Christmas Wishes - A short story for the silly season

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About the author

Aria Peyton

​​​​​​​As a former covert operative, Aria Peyton has jumped from helicopters, commando crawled across enemy lines without underwear, created secret alliances with the things that go bump in the night, and bungee jumped off the top of a Styrofoam factory into a vat of beanbag filler.
With the aid of the Secret Agent Protection Group, she currently masquerades as an average parent, but can leap Lego towers in a single bound, pack school lunches like a boss, and can burn herself on any hot surface without the aid of a how-to manual. Her multiskilling talent is now known throughout the universe.
Never be fooled by the apparent mediocrity though. To do so is at your own peril.


All frivolity aside, I'm a stay-at-home mum to three gorgeous girls. I'm a little crazy, but I think all authors are! The voices make me write wicked and naughty things, but I have so much fun letting them out to play, I don't try to reel them back in. I love writing -- I have done for many years. It took the kind and encouraging words of a good friend to make me see that I could in fact finish a story and publish it myself. Gone were the days of having to submit to a publisher and be rejected -- because honestly, that was my greatest fear and what held me back from going further with writing when I was younger. 
But, thanks to her, and a man named Craig Coombes -- whose motto is 'Make the rest of your life, the best of your life', I got up off my backside and set a goal to finish a book.
That book was Entrusted.
I honestly feel I could've done it better, but you know what? That was the book that signalled the end of the 'what ifs'. It was done to extreme self-imposed deadlines and it might not be the shiniest book, or the greatest writing I'll ever do, but it set me on this path. It wasn't my first story written either. Those will be revised and finished as soon as I get the chance. I have a whole folder here of books I haven't finished!
I wrote my first story when I was about 7 years old when the lady across the road presented me with a book she'd written for me about my favourite teddy bear, Charcoal. If I dig deep enough, I probably still have both the book and the bear!