Christmas Stories - Tales of Joy and Terror

Christmas may come but once a year but human emotions, the driving force of our characters are with us every day. Yet, somehow these same emotions when they happen at Christmas, seem amplified, we seem more tender to their touch, their words.Whether it's a long-lost returning soldier wondering how best to return to the arms of his family without too great a risk of shock ....... Or a prodigal son whose taken path has driven pain into his own and others hearts..... Or a murderer carrying out his thoughtless deed but then enmeshed in a dialogue for salvation.....These stories reveal much about the human condition. The landscape of our lives reveals that we all have choices, and how we use those choices influences, nourishes, or decays those around us.These stories are tidings of both joy and of terror .1 - Christmas Short Stories. Tales of Joy and Terror - An Introduction 2 - The Beggar Boy at Christ's Christmas Tree by Fyodor Dostoevsky3 - The Gift of the Magi by O Henry4 - What the Bells Saw and Said by Louisa May Alcott5 - The Burglar's Christmas by Willa Cather6 - Vanka by Anton Chekhov7 - The Dead by James Joyce8 - Christmas Eve in War Times by Edward Payson Roe9 - Markheim by Robert Louis Stevenson