"What kind of nutcracker are you?"
"I was put up here, sir," Dave replied.
The soldiers couldn't contain themselves. "A tree is no place
for a nutcracker! I guess he was carved from an evergreen!"
"Look at his coat--purple! What's his rank? Loser!"
Dave sat back down and tried to ignore the teasing, but that only made
things worse.
"What are you doing sitting down, you lazybones?" the
general yelled. "All nutcrackers must stand attention. That is
the only way we can complete our mission."
"But I was made with bendable legs! Shouldn't I use them in such
a way?"
The soldiers went wild! "What kind of nutcracker are you?"
they rhetorted.
"I'm just as good as you are!"
"Then you don't know us," the captain bellowed. "It is
our duty to keep bad feelings and troubles away at Christmas so the
Christmas Spirit can thrive in this house. We work a little overtime
to protect our mistress Lil because she keeps us out all the time.
I'd like to see a purple-coated soldier like you to even try such a
thing!"
With that, the army marched off. Dave sank his head into his knees,
realizing they were right. He would never make a great nutcracker.
But everything changed on Christmas night . .
.
"What in the world are you doing up there, recruit?" the
general barked.
