Section 1
Once upon a time, there were twenty-five toy soldiers. They were all brothers because they were made from the same old tin spoon. The toy soldiers stood tall with their arms at their sides, looking straight ahead. They were wearing a beautiful uniform that was red and blue. The toy soldiers’ first memory was hearing a little boy say, “Tin soldiers!” with excitement. The boy had just opened the box they were in and was happy to see them. The little boy received the toy soldiers as a birthday present. He stood at a table to set them up and play with them. All of the toy soldiers looked the same, except for one who only had one leg. They made him last and didn't have enough melted tin to finish his other leg. So, they made him stand on just one leg, which made him very unique and different from the others.
The table where the toy soldiers were placed had other toys on it, but the most beautiful and eye-catching was a small castle made of paper. The castle had small windows that showed the rooms inside. In front of the castle, there were some tiny trees around a piece of glass that was supposed to look like a clear lake. There were little wax swans that floated in the glass lake and their reflection could be seen. It was all very lovely, but the most beautiful thing was a tiny lady who stood at the open door of the paper castle. She was also made of paper and wore a dress made of a sheer fabric called muslin. She had a blue ribbon that looked like a scarf over her shoulders. In front of the tiny lady, there was a shiny and sparkling rose made of tinsel that was as big as her whole face. The tiny lady was a dancer, and she had her arms stretched out while raising one of her legs very high. It was so high that the one-legged tin soldier couldn’t see her other leg and thought that she also had only one leg like him.
“I want to marry her,” the one-legged tin soldier thought to himself. “But she’s too fancy and lives in a castle, while I only live in a box with twenty-four other soldiers. It’s not a nice place for her. But I’ll try to meet her anyway.” The one-legged tin soldier lay down on the table behind a snuff box so he could watch the tiny lady. She was still standing on one leg and managed to balance herself very well. When it was nighttime, all of the other tin soldiers were put back in the box, and the people who lived in the house went to sleep. After the people in the house went to bed, the toys started to play their own games. They visited each other, pretended to fight, and even had parties with dancing. The tin soldiers made a rattling noise inside their box because they wanted to come out and play too. Unfortunately, they couldn’t open the lid to join in on the fun. The nutcrackers were playing a game of leapfrog, while the pencil was jumping around on the table. They were making so much noise that they woke up the canary bird, who started talking, and even reciting poetry. Out of all the toys, only the tin soldier and the dancer stayed in their spots. The dancer was standing on her tiptoes with her legs stretched out, just as firmly as the tin soldier was standing on his one leg. The tin soldier was looking at the dancer the whole time and didn’t look away even once. At midnight, the lid of the snuffbox suddenly opened, but it wasn’t snuff that came out. It was a small black goblin because the snuffbox was actually a toy puzzle.
He said, “Don’t wish for things that aren’t meant for you, hey you, tin soldier.”
The tin soldier acted as if he didn’t hear what the goblin said.
“Okay, then. Just wait until tomorrow,” said the goblin.
