All Aboard for Christmas
© 2025 by Walter Reimer

Story idea and Thumbnail pic by  Major Matt Mason

Bad Pun by  DireWolf505


The slightly middle-aged blonde woman paused in the act of stirring an afternoon cup of tea. There were model train noises coming from the living room, meaning that her husband had gotten the train set back up.

The train had been set up on a circular track that ran around the base of the Christmas tree, along with a small model Victorian-era village to give everything the right holiday feel. Unfortunately, the family cat had discovered that the train was completely irresistible and had derailed it at every opportunity. After finding the train lying on its side for what might have been the tenth time, John declared that he was going to pack the thing away. “Jack?” she called out.

“Yeah, Ellie?” came her husband’s voice.

“What gives? I thought you were putting that back in the attic,” Ellie said, picking up the teacup and carrying it carefully into the living room.

“I had an idea,” her husband said as she set the cup down beside her chair. At her questioning look, he pointed and she stared.

The Nativity scene had been set up on a table, with space for the expected collection of holiday cards. The train and village had been set up to go around the small statuettes of the Holy Family and the Wise Men. “Maybe the cat won’t bother it up on the table,” Jack said. The cat in question, an overweight beast named Roscoe with white splotches on his black fur, looked up at his mistress and meowed, wanting her to give him a lap to curl up in.

Ellie ignored Roscoe for the moment and looked at the vintage locomotive as it pulled a small string of cars along the circular track. “Wait a minute,” she said.

“What?” Jack asked.

“Stop the train,” she said. She pointed. “What is that?”

Jack smiled. A spare locomotive was seated in the Nativity set’s stable, with Mary and Joseph admiring it while the Wise Men, on camels, approached. “I thought Baby Jesus would like a ride,” he said. The small resin figure in its manger was comfortably seated in a gondola car as the obligatory shepherd and his flock were boarding to keep Him company. “Besides, isn’t it in the Bible?”

Ellie’s eyes narrowed. “What is?”

“The Lionel shall lay down with the lamb?” Jack misquoted.




end