Christmas · The host · Warm · about a minute
Christmas Eve Toast From the Host (Warm, About 1 Minute)
A woman hosting Christmas Eve dinner, with a few new faces at the table this year, wanted to welcome everyone and pass on a family habit without giving a speech about it.
Given by Thisbe, who hosts Christmas Eve. 133 words. The names are made up.
The toast
Before we eat, I want to tell the newer people at this table about the candle in the front window.
My grandmother lit one every Christmas Eve. A plain white candle in the window by the door, and she didn't blow it out until the last car was in the driveway. Some years that was dinnertime. One year, with an ice storm and my uncle's station wagon, it was almost two in the morning.
I light it now. Tonight I blew it out at twenty to seven, when Torvald pulled in with the pies, which is the earliest it has ever gone out.
That's all I want on Christmas Eve. Everybody in, and the candle out early.
So raise your glasses. To everyone who drove, and to a short night for the candle.
Why it works: The candle does the work of a long welcome: it says the host waits for everyone, and it gives the newcomers a family story in under a minute. Tonight's time on the candle turns it into a thank-you to the people who came, and the last line calls back to it.
Make it yours
Borrow the shape, not the lines. Put your own people, your own year and your own detail in each spot, or answer a few questions and get a first draft built from them.