It’s the fourth Sunday of Advent. Mom is lighting the last candle from the Advent wreath. “Max, Lisa, Honey! Come on down. Hot chocolate and cookies are ready!” she calls out, and there they all are, tromping down the stairs. When Mom bakes fresh cookies, they never stay put for long. Max pounces on the plate first. “Hey!” shouts Lisa. “Don’t take them all at once!” she scolds.
Just then, the phone rings. “Who could be calling at this time on Sunday?” Mom asks from the kitchen. “Max, will you get that?” asks Dad, who has already made himself comfortable on the sofa. “Ohhhh, always me.” Max groans. “Max, please!” Dad insists. “All right!” says Max, grudgingly, and he picks up the phone.
“Hello, this is Max,” he says into the receiver.
A voice sings back, “It takes little to be happy, and being happy is better than being king. Please repeat!” Puzzled, Max sings the phrase back into the phone.
“Are you okay?” Lisa asks Max. She snatches the phone from him and says, “Hello? Who is this, please?” The voice repeats the same phrase, and Lisa sings it back, with Max joining in a round.
“Well, I think you’re all out of your minds today!” says Mom. “Let me answer the phone,” she says, taking the phone from Lisa’s hand.
“Hello? Who is this?” she asks. When the caller repeats the phrase, Mom, Lisa, and Max all join in the sing-along. “It takes little to be happy, and being happy is better than being king”
“Have you all lost it?” Dad asks, reaching for the phone. “What’s going on here?” asks Dad over the phone.
The same phrase is repeated, and this time, even Dad joins in the song, with Mom, Lisa, and Max following in a round.
They sing and sing and never stop.
They sing on and on until the caller finally breaks in, “Hello? Helloooo? Doesn’t anyone want to talk to me?”
But the whole family didn’t stop singing: “It takes little to be happy, and being happy is better than being king…”
“Sorry, we’re a bit busy right now,” Dad replies. “Please call back later.”
“But I just wanted to…,” the caller begins, but Dad has already hung up the phone.
“It takes little to be happy, and being happy is better than being king,” the family continues, laughter mingling with their voices.
