The festive season is upon us, the most wonderful time of the year! The time where loads of negativity is forgotten, even if just for a little while. It’s happy, cheerful and colourful. As the biggest braai brand in South Africa, Megamaster, bringing people together is crucial to us. Our wish this Christmas is to be part of your family tradition. To be with you around the fire telling stories, laughing into the starry night and just being with your loved ones.
So, we’ve written our own braai Christmas story. One you can get the whole family involved in to read, and immerse themselves in. Assign a role to 7 of your family members, and let the story begin!
Our wish is that you take this story and make a memory of it with the people closest to your heart. Merry Braai Christmas.
Roles:
There are a few roles in the story of the braai nutcracker. Have the members of your family randomly pick or draw names. Alternatively, we made few suggestions who should be which character.
If you don’t have that many people, one person can do two roles but have them talk in a unique accent for each character.
- Narrator: This one with the deepest voice, the one that can talk in funny accents and set the scene.
- Braai nutcracker: The one that eats the most snacks.
- Dad: The one that made the fire.
- Blessing: The one that had to run to the kitchen to fetch the braai spice.
- Sam: The one that ate the last braai broodjie.
- Emma: The one that can’t wait to open Christmas presents
- Spark: The one that’s the loudest. This character is the random one and shouldn’t be shy to do funny things.
Spark
Hum a Christmas song for the intro.
Narrator
It all started summer of 2007 along the West Coast of South Africa. Port Nolloth to be exact. A small fisherman’s town. Every year over December, the town erupts into a sea of lights. All the way from the main street down to Uncle Watson’s Corner Café. Even the wooden fishing boats lying in the street gets decorated, an odd star or red and green stripe of spray paint. A quiet town 11 months of the year but bursting at the seams over the festive season.
So, it was for us too, a family from Pretoria going on holiday to this side of the country for the first time.
Dad
Welcome to Port Nolloth kids! This is one of the oldest fisherman’s towns in SA. We’re going to braai, go swimming, fish, and see if we can find bokkoms for you to taste.
Sam
(heavy frown) Gross! No one wants to eat that, Dad.
Blessing and Emma, simultaneously
Bokkoms?
Sam
(Rolls eyes) Dried fish. Gross, dried fish that the locals tie in a bunch and hang up to air dry. Basically, fish biltong. Siesa!
Blessing
(instantly lights up) That sounds weird, but I’ll try it!
Emma & Spark
Make fish noises and blow up your cheeks
Narrator
So, the banter continues between the family members as they make themselves at home in Port Nolloth for the Christmas holiday.
Dad
There’s a few days left before Christmas, let’s decorate our holiday home with Christmas themed things that’s screams Port Nolloth. You have an hour to go out and find something.
Spark
Tik tok tik tok x6
Narrator
Dad sets them off with the task to find Christmas decorations, while he and mom begins with dinner. Dad lights the fire to the background music of ‘have yourself a merry little christmas’. Far in the distance, another family already braaiing and mom says, ‘someone else is braaiing too’!
Spark
(gesture hashtag with hands) Hashtag proudly South African!
Everyone together
One hour later
Narrator
Everyone returned with arms full of possible decorations. Sam couldn’t really care less, but also brought a little something. Emma and Blessing on the other hand is so excited, they can’t wait to show everyone what they found. Emma is only 3, Blessing’s cousin and basically his shadow, also picked up random things from the beach.
Spark
Random like that.
Dad
Show us what you got, and why. Tell us everything why this thing is in Christmas spirit for you.
Narrator
Dad’s always been big on Christmas. Being together, sitting around the fire and telling stories. Our family’s real father Christmas. To him, there’s nothing more special than spending time together during the most beautiful time of the year.
Sam
(loads of attitude) I’ll go first. I just got a few shells just to get it over with. Can I go now? I’ve got a new series to watch.
Narrator
Sam is not the family type. He doesn’t want to be part of any family stories, or traditions. He is the older brother that wants to be there but will never admit it.
Blessing
(holding up a wood log) I got us our own Port Nolloth nutcracker! Look, it looks like a little soldier with the two stumps on the side, and I just put a shell on its head for his hat!
Emma
(intrigued) What is a nutcracker?
Sam
(Annoyed) It’s a stupid little story about a toy that comes to life! Blessing, I can’t believe you think that piece of wood looks like the real nutcracker!
Narrator
Sam grabbed the wood log from Blessing’s hands and threw it into the fire his dad made and stormed away. Blessing shocked, and Emma crying, the whole family distraught with this outburst! Not the braai Christmas spirit dad tried to ignite.
Dad tried to quickly grab the wood log nutcracker from the fire, but it was too late.
Dad
(shocked and in disbelief) Blessing, I… I am sorry. I tried to save it. I will speak to your brother to fix this. For now, come sit with us and let’s eat s’mores till you feel better.
Narrator
Blessing and Emma joined the family around the fire, ate s’mores and finally fell asleep on the camping chair with the chatter of everyone in the background.
That night, he dreamt of this fiasco with his brother Sam. Relived the whole thing again and felt his heart ache when his brother threw his imaginary nutcracker into the fire.
Suddenly, he felt a touch on his shoulder! He jumped up and quickly turned around…
Spark
(scream!)
Blessing
(Scared and screaming) What, who who’s there?
Braai Nutcracker
(calming voice) Oops sorry Blessing, I didn’t mean to give you a fright. I just wanted to say hi. (wave and smile awkwardly)
Blessing
(confused) But wait, you’re not real… you’re just a wood log?
Braai nutcracker
I am as real as you want me to be.
Emma
(Excited squeal) The braai nutcracker! You’re real!
Blessing
(Still confused and poking the braai nutcracker) Emma are you seeing him too? He’s really real?
Sam
(annoyed) What are you guys going on about? I am trying to sleep!
Emma
(Still excited and louder) I see him! The braai nutcracker!
Sam
(confused) the braai nutcracker? You mean the piece of wood I threw in the fire?
Narrator
Everyone confused, in disbelief, but in awe as well as the braai nutcracker stands before them with his colourful ‘marinade shirt’, tongs in hand and with vellies on.
Braai nutcracker
I am real. I am the protector of all things fire, braai, and togetherness. Tonight, was not a good night. I was jolted by what you did Sam, and that you crushed Blessing’s imagination like that. His pure heart saw me in a simple wood log, and you made him believe that it wasn’t true.
Sam
(shocked) but I….
Braai nutcracker
(stern) No. It doesn’t matter what you don’t see, it’s about what your family sees. If they see the beauty in something ordinary, then you leave them. Respect their creativity and support them.
Remember, you won’t always have your family with you during the festive season. You don’t know what the future holds. Celebrate what you can, with them, now. Not tomorrow, not next year, right now.
Sam
(looking down) I am sorry braai nutcracker, Blessing, to you too. And you Emma. I didn’t see the braai nutcracker in the piece of wood, and I… I felt that I didn’t belong. I didn’t see it.
Blessing
(gives Sam a hug) I’ll be your creative eyes, even if you don’t see it, let me help you see it to celebrate it with us.
Spark
(high pitched voice, make like birds chirping)
Dad
Rise and shine! It’s breakfast time! I’ve got eggs, bacon, and boerewors on the braai!
Blessing, Emma, and Sam say at the same time
(sleepy) We’re coming!
Narrator
Confused and sleepy, the kids join everyone outside. Blessing, the most confused of all couldn’t understand… he thought the braai nutcracker was real but now it seems like it was just a dream.
He sat down, just about to take his first bite, when Sam walked up to him.
Spark & braai nutcracker
Start humming a Jingle Bells.
Sam
I am sorry for how I treated you last night Blessing. Will you please come with me later so we can find a new wood log? At least we know now what the braai nutcracker looks like.
Blessing
(realizes it wasn’t just a dream, it was real) Let’s do it, but with his ‘marinade’ shirt and vellies.
Sam
(big smile) Yes, with his exact outfit! Let’s get matching for the whole family!
Everyone
Softly hum ‘oh holy night’ together
Or play it on this link (insert link of the song)
Narrator
The festive season is a time of togetherness, of celebrating the year that’s passed and rejoicing that we’re all still together. It’s a time to be thankful, eat together and be merry. Let’s always remember that a simple wood log might just as well be the braai nutcracker, even if you can’t see it.