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 Kindness 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 Kindness 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 Kindness 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 Kindness
Team meeting. Welcome."
The
Kindness 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 Kindness 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
Kindness 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 Kindness 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 Kindness 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 Kindness
Kids over the internet. Truth is, I wasn't
ever able to join the Kindness 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 Kindness 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.