Story Premise #4: Saving Christmas

A boy desperately wants a dog.  He has two cats, but he wants a dog as well.  His loving parents are excited to surprise him with a new dog on Christmas morning.  Excitement and glee are fleeting as the dog kills both their cats right out of the gate.  The parents bring the dog back to the shelter.  The kid  needs intensive therapy and medication for anxiety for the next several years.  The trauma of this Christmas Day leaks into all future Christmas Days.  After the kid grows up, he leaves home and makes his way to Alaska, where he trains with a team of huskies for the Iditarod race, mushing the pain from his heart. After years of isolation, the young man returns home on Christmas Day to celebrate once again with his family.  Everything's fine after that.