"Meowy Christmas! "

. "Meowy Christmas! " Sammy the Cat

Meowy Christmas!

By Sammy Cat

Living at the Shopper, I've seen a lot of humans walk though our front door: short ones, tall ones, medium ones; some dressed in suits, some in dresses, others in jeans. But I sure wasn't purr--pared for what greeted me the other day!
As soon as the door opened I heard a "HO! HO! HO!" boom through the building. Being a curious cat, I trotted up to the front to see who was there . . . and stopped dead in my tracks. I had never seen a human quite like the fellow that was staring down at me. He wore a red suit with a matching red hat on his head. He had a black leather belt around his very big middle, and large black boots on his feet. But the most amazing thing about him was his face. Wow! I thought my whiskers were long, but this guy had more whiskers on his face than Shopper Cat and me combined!
At first his large stature frightened me, and I started to hide, but he scooped me up in his hands and said, "So, who is this fine, young fellow?" His twinkling blue eyes were so kind, I wasn't afraid any more.
"Sammy," I purred with pride, then rubbed against his whiskers. He gave me a great big belly laugh, then bellowed, "Well, Sammy, my name is Santa Claus! Nice to meet you."
I purred back with a "Nice to meet you, too."
He took me over to the rocking chair and we sat down and he asked me if I had been a good cat all year. "Well, not all year," I told him, "since I'm only nine months old." He laughed and asked me if I had been a good cat those nine months.
"Yes, except I had been a little naughty a couple of months ago," I said sheepishly, "when I slipped out the front door of the Shopper and went exploring for five days."
Santa said he wouldn't hold that against me and promised me that on Christmas Day, I would get a stocking full of goodies.
"Shopper, too?" I asked. "She's been a good cat all year." Shopper Cat, sitting at Santa's feet, meowed in agreement.
"Of course, Shopper too will get a stocking full of goodies for Christmas," Santa said, then smiled.
"Tell me about Christmas, Santa," I said. Being only nine months old, this was my first Christmas. I knew it was something special because everyone had been talking about it for weeks.
"Well, Sam . . . many humans consider Christmas a very special time of year," he said. I snuggled up in Santa's lap and he told me about the first Christmas, when a child was born in a far away land.
I asked Santa if it was farther than the places I went on my adventure, and Santa said, "Much, much farther, little Sam."
Santa told me that Christmas Day was a time of eating too much candy and drinking too much eggnog. It's a day of children squealing with glee amid mounds of wrapping paper and ribbon strewn around the living room floor. It's the smell of apple cider, pine trees and sweet potato pie. He said it's a day when people come together and exchange gifts with each other, and talk about fond memories of other Christmas's past. Then he leaned back in the rocker and said, In a nutshell, Sam, it's a day of joy, and friendship and plenty of love."
I pondered this thing called Christmas Day and looked at Santa with a question in my eyes. "Just one day, Santa?" I wondered. "Why don't humans celebrate Christmas ever day?"
Santa rocked back and forth, and then he said with a smile, "Why, we do, little Sam. Christmas is in everyone's heart, every day. But only if you want it to be. It's love, for one another."

Meow-y Christmas and Happy New Year
from
Sammy and Shopper!

Sammy's story first appeared in the Christmas 1997 edition of the Parker County Shopper. It is reprinted with the permission Shannon Story. Shannon is a published writer, photographer and artist. At the time of this publication, her work was featured in the PCS and she was Newsletter Editor/Webmaster for the North Texas Writer's Guild.
Sammy and Shopper Cat no longer work for the Parker County Shopper; however, they are both enjoying their "early retirements."

Background Graphic courtesy of The Parker County Shopper.