Christmas Right-Left Gift Exchange Story: Western

For our Holiday parties at PADT, we generally have over 50 employees, so a traditional secret Santa gift exchange takes too long. At some point, we downloaded a right-left gift exchange story from the internet, and it was a big hit. When we ran out of stories on the internet, we started writing our own, usually in some sort of over-the-top style.

How Does The Gift Exchange Work?

Everyone gets the gift they brought and forms a big circle in the middle of the room.  Someone with a strong voice (or a microphone) reads the story, and every time the word LEFT is read, everyone passes the package they have to the left. Every time the word RIGHT is read, everyone passes the package they have to their right.  You should pause a bit at each LEFT/RIGHT to give people a chance to pass. Once the story is over, you end up with the gift you are holding.

You Can Find Previous Gift Exchange Stories Here:

These stories are for everyone’s use, free, and with no strings attached. So please copy and paste the text into your word processor and enjoy. And if it all goes well, please share a picture with us at info@padtinc.com.

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This year, many of us had become addicted to West World, so a good old-fashioned Western seemed appropriate.

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Trixie and the Christmas Miracle

 

A train whistle echoed in the distance as US Marshal Dilan McRIGHTland brought his horse RIGHTy to a stop on the LEFT side of the ridge. Down below, RIGHT in the middle of the valley, was his destination. The place he had been headed RIGHT towards for three weeks. wRIGHTville Gulch. He’d seen a lot of dusty towns, not much more than a few buildings on the RIGHT and LEFT side of a crooked street. LEFT to his own devices, he would have LEFT his job and gone RIGHT back to his family farm on LEFT bank of the Ohio river, RIGHT below Louisville, Kentucky. But he had sworn an oath to uphold justice, to make sure that wrongs were RIGHTed, and that no criminal was LEFT free to cause more harm. It was the RIGHT thing to do.

He dug his heals into RIGHTy and they headed RIGHT down the trial, towards an encounter that would have been best LEFT alone.

As he entered the town from the… south, he surveyed both sides of the street. On the RIGHT was a bank, livery stable, and what looked like a hotel that may not be where the RIGHT type of people stay. The other side of the street held a saloon, blacksmith, general store, and a Chinese restaurant: RIGHT and Wrong Noodles. Dilan assumed that the fugitive he was seeking was in the saloon. So he tied up RIGHTy, using a LEFT hitch not, and went RIGHT in the swinging doors.

It took a while for his eyesight to adjust to the dim interior. A long mahogany bar filled the wall. On the… other side, there was a staircase that led to rooms on the second floor. RIGHT in the middle of the room stood a giant Christmas tree. That was RIGHT, Dilan thought. Today was Christmas Eve. It has been a long time since he had enjoyed a RIGHT proper Christmas. He began to daydream about snowy Christmas mornings when a shout brought him RIGHT back to reality.

“Hey! You looking for me, stranger?” A man dressed head to toe in black leather stood on the LEFT side of the Christmas tree.

“If you are LEFTy Peterson, then yes.” Replied Dilan. “I’m US Marshal Dilan McRIGHTland and I’ve traveled all the way to wRIGHTville Gulch, RIGHT here in the middle of nowhere, to bring you to justice.”

The two men stared at each other across the room, their RIGHT hands hovering over their six-shooters, which for now were LEFT in their holsters.

“I don’t think you have it RIGHT, Marshal. When I LEFT the Stanton brothers for dead, RIGHT in the middle of Dodge City, I LEFT that life behind me. I’m clean now. I’ve got a wife and kids. I started over. You know what I did was RIGHT, they deserved to die. So the RIGHT thing for you to do is get back on your horse and get out of town.”

This LEFT Marshall Dilan a bit baffled. What if LEFTy was RIGHT? And then he stood up straight and looked LEFTy in the eye. “The law is the law LEFTy, doesn’t matter if you think what you did was RIGHT. It is up to a jury to decide that.”

LEFTy snarled, “The only way you are taking me back is as a corpse. If you don’t leave in a coffin yourself. “Their RIGHT hands slowly moved to their guns.

Just when they were about to draw on each other, a girl dressed like a dancer from the LEFT bank of the Sein in Paris dashed RIGHT between them.

“Stop RIGHT now!” she shouted. “Gosh Nabit! It’s Christmas Eve. Have you any heart LEFT, either of you?”
She turned to LEFTy “LEFTy, darling. You don’t have to die. If you think what you did was… justified, go with the marshal, argue your case.”

She spun to face Marshall McRIGHTland “And you, you come riding in here on Christmas eve, where we was having ourselves a RIGHT nice party, and you threaten our friend LEFTy, that just ain’t RIGHT either!”

Dilan stood. He could see the star on his chest reflected in the mirror behind the bar, and he could see the star RIGHT on top of the tree. And he looked RIGHT at the dancing girl, where a small tear was falling from her RIGHT eye.

“LEFTy” he said, “you agree to let me handcuff you to that bar there, and we can have ourselves a RIGHT proper Christmas Eve and morning. And then we ride out of here, and you get your day in court. Does that sound…. All RIGHT?”

LEFTy thought for a minute, then responded, “I RIGHT reckon that is the RIGHT thing to do. Here on Christmas eve, maybe some peace on earth is what we need.”

And so on that Christmas Eve in a dusty town RIGHT in the middle of nowhere, a little Christmas spirit and a fiery dancing girl named Trixie, brought a little peace on earth and goodwill towards men to a place called wRIGHTville Gulch.