Three Camels had started a jazz band. They loved jazz and figured a band would be a good way for each of them to get better at their craft and share their talent with as many folks as possible. This year the trio decided to put on a Christmas Concert at Lowkey Park in the middle of town.

“We can set up and perform in the gazebo, how cool would that be?” Said Pani, the piano player.

“That would be great, we should wear Santa hats too!” Darren, the drummer, added.

“Agreed, what about our sunglasses? Will we wear those?” Sam, the saxophone player, asked.

“Of course, we’ll be wearing sunglasses!”

“What kind of lame-ass jazz musicians would we be if we weren’t wearing sunglasses!”

“Okay okay, jeez, I was just making sure,” Sam replied.

The trio practiced day and night for their concert. The three friends loved the Christmas season and each one had magical ideas about how their concert would turn out:

Pani was hoping for a light snow to emphasize the magic of the world during this season.

Darren was hoping for a whiteout blizzard with snow piling up all around them while the three played Christmas standards all night long. (Darren also acknowledged that while that would be the ideal scenario for him it would likely cause the concert to be scarcely attended).

Sam was hoping for a pleasant evening that was just a little brisk. Cold enough to still feel a chill but not so cold that it would make your hands feel like icicles.

Neither of the three shared what their vision of the concert would be with the other two. No one wanted to jinx it. But they held their individual visions in their hearts and used that vision as motivation to keep practicing. They were gearing up to give the greatest Christmas concert the town had ever seen.

The date of the concert arrived and the three camels made their way to the park gazebo about an hour before showtime to set up and warm up for the show. The trio sounded great and their matching hats and sunglasses made them look great too. All that was left was to perform the greatest Christmas show ever for the people of the town.

They waited as showtime got closer. And closer. And even closer than that but, a crowd had not yet gathered.

Showtime came. But still, no crowd had shown up.

“Maybe there is a crowd but we can’t see them because it’s night and we’re wearing sunglasses?” Sam asked.

The three camels took off their sunglasses to reveal that in fact, no crowd had gathered. Only now they could see that fact a little more clearly.

“Did we put the right time on the flyers?” Pani asked.

Darren and Sam looked at each other, confused. They shrugged.

“What flyers?” Darren asked.

None of the three camels had thought to advertise or promote their show. The show they had been working so hard on. That they were so excited about. That they each had dreams for... No one in town even knew about it.

“Well, what do we do now?” Darren asked.

“Should we just go home?” Sam posited.

Pani looked out over the empty park once again. How sad. Pani really wanted to play the Christmas songs they had practiced for so hard and so long. She sighed and then sat behind her keyboard. What a bummer this was. Pani started playing the first few notes of Deck The Halls, their opening number.

Eventually, Darren and Sam picked up their instruments and started playing along. When Deck the Halls was over they went right into their arrangement of “Linus and Lucy” from The Charlie Brown Christmas Special. The trio played their whole concert back to back with no breaks in between.

And they were playing so well. Really, they were quite a good jazz trio. They had set out to give the town the best Christmas concert they had ever seen and they were delivering. In their Santa hats and their sunglasses, they unleashed a furious and virtuosic holiday musical display. It was breathtaking.

After about an hour, when their setlist and concert for no one was finished the trio looked at each other and took off their sunglasses. To their surprise, a sea of folks had gathered, a steady snow had begun to fall, and it was just cool enough to feel a chill in the air.

“Are you guys finally taking a break?” Came a lone voice in the crowd, who by that time must have listened to the whole concert.

“I guess so, sorry, we didn’t see y’all out there,” Pani shouted back. "How long have y'all been out here?"

The crowd erupted into a rapturous applause. The trio took a bow and agreed to play an encore for everyone. It was as wonderful a night as all three camels had hoped. The town made them promise to come back and do it again next year.

“Put some fliers up next time too!” Someone added as they disappeared into the suddenly snowy, suddenly festive, winter night.