Hi! Kitty Christmas,
here. Santa's Numero-Uno-Cat, at your service.
I
must say, it's about time they put me in a
Christmas tale! I mean, they've got hundreds
of Christmas specials, but have they ever
even once shown a single scene with Santa
and Mrs. C's kitty in the picture? Not once!
Now
I ask you, don't the Claus's seem the kind
of folks who'd have a cat cuddled up in their
lap by the warm fire up here in the cold North
Pole? Of course they do ... two in fact ...
Me and Mrs. Kitty! So, what's up with that?
Personally,
I think it's a reindeer conspiracy. Some kind
of union thing -- won't ever see a Santa special
without those reindeer sticking their antlers
in the picture. But don't get me started on
that.
THIS
story is narrated by Santa's cat. Me, Kitty
Christmas. And don't be thinking that it's
strange for a cat to be talking, either. You
can't catnap in Santa's lap without a little
magic rubbing off here and there. And I'm
a heavy-duty lap-napper so you can bet I'm
REALLY magical.
Why,
there was this one time I had so much magic
dust on me that I... Oops, that's a totally
different story. I guess I should start this
story already before the commercials come.
But before I do, I just want to say that I'm
not too happy with the title of this here
Christmas special. I mean it's a great story
and all -- how could it not be since I'm narrating
it? But they've got the title all wrong. It's
ME that saved Christmas that year. The Better World Kids helped, I'll give them that. But without
me, Christmas would have been cancelled that
year. Actually it would have been cancelled
forever!
Yessiree,
Bob, this is a Christmas tale like none you've
ever heard! So fasten your seat belts, and
hold on to your thinking caps, 'cause this
story'll make you think. There's some real
meat to it. Or tofu, anyway, since we're all
vegetarians up here in Christmas Town. (Yet
another thing those Christmas specials never
mention!)
As
I recall, it was particularly gloomy that
whole year. Even up here in the North Pole
where everyone is ALWAYS cheery. There was
a nasty dark cloud that had peaked its head
over the distant mountains before Santa had
even gotten back from his Christmas deliveries
the previous Christmas Eve. And it just kept
creeping closer as we turned the calendar
to a new year.
I
remember Santa shaking his head in sadness
as we sat together on the Bench of Dreams
at the edge of the North Pole, way back at
the start of the year.
Santa
and I always loved to take a walk together
and stop there to watch the lights of the
Aurora Borealis dancing in the sky. You see,
from the Bench of Dreams, Santa can see Forever.
All the things that are taking place now,
in the past and in the future, too.
Usually
we'd sit in a peaceful silence for a while,
with me cuddling up in his lap. Santa would
point out at the forever sky, and I'd look
up sleepily, but in the dancing lights I could
clearly see an especially good girl or boy
doing some kind and compassionate act. But
that time when we sat on the Bench of Dreams,
the lights only danced faintly, and Santa
sighed softly, "There's too much sadness in
the world." He didn't speak another word.
As the months passed by the lights didn't
even dance at all in the Forever Sky, and
all we saw over the edge of forever was a
soupy grey fog.
The dark cloud kept creeping closer and closer
trying to throw Christmas Town into darkness.
Of course there's mighty powerful magic up
here in Christmas Town, so we were pretty
confident it wouldn't reach us, at least that's
what we hoped. And yet, I guess the cloud
caused everyone's spirits to be dampened a
bit. Usually there's a lot of humming and
singing going on all the time up at Christmas
Town. But that year you hardly ever heard
a happy tune being whistled. Yep, it's safe
to say everyone was feeling more than a little
down.
Santa
did his best to keep our spirits up, you can
count on that. But it wasn't an easy thing
to do.
Things
went on that way until one particular morning
in the middle of July, when the holiday cheer
should have been really picking up steam at
the North Pole. That's when Santa does the
pre-check on his list, to make sure he's got
enough toys scheduled for production for all
the good little girls and boys. Usually the
elves have to go into some heavy-duty overtime
over the next six months till Christmas, because,
well, Santa's a real softy and he's notorious
for giving everybody the benefit of the doubt.
A little too much if you ask me. And believe
me, I've told him on quite a number of occasions,
although he's never specifically asked for
my advice on the matter.
But
that year, well, I didn't have to lecture
him about the state of the world. Because
that year, Santa checked his prelist. Then
he checked it twice. He checked it a third
time. He just couldn't believe his eyes. "It's
worse than I even imagined!" he gasped.
Mrs.
Claus hurried over to have a look. "Oh my,
seems like practically everyone's so naughty
this year," she sighed.
"Yes,
Mama, the world's a mess. The worst I've ever
seen it. I guess this explains why that dark
cloud won't go away…" Santa mumbled, scratching
his head. "Mama, I think we've got big troubles
brewing…"
Now
the truth is, while Santa was checking his
list, I had my eye on the window because I
knew that Santa had more troubles coming than
he knew. I jumped up onto the windowsill and
took a peek outside. Sure enough, trouble
was getting closer and closer.
Meanwhile
Mrs. Kitty was watching me carefully and she
hopped up onto the sill next to me. "You didn't
go and get the elves all riled up this year
like you normally do … did you …?" she whispered.
Gulp.
"I'm afraid so. Except this year they actually
listened to me."
Mrs.
Kitty covered her eyes with her paws. "Kitty
Christmas, you didn't! Not this year, what
with that dark cloud practically ready to
pounce on us."
Unfortunately,
I sure did.
What
the Mrs. was referring to of course, was my
annual Peace-In over at the Toy Factory.
Every year I'd get all decked out in my peace
beads and bellbottoms and sandals and go around
trying to get the elves to sign a petition
to cancel Christmas until the world agreed
to put some action behind the "peace on earth
... goodwill to all" Christmas lyrics folks
sing at Christmastime. Then I'd march around
outside the Factory singing, "Let there Be
Peace On Earth," while I carried a picket
sign, declaring "We Want Peace On Earth!"
But
usually no one ever pays much attention to
me. Normally every year the elves would roll
their eyes and wait for me to be filled with
the Christmas spirit, just like everyone else.
And of course, after hearing Santa's July
1st Pep Rally, every year even I truly believe
that the Christmas Spirit would convince the
world to try to get along better in the coming
year.
But
that year, because everyone was feeling so
glum anyway, the elves seemed to think my
protests made sense. Gulp.
Meanwhile,
back at Santa's place, Santa was sadly placing
the list on the coffee table. "Mama," Santa
exclaimed, "it's so bad out there that I don't
know if there's enough magic left in Christmas
town to keep that dark cloud from crashing
down on us. We're going to have to shut down
the Toy Factory and everything else in Christmas
Town that's draining our magic supplies. We're
going to need all the magic we can muster
to build up defense against the storm that
cloud's threatening to bring. It could destroy
Christmas forever if it hits!"
"Oh,
my!" Mrs. Claus gasped. Mrs. Kitty gasped,
too. I would have, had I been paying attention.
Instead I was staring out the window watching
the elves getting closer.
"You'd
better get the elves," Santa was saying. "We'll
have to tell them the news."
As
if on cue, the elves knocked at that very
instant.
"Come
in," the Claus' said at the same time.
A
hundred and one elves, all decked out in peace
beads and sandals, burst through the door.
"Santa,
we've decided that you should cancel Christmas,
unless there's peace on earth," the elves
exclaimed, certain that Santa would talk them
out of their decision and fill them with the
Christmas Spirit.
Santa
looked at them all with teary eyes. "You're
right. We've got to shut down Christmas Town
right away!"
The
elves' mouths fell open in disbelief.
Chapter
2. Storm in Christmas Town
When
I heard Santa say that Christmas would be
cancelled and Christmas Town closed down,
I felt awful. I thought it was all my fault
for talking the elves into standing up to
Santa.
I
snuck out the door in a hurry. My first thought
was to go and hide before Mrs. Kitty told
Santa that I was the one who'd put the elves
up to this. But instead I headed round the
back and up the fire-escape to Santa's study.
I
turned his computer on, and logged on to surf
the web. I figured if I could find lots of
good things that people were doing, then I
could convince Santa the world wasn't as bad
as he thought. Then he'd change his mind about
canceling Christmas.
I
did find a lot of really wonderful things
that people were doing to try to make the
world a better place. Granted, there was an
awful lot of bad stuff, too, but I only printed
out the good things.
I
was just about to take the stack of printouts
downstairs to show Santa, when my Google Search
turned up one more website I just had to check
out. "The Better World Team," I read in the description.
"Wow, looks like these kids are really doing
a lot to spread peace!"
I
clicked on the link to visit the website.
Just in the nick of time, I should point out.
Because at that very moment, the dark cloud
broke through the magic barrier and everything
in Christmas Town went black. Not only that,
but everything and everyone in Christmas Town
was suddenly frozen solid.
Fortunately,
I'd already clicked the link. And the most
amazing thing happened - I suddenly found
myself pulled into the computer screen!
Chapter
3. The Better World Team meeting
Whoa! This was definitely the strangest thing
I'd ever experienced. For a second I was floating
in the misty nothingness of Cyberspace, staring
out from inside the computer screen. In horror
I saw that Christmas Town had become an icy
wonderland frozen in time. Before I could
even call out to frozen Santa and Mrs. C,
Mrs. Kitty and the hundred and one peace elves,
I found myself hurtling through Cyberspace
and everything was a complete blur.
Next
thing I knew, I heard voices calling out,
"Hey look up in the sky. It's a bird, it's
a plane … it's … it's a cat!"
That's
when I crashed down, right into the center
of their circle, landing on my feet, of course.
"Oh,
how cute - he's wearing a Santa cap. Hi, kitty,"
the children in the circle called, making
annoying little, "here kitty, kitty…" motions.
"Hi
yourselves," I said, standing up and dusting
off my paws, quite put off by the way they
were addressing me.
"Oh
my gosh, you can talk!" they gasped.
"Of
course I can talk!" I laughed. "But where
am I?" I gasped as I looked around at the
emptiness that surrounded us.
"You're
in Cyberspace," one of the children said as
he looked up from his laptop. "Somehow you've
logged on to join our weekly Better World Team
meeting. Welcome."
The
Better World Kids told me how they somehow magically
appeared together in Cyberspace each week
for their meetings. They never could figure
out how or why, but they didn't think about
it anymore, they just did it.
Now
I've experienced lots of magic, of course,
but this was definitely one of the strangest
magical experiences!
The
children all introduced themselves and told
me where they were from. They were from all
over the planet! They waited for me to tell
them who I was.
"I'm
Kitty Christmas, of course," I declared. "Santa's
Numero Uno cat. Straight from Christmas Town,"
I added proudly. Then I remembered what had
happened to Christmas Town and I felt so sad
I could cry.
"You
mean, Santa's real?" Maria gasped, and all
the others began talking at once.
"Of
course he's real, but, all of Christmas Town
has been frozen in time!" Then I told them
about the dark cloud that had covered Christmas
Town. "Santa says it's because of all the
fighting that is going on around the world."
"Yes,"
the children agreed. "The world does seem
to be worse than usual this year." Some of
the kids lived in countries that were at war.
Living in fear all the time seemed to cause
people to treat each other worse in their
towns and communities.
"The
world will be even worse if Santa doesn't
come this year," the smallest boy named Johnny
said.
"The
Christmas season is practically the only time
left that people even talk about goodwill
and peace on earth," Maya sighed.
"My
family doesn't celebrate Christmas," Jamal
said, "but where would the world be without
the hope that Santa brings the kids who believe
in him."
"What
can we do?" Ling asked.
"We
have to bring peace on earth, of course!"
I said. It seemed the obvious solution, considering
that the cloud was caused by all the fear
and gloom.
"That's
not so easy to do," Sol sighed. "Believe me,
lots of people have been wishing and working
For a Culture of Peace for, well… since time
began."
I
sat down and rested my head on my paws. "It
is a terribly big thing to accomplish, isn't
it," I sighed, completely depressed.
"Maybe
you can help us with our campaign to bring
a day of peace," Maria suggested. "Maybe this
year the world will see how much peace really
is needed…"
"A
day of peace …" I muttered. It might be a
much easier goal to achieve. "But we don't
just want a day of peace, we need peace on
earth…" I sighed.
"You
have to start somewhere," Ahmed declared.
"If we can convince the world to create peace
for a day, people will realize that we can
work together to make peace on earth last,
one day at a time."
"Yes,"
the kids all agreed.
"Peace
isn't something that will come in a magical
moment," Sunanda pointed out. "It's something
we'll have to work hard to keep, even if we
can make it happen for a day."
"That's
right," José exclaimed. "But it will
be possible, if the world agrees that it is
a goal that we should work together to achieve.
The world doesn't have a common goal right
now. This is the perfect one!"
I
was really psyched. This sounded like a great
plan to save Christmas Town, and to save the
world from itself in the process! But how
could we ever choose a day to try to make
this happen. With 365 days in the year, surely
we could find an argument to aim for any one
of them.
"Every
day is a good day for peace," Maya agreed,
"but actually, we're already working on a
campaign to help bring a day of peace on the
International Day of Peace - that's on September
21. The governments of the world already agreed
that we should honor it as a global day of
peace and ceasefire."
"They
did?!" I gasped unbelievingly.
"Yes!"
the kids all chimed at once.
"The
United Nations declared a resolution calling
for the observance of the International Day
of Peace, also known as Peace Day," Maya told
me.
"And
it was unanimously adopted by all of the more
than 190 nations that belong to the UN," José
added.
"We
just have to get them to honor their word,"
Jamal sighed.
"And
let the people of the world know about it,"
Sunanda pointed out. "After more than 20 years,
most people have still never even heard of
Peace Day."
"There's
also another important peace day," Johnny
added.
"Yes,"
Ling nodded, "One Day in Peace, January 1.
After we save Christmas, the world will be
inspired to create another day of peace on
January 1 - that way we can begin the new
year on the right foot…"
"For
peace!" everyone shouted.
"We've
got two months," I gasped. Not a moment to
lose. Let's do it!"
Chapter
4. We Want Peace on Earth!
That
was the longest two months of my life, believe
me.
After
we had hugged, the weekly Better World Team meeting
was adjourned and everyone went back to their
own homes.
Everyone
except me.
I
tried to get through Santa's computer screen,
but it was frozen solid, like everything else
back in Christmas Town.
I
made the best of the situation and started
surfing the web, spreading the word about
a day of peace on the International Day of
Peace.
I
never realized how big the world was. Santa
definitely used powerful magic to visit everyone
in the world on Christmas Eve. The little
magic that I had back in Christmas Town seemed
to have been frozen along with everything
else there, because I had to visit each website
the old fashioned way - one link at a time.
Fortunately
the Internet is so well connected that I had
no problem leaping from one website to the
next. I stayed on a promising site long enough
to convince the webmaster to spread the message
of a worldwide day of peace on September 21,
then moved on to the next website.
I
also had a ball zipping along the information
superhighway aboard emails that I sent out
far and wide. What a fun way to meet world
leaders, celebrities, great thinkers and all
kinds of people in every walk of life.
It
wasn't long before I realized there really
are a whole lot of wonderful people doing
a whole lot of wonderful things to make the
world a better place. I felt really hopeful
that we might be able to convince the world
to join together for a day of peace. And then,
the world might really join together to try
to make peace on earth our shared goal.
Time
seemed to pass both quickly and slowly at
the same time. Thank goodness we had the Better World Team meetings each week to keep us motivated.
And we really were making great progress.
The world was in such a mess, that people
seemed to finally be ready to be serious about
the wish For a Culture of Peace.
Things
were looking so hopeful, in fact, that I guess
our efforts were starting to pay off enough
to make a real difference in the world. You'll
see what I mean.
As
you can imagine, I took a lot of sidetrips
to the frozen computer-screen that overlooked
Christmas Town to have a peek on my loved
ones back home. Well, that's what I was doing
on the first Friday in September, before I
was about to hop on a hyperlink towards our
weekly Better World Team meeting. As I peaked
out on Christmas Town, who should be staring
back through the computer monitor, but jolly
old Saint Nick himself.
Chapter
5. Home Sweet Home
Was I ever happy to see Santa. Especially
since he was smiling and completely defrosted!
I
told him all about the Better World Kids and the
global campaign for a worldwide day of peace.
Santa
was excited to hear all about it, and he was
really proud of me. Boy did that make me purr
like crazy.
That
dark cloud had lifted off of Christmas Town
because of all the hope and goodwill that
was going on in the world. But of course,
it stayed hovering at the edge of the mountains,
because there was still a lot of fear and
gloom going on, too.
But
up in Christmas Town the Christmas Spirit
couldn't have been more alive. Santa didn't
shut down the Toy Factory or anything else
in Christmas Town cause with all that joy
going around, there was plenty of Christmas
magic to keep everything running smoothly.
In fact, the elves were doing double-overtime,
and the elf employment agency was working
overtime too trying to find extra workers
for the Christmas season.
Yessiree-bob,
things were right on schedule for that to
be the best Christmas ever.
I
kept in close contact with the Better World Kids
over the internet. Truth is, I wasn't ever
able to join the Better World Kids IN cyberspace
again for their weekly meetings. Somehow I
just couldn't find the right magic again to
enter in through the computer screen. But
it was nice to email back and forth and to
check their website for the latest developments
in the Peace Day campaign.
September
21 came and went, and celebrations and peace
activities took place all around the world.
Celebrities and world leaders appeared on
television asking the world to join in a day
of peace. Millions and millions of people
joined together for peace in communities all
over the world.
To
tell you the truth, I was kind of disappointed.
I mean, it's true, a lot of people's lives
were touched, but there wasn't peace on earth.
The world didn't agree to try to make peace
on earth a priority, so after Peace Day, things
pretty much went on the way they had before.
I
told Santa about my feelings. He sighed and
nodded his head, then petted me under the
chin, just where I like it. "Come on, Kitty,"
he said softly, "let's go for a walk."
As
we walked through the snow, Santa laughed
in that jolly way he always does and I started
to feel better.
We
walked to the edge of the North Pole and sat
down together on the Bench of Dreams. We sat
there in silence for a while, watching the
beautiful dancing colors in the Forever Sky.
For a moment I really forgot about the dark
cloud off in the distance.
"Kitty,
Kitty," Santa sighed after a while. "We're
just going to have to try harder. You know
we're putting an extra wish For a Culture
of Peace in every present we deliver at Christmastime.
And more and more people are joining in around
the world to work For a Culture of Peace."
I
nodded as I snuggled in his lap. I noticed
my purring motor was softly humming. Santa
pointed up in the Forever Sky. "Look, Kitty,
over there. See, someday peace on earth will
come."
I
looked up into the sky. Santa was right. And
gosh, it was going to be beautiful.
Well,
that's the story of that special Christmas.
I guess it wasn't really me that saved Christmas.
It was because of the Better World Kids and folks
like you who are doing little and big things
to try to make the world a better place. It
really is making a difference. If you look
all around there's lots of reasons to be hopeful
every day.
But
if you really need proof that this story's
real, and that someday peace on earth will
come, keep your ear out for Santa before you
drift off to sleep on Christmas Eve. If you
listen really hard you'll hear his jolly song,
"You better learn to share… Just give it a
try... Show the world you care…I'm telling
you why…Peace on earth is coming Someday!"
And then as his jolly laughter fades off into
silence you'll hear him whispering, "May Peace
Prevail On Earth…" and you'll know for sure
that someday peace on earth will come.
