I just don’t what to do about all this sleeping,” said Mum.
But Natalie didn’t care.
If I want to stay in bed, why shouldn’t I? she decided to herself.
So finally Christmas Eve arrived. And Natalie was so excited she found it really hard to get to sleep. She wanted to stay and see if she could really see Santa. She tried ever so hard to stay awake as long as she could.
But eventually, she went off to sleep.
And she slept.
And slept.
And slept.
At one point she heard Dad coming into the room to wake her – but she just rolled over, put the pillow over her head, and went back to sleep again.
Finally she decided she she had been so long in bed that it was starting to get boring.
She pulled away the pillow and looked towards the window.
It was morning.
“Wow, it’s Christmas day,” said Natalie. “I’m so excited.”
She looked towards the end of her bed.
But where was the stocking? she wondered.
Where had Santa left all his toys?
Natalie jumped out of bed, and ran downstairs.
She was quite out of breath – because she’d never jumped out of bed before.
“Mum, Dad, its Christmas,” she shouted.
She glanced around the room.
Joe was playing with a new toy car.
Mum was folding away some used wrapping paper.
Dad was reading a boring looking book with no pictures — in fact, the sort of book Mum gave him every year.
And Marmalade the dog was eating something that looked suspiciously like turkey leftovers.
“Mum, Dad, it’s Christmas,” shouted Natalie, even louder this time.
There was a silence.
Everyone looked at her – everyone that is except Marmalade who was busy eating turkey.
“It’s Christmas…isn’t it?” said Natalie, more quietly now.
“You mean, it was Christmas,” said Dad.
“You slept right through,” said Mum.
“We tried to wake you,” said Dad.
“But, but, but….” Said Natalie.
“I told you you’d miss something important one day,” said Dad.
“It was really good,” said Joe. “We had loads of food, and loads of presents.”
“And I missed it,” wailed Natalie.
And she started to cry.
And cry.
And cry.
“Sorry,” said Dad. “It also means you didn’t get any presents from Santa. But don’t worry, there will be another Christmas next year.”
“It’s not faaaaair,” wailed Natalie.
“But I always told you you’d miss something important if you didn’t get out of bed in time,” said Dad. “Now, help me clear away all this wrapping paper….”
But Natalie just walked out of the house.
She walked through the garden.
And across the park.
When she got there, she cried and cried.
She was so upset about missing Christmas.
And she didn’t know how she could wait for a whole year.
Now, it so happened that it was still very early in the morning.
And the sun was only just coming up, so it was still quite dark.
And at that very moment, Santa was just trudging his way across the sky in his sleigh on his way back to Lapland.
He was very tired.
And so were the reindeer, because they’d been all around the world delivering presents to all the children.
But, even though he was tired, he couldn’t help noticing one little girl sitting on a park bench all by herself.
And crying and crying.
“Whoa there Rudolf,” said Santa. “I wonder what’s wrong with that girl.”
“Maybe she didn’t like her presents,” said Rudolf, who was hungry and tired, and wanted to get back to his grotto to get some food. “Kids today! No gratitude….”
“We better see,” said Santa.
And so he pulled the sleigh down into the park.
“What’s the matter?” asked Santa.
But Natalie was so upset, she just kept crying, and her eyes were so full of water she couldn’t see anything.
“Huh, she’s probably upset because she only got one Nintendo, ten Polly Pockets, and a dozen Barbie dolls,” said Rudolph. “Kids today! When I started this job they were happy with a small piece of wood and an orange. The stuff you have to carry noawadays. It’s hardly surprising my back hurts.”
“Didn’t you like your presents?” said Santa.
Natalie rubbed her eyes, and then looked up.
And she gasped.
Santa was sitting right next to her.
“Oh-my-gosh,” she said. “Is it….you?”
“Shhhhh,” said Santa. “You see I’m not really supposed to show myself to children.”
“We’ll be in trouble for this,” moaned Rudolph. “I told you we should have gone straight home.”
But Natalie gave Santa a hug.
“You see Santa, I slept right through Christmas….and now I’ve missed it.”
“Oh dear, oh dear,” said Santa.
Then he looked towards the house.
“We’ve still got a few things left in the sack,” he said. “So go inside, and check the fireplace in your bedroom in a few minutes.”
“But, but….”
“Just go,” said Santa.
So Natalie stated to walk home.
And Santa went back to his sleigh.
“We’re not doing another delivery are we,” said Rudolph. “Because, that’s overtime, that what that is…I’ll need an extra carrot for that.”
“Oh, c’mon you lazy animal,” said Santa.
And then Natalie came back into the house.
She couldn’t believe her eyes.
Jingle bells was playing on the hi-fi.
Everyone was wearing hats.
And her mum had re-heated some turkey and made some fresh roast potatoes.
“We thought we’d re-start Christmas,” said Dad. “Just for you.”
And Natalie jumped up and down, then ran upstairs.
Because in the fireplace in her bedroom there was stocking bursting with presents – there was a doll with real tears, a princess on a white pony, game for her nintendo, and, finally, after she had opened all the other presents from Santa there was one special one from Dad – An Alarm Clock !
So for the rest of the day, Natalie had the best Christmas ever.
And do you know what?
A couple of weeks later it was the first day of a new term.
Dad came into the bedroom. “Wake up, Natalie. Time to go back to school,” he said.
The he looked around.
“Natalie,” he said, sounding worried. “Natalie..”
But he couldn’t see her anywhere.
Then he heard a voice from downstairs.
So he rushed down to kitchen.
And Natalie was out of bed, had put on her school uniform and brushed her hair, and had made breakfast for everyone.
“I’m never going to be late for anything again, Dad,” she said.
137 Comments
YO THIS @@!#$ IS CRAZY
This si so cute for my kids
This is a great story! I like to sleep too. Since I listen to stories online, I would have liked more pictures to make following along a bit easier to hold my attention! Thank you and Merry Christmas to all!
THanks for the story:)
It was a really silly history, but I’d like. The reason I raed it was because my friends and I are doing a school thing about christmas:-)
MY QUESTION IS WAS IT FUN MAKING THIS STORY?DID YOU MAKE ANOTHER STORY LIKE THIS ONE?
This story had a good beginning, middle and end. The children in grade 2 at St. Denis School really liked it!!!!!!!!
great story!!!!!!!!!!!
i like this page it is woder full whight back
if you are a good one you can teach me
if your happy wht to me your ok i fancy you you are wonder full i not going to stop saying that thow it is gaood that your got a maveing eyes frome sam
you ok i like you how evers on line add me
once there was a parson in my school he gone now but he is funny yous storris good i like it but mines not good
wenes your chrismas dinna
itis so good hows your name
It’s the first story I reaD IN this web.In fact,I am a Senior school student!
I can trust here now that she learn her
lesson!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WHO WOULD MISS CHISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
natalie is stupid
natalie will be for now
good story for my kid
I am interested in it
It was funny how she missed Cristmas.And it was cool when she meet Santa.
I like this story my teacher let us listen to it on our interactive white board while we did art
its a very nice story
It was a great story.
I like it!
!Like it!
It’s a great story. I like to sleep and tell my grandmother ”another minute please”
GREAT STORY ILIKE IT
i love your story
i like the story very much because the girl looked just like me and because it was a christmas story
a very good story
that was the bests story that i have ever heared when i grow up i want to make a story just like that.
it’s very nice story. i liked it very much. thanks
I LOVE STORIES BUT THIS IS THE BEST ONE I HAVE EVER READ.THANK YOU.
THIS IS THE BEST STORY IN THE WORLD!!!!
Its agood lesson for lazy bones
I think this story was good because it teaches a lesson to Natalie
i love this story
i really liked this story because it is about holiday cheer and joy
good story i like these type of stories, because everyone also should change on some day
I was outside.I was cold.
I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!! I LOVE SANTA!!! He IS MY HOME DOWG!!!
good one
i read it again and it is amazing i will not sleep after 11 o clock anymore!! I dont want to miss anything important… that would not be good
very bad bad bad………………………………………..very bad
I relly like the story . I did the samething
if i don’t ge up my dad will pour cold water on my face. and i will sceam.
I relly like the story . I did the samething . if I don’t get up my dad will pour cold water on my face.
Dear Ayoung
Poor you. I think I would get up early if I were you !
I LIKE THIS STORY BECAUSE IT’S ABOUT HOILDAYS.FUN AND THE JOY .AND I SAY I LIKE THIS STORY REALLY BECAUSE SHE REMINDS ME OF MY SELF.
i like this story because it is so popular as my whole school was talking about it!!!!:)
Very nice i like it!
badbadbadbadbadbadbadbadbadbadbadbadbadbadbadbad
I dont care.I dont celebrate christmas.
somtims i up late &i somtims i wake up erly.
I loved it was great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good story!I like it and abet it!
Good veryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy gooddddddddddddddddddd
好啊啊啊啊
this story is cool!
this happened to me last year and it is not as exiting as if you are awake when it happens
i loved this story it is the best my big sisters wakes up at 12:00 like nataly
YO THIS @@!#$ IS CRAZY!
Thank you and Merry Christmas to all!!
I LOVE 时天蝉
really good,i listend once and i became attached to it.fortunatly for me i havn’t missed any of my chrismas’s
bye!
hi Natasha I love the story of the girl who missed chrismas.me and my sister cassandra thank you a lot
cool story, christmas can not be officialy restarted. please get back to me birddy on my comment on big sisters clothes and this one.
hi Natasha I love the story of the girl who missed christmas. me and my sister cassandra: thank you a lot
this is Bill. your comment had some spelling errors that I fixed.
good story! great! i loved it!!!!!!!!
hi i’am yara samer from lebanon but i’am living in kuwait i read this story from before i love this story toooooooo much i wish who didn’t read this story read it please beacause it is talking about the girl who didn’t watch the cristmis means who missed the cristmis it is so fantastic and beautiful
The story is great, I was trying for the audio version of this story for my sister, I have all the rest stories in audio versions, but I am not able to download it, Can anyone please tell me how or what can be done to get this audio files?
Thanks a lot for your help, you can contact me on
mamtabc@yahoo.co.in
thanks a lot
many thanks
this site is great, all stories are wonderful,
thanks a lot.
Hi Mamta
Sorry = there was a problem with the link which is now fixed. You should be able to download it now, I hope
wow. she’s just like me please respond
Dear Pearl, Make sure you don’t sleep through Christmas. I’ve left replies to your other comments too. Bye for now
hi!
I am glad that Natalie had learnt her lesson!
I LOOOOOVE THIS STORY
baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad
bad story
i love it tooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo mush great story
It was very exicting and I thought that I should never miss Christmas…
Good Bye!!!
thanks a lot!!!
stupid story
This has a great lesson, lessons are good to learn for all of us. I love this story.
does Bertie get up early?
I am a missionary in brazil and Santa claus in potuguese is papai noel.
yes i loved the story!
i liked the storrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry alot but alot becuas it was fun. and cool. when it was the biging of the story was sad so sad. but i liked it becuas it was my fravet hollday and why becuas me and my sis liked alot to
I like the story but I like the ending the most.Because in the end Natalie becomes happy.
its was a good story
It would be really cool if I met Santa. Rudolph is worse than I thought! But I like it and I will be sure to add this to my iTunes play list!
thank you, it was a wonderful story!
My first and second grade students enjoyed the story.
They have decided that they will get out of bed when asked.
this is a good storynory.but since i am danish we do not have santa , we have an elf called nisa. lickily i can not sleep through christmas because nisa leeave presents in our stockings every december day if i am good.
please reply bertie.
Thanks – so you have Nisa in Denmark… well we might do a story about him next year. In the meantime, you might enjoy this one
http://storynory.com/2008/12/01/christmas-in-iceland/
thies is relly cute and awsome
I can’t believe she missed christmas 11 years i havn’t missed one yet
that was GREAT
Awesome story that i have ever!
that book was good after all
This story is strange,but I liked it. I listened to it today on the computer on a cold cold day. It is a very good story (strange) because Natlie learns that she should listen to her parents.
I’m so happy to find this wonderful site.
this is cool!
this is awesome.
Thanks for the Christmas story. I like it so much.
Thank you for another great and well told story. We have moved to live abroad and my 5yr old’s weekly visit to Storynory is his main link with the English speaking world.
cool
i love storynory.com
it was funny i wish i never miss anything important.i think she should have changed her habits before and after her fathers warning of mising something.
it was funny i wish i never miss anything important.i think she should have changed her habits before and after her fathers warning of missing something.
it was great.
that was the best story I have ever heard
good storys
I think this story can use the easy word but I like it very much.
add more cool stuff
please don’t make the story to long
pls make the story not long
Its a nice story.. thank you..
you should of got up silly
Nice story! i would never miss Christmas.
good story
Great Story…
Dear Bertie,
Do you know if you are going to be another writing contest here on storynory? I’m just wondering because I’m an alright writer! I missed the Christmas one a year or more ago because I didnt even know about storynory.. It may seem strange but I listen to your stories and write my own!
Thank You,
Sabrinia
Sorry Bertie just noticed you replied to me on my other post! ;-D
Sabrinia
i like this story it was very nice
I really like listening to this story a lot. Please keep adding new stories like The Girl who Missed Christmas. Thank you.
I liked the story but i have anouther child and she also has trouble getting to sleep without a story and i think you should do more stories for older children hush now Ella is sleeping! Thanxxx
i liked this story because it has a happy ending
I really like this story but I don’t think Natalie could have jumped out of bed in an energetic way if she had been sleeping for mor than 24 hours.
RUBBISH evryone nows that was a tale not real
it was ok but natalie is dum for sleeping in.
it`s almost same as me!
beartie I am very angry at you for not replying
yaaaaaaay!
Thank you for this story it was the first story i ever heard on story nory!
i think that was ok