Read with excitement… and a little giggle…
“¡Arrancamos!” shouted Santa.
The snow swirled, Bizarrap dropped a beat with his mouth—
Bum-cha-tss!—
and the Christmas Match of the Desert began!
But Alfie blinked.
Then blinked again.
Because running onto the field were not one…
not two…
not even three…
…but SEVEN LLAMAS 🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙
They wore tiny soccer socks.
One had a headband.
Another had reindeer antlers.
One was chewing loudly.
“Dad,” whispered Alfie, “that’s definitely more than two llamas.”
“Muchísimo más,” Dad nodded seriously.
The llamas formed a perfect zig-zag formation. Somehow.
“¿Están listos?” asked Messi.
The llamas all shouted at once:
“¡SÍÍÍÍ!”
(One shouted “Moo” by mistake.)
The ball rolled…
A pass!
A dribble!
A llama header—BOINK!
“GOOO—” shouted Santa.
“STOP!” yelled the penguin referee, blowing his kazoo-whistle.
“Goal for… uhh… THIS team!”
He pointed left.
Then right.
Then spun in a circle.
“Wait… am I blue team? Or red team? Or… the snack team?”
He looked down.
“Oh no.”
The penguin had accidentally given both teams a goal.
“Is that allowed?” asked Alfie.
The penguin shrugged.
“En Navidad… todo vale, ¿no?”
Just then—
POOF! 🍞✨
Right in the middle of the snowy desert field appeared a giant pan dulce, wrapped in shiny paper and smelling delicioso.
“PAN DULCE!” shouted everyone at once.
The llamas gasped.
One fainted dramatically into the snow.
“Mid-match snack break!” declared the penguin, holding up a yellow card… then eating it by mistake.
Bizarrap sang softly:
🎶 Pan dulce bajo el sol… nieve en el arenal… 🎶
Alfie took a bite.
“So good,” he said.
“Muy rico,” agreed Dad.
But as Alfie wiped the crumbs from his hands, he noticed something…
The Magic Christmas Whistle was poking out of the penguin’s pocket.
And the penguin?
Was now fast asleep.
Snoring.
With pan dulce crumbs on his beak.
The snow slowed.
The desert shimmered.
Christmas magic buzzed in the air.
“Alfie,” whispered Santa, “this is our chance…”
But before anyone could move… the llamas began marching toward the whistle…
⭐ To Be Continued…
Tomorrow night… Chapter Four awaits ❄️⚽🎄