¹     Daniel sighed. "I can't believe Mom did this," he told his brother Matthew. "We have to help at some shelter on Christmas! We won't even have much time to open our presents."
 
²     That evening at supper, Mrs. Brown had told the boys that they would have a new opportunity at Christmas. They would be helping her in the kitchen of a local homeless shelter. They'd serve lunch to over 100 people who had nowhere else to go.
 
³     "Won't that be great?" Mrs. Brown asked the boys.
 
⁴     "Sure, Mom." They both answered without much enthusiasm.
 
⁵     Daniel continued talking with his brother. "It's not that I don't want to help others. It's just that on Christmas Day, I like to open our presents, eat special food, and stay in our pajamas and play all day. Can't we help another day?"
 
⁶     Matthew didn't say much. He was still trying to figure out how he felt about the whole thing. Daniel was right. Christmas Day had always been a special time just to enjoy one another at home. The family had never even traveled far, because they always wanted to be at their own house on Christmas morning.
 
⁷     The boys talked for a few more minutes, then drifted off to sleep. Soon they were dreaming.
 
⁸     Daniel dreamed of a little girl...

Paragraphs 9 to 25:
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