Wooden Rocking Horses

Poor Mountain Father was outside one bright November day. He had a lot to think about and just wanted to be by himself so he took a walk through the forest and up to his favorite spot in the mountain.

Poor Mountain Father had no money and he was very depressed about this. Christmas was coming up soon and he wanted to be able to buy his children something special.

As Poor Mountain Father walked, he came across a field full of horses. He stood there for a moment watching the horses playing together. They were enjoying themselves immensely. That got Poor Mountain Father to thinking about a horse that he had as a child. It wasn’t a real horse. It was a wooden rocking horse. His father built it for him with his own bare hands. Oh, Poor Mountain Father loved that wooden rocking horse very much.

“That is what I am going to do,” said Poor Mountain Father to himself. “I’m going to build two wooden rocking horses, one for each of my children.”

Poor Mountain Father went to work right away and built his two children each a wooden rocking horse. When the neighbor’s found out what he was doing, they all wanted a wooden rocking horse. Poor Mountain Father ended up building at least two dozen wooden rocking horses.

Christmas morning came along and Poor Mountain Sister and Poor Mountain Brother were thrilled about their wooden rocking horses. They knew just by looking at it that their own father had built it with his own bare hands and that made their Christmas gift more special than ever.