When a grieving widower, nicknamed Mr. Gloomy, is asked by a mother and her young son to carve a nativity set, he accepts the job but wants nothing to do with them. He is gruff, and refuses to talk about his past. But little by little, the mother and her son Thomas inch their way in to the Mr. Toomey’s heart. Thomas sits to watch him work and eventually convinces Mr. Toomey to teach him to carve. And though he is unreceptive as usual, they both give Mr. Toomey a Christmas present on Christmas Eve. As Mr. Toomey tries to finish their nativity set and carve Mary and the baby Jesus, he cannot get the sketch right. At last, he takes a picture of his wife and baby out, and uses it as the sketch to base his carving on. His bitter past thus confronted, Mr. Toomey finishes the nativity. He goes to the Christmas service with Thomas and his mother, and no one ever calls him Mr. Gloomy again.
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