There was still lots of snow outside and the sun was shining. What a wonderful day to go tobogganing. Gini and Karl and their friends were getting their sleds out and off they went. Soon they went up the first hill and then down they went riding full speed. And up again. For a while this was big fun. But then they needed a bigger hill and then a still higher one. To get the sled up the hill was harder and harder and got more and more difficult. Gradually they already started to get tired a bit. But there was still the big mountain left where only the big guys dared to slide down. Longingly Karl looked up the mountain. He wanted to go down from there too. He wasn't afraid. He was very courageous. But to slide down he first needed to get up that mountain!
Determined Karl took his sled and started walking. Oh the track was so steep. Gasping Karl climbed up the mountain. The big guys laughingly overtook him. Nobody seemed to take any notice of him. Karl went on. Gradually he reached higher and higher grounds. But the track also became a lot more slippery and Karl skidded and slipped quite a distance downward. Oh no, now he had to do it all over again! Phew, finally he had managed to reach the peak! What a view you had from up here! "Wow, that's really high up here", Karl thought. He was tired but proud and very content. "That will certainly be a super ride" he thought.
He ran a bit then jumped on his sled. At first everything went well, but what was that!? There was a small bump and suddenly Karl found himself lying in the snow while his sled continued to slide down. Karl couldn't believe his eyes. This couldn't be true! Karl was so tired. He sat down in the snow and started to cry.
Suddenly someone was shaking his arm. That was Sebastian, one of the big guys that lived in his street. Sebastian put his arm around him and consoled him. Then he took him by the hand and together they went up the mountain again. They sat down on Sebastian's sled and went down together. Wow! How wonderful it was to slide through the wind. What a ride!
Gini and their friends were standing at the bottom of the mountain and cheered when he raced along the home stretch.
They had already found Karl's sleigh and were a bit worried about him. How happy they were to see him!
The others wanted to slide down the big mountain now too. So they all walked up. Sebastian helped Karl to carry his sledge upwards once again. And this time Karl was a lot more careful and grabbed his sled very tight when he came to that bump. He flew through the air but this time he held onto his sled! And then he dashed through the snow downwards, all by himself this time! What a feeling! He would never forget this ride in his life! He had made it, he had slid down the hill where only the big ones dared to go down. Yes, he had had big difficulties and he had needed help but that didn't matter now. The important thing was that he had made it!
Gini took Karl's sleigh and together with their friends they went back home. At home they sat down in the living room, drank hot chocolate and ate delicious Christmas cookies, the ones that they had baked themselves the day before. And they warmed themselves up near the fire. What a wonderful day this had been. They all had had lots of fun!
Outside it started to snow once again. Big white snowflakes fell gently to the ground. Karl was happy. The snow certainly would stay for a long time so that he could climb up the mountain again soon. Now that he had made it once he knew that he would make it again. And with this thought he fell asleep. Soon afterwards their friends said good-bye and Papa Antoin carried Karl into his warm and soft bed.
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