Uncle Aladar and the Perfect Christmas

Julia decided that this year, Christmas had to be perfect. And she was convinced that to be perfect, Christmas had to look exactly as it does in films.

So first of all, she persuaded her father to buy lots of new fairy lights, and not just for the tree.

"What will we do with so many lights, Julia?" he asked, incredulous.

"We’ll decorate the whole house, of course! And two trees, and the garden, and the gate. That’s how they do it in films," explained Julia. There was no persuading her otherwise.

Next, she begged her mother to bake mini Christmas cupcakes decorated with candy canes and gingerbread cookies decorated with red and green icing and silver balls, instead of boring old mince pies.

"And then we’ll invite the whole family over for dinner, mummy," she announced, triumphantly. "Not just Granny and Grandpa, but also Aunty Maud and Aunty Jen and Uncle Steve and both my cousins!"

Her mother gave a tired sigh. "Julia, that is an awful lot of work. Christmas is always so busy anyway, and making dinner for all those guests…"

"But mummy, you don’t get it," Julia interrupted her. "That’s how it is in every film! There are loads of people there and an enormous pile of presents under the tree! This big! And they have to be big presents, mummy, don’t forget!" Julia paused for a moment, considering the logistics. "And the tree needs to be big too, otherwise they won’t fit under it. I need to go and tell Daddy to get the biggest tree they’ve got on the market!" And with that, she ran off.

Julia had really set her heart on having a perfect Christmas. To persuade her parents to make her dream come true, she worked extra…