A Christmas Accident and Other Stories

"A Christmas Accident and Other Stories" by Annie Eliot Trumbull is a compilation of short stories from the late 1800s that examines the lives and relationships of different people, touching on subjects like social class, how people treat each other, and what Christmas really means, all shown through the eyes of several families. "A Christmas Accident," the first story, centers around the Giltons and the Biltons, two families who live next door to each other in similar houses. Mr. Gilton is depicted as a rich, bad tempered man who doesn't like being around others, while the Biltons and their five kids are full of life, even though they don't have much money. The story shows the bad feelings and competition between the families, especially after Mr. Gilton's dog gets poisoned, which makes their fighting even worse, building to a head on Christmas Eve. In an amusing turn of events, Mr. Gilton mistakenly walks into the Biltons' house, and they think he's Santa Claus, which results in surprising conversations and a chance to think about the true value of Christmas and being kind to your community.