I love participating in these contests. They keep me motivated throughout the year. Word count needs to be 250 or less with the theme of holiday helpers. This year I have two entries, because hey, I’m not going anywhere!

POMELO, THE BEE, SAVES CHRISTMAS
by Lori Himmel
248 words

The honey-bee Christmas celebration was in two days.
The flower plague shriveled up so many flowers that it left the honey supply dismally low.

“I don’t think I have enough honey to make my honey-filled cookies,” one bee buzzed. 
“My honey is almost gone,” said another.

Bees tried to prepare their dishes for the feast, with no luck.
Even Queen didn’t have enough for her honey cake.

Queen summoned the bees.
“Because of the honey shortage, the honey-bee Christmas celebration must be cancelled!” she announced.

All the bees hummed slowly back to their hives.
But not Pomelo.
She gathered her worker friends and they all zoomed to Pomelo’s hive.

Little did the honey-bee population know, but Pomelo had a secret storage spot in her honeycomb.
She learned about how to save at Bee Elementary.
Every time she deposited honey in her honeycomb, she added a third of it in her secret storage spot.

“I’ll get the hive slippers I’ve been saving for another day. Christmas can’t be cancelled!”
Pomelo and her friends worked day and night.

On honey-bee Christmas morning, bees swarmed around the town center, hoping for a miracle.
Without any food, it didn’t feel or smell like Christmas.
Pomelo and her friends buzzed down to the crowd, holding trays filled with honey-filled dishes and desserts.

“Christmas isn’t cancelled!” Pomelo shouted.
“Queen, we now present your honey cake for all to share!”
Queen smiled.

Bees crowded around Pomelo and friends, shouting cheerful congratulations. 
“You saved Christmas!”