to hurt my nephew. I couldn’t wait to get
back to Mouse Island to see him. But first,
I decided to take a quick snooze. After all,
traveling around the world in one night can
really take a lot out of a mouse.
I
p
r
o
m
i
s
e
t
o
a
l
w
a
y
s
r
e
m
e
m
b
e
r
t
h
e
r
e
a
l
s
p
i
r
i
t
o
f
C
h
r
i
s
t
m
a
s
!
I was happily snoring away when a loud
knock woke me up. Was it SANTA?
I blinked and looked around. What was
happening? I was sitting behind my desk
at The Rodent’s Gazette. Sun streamed
through the window. It was morning. How
very strange. Had I been sleeping? Was my
THE MOST
I
MPORTANT THING
77
adventure with
Santa all just a
dream?
I was still trying
to make sense of
everything when
I heard another
loud knock at
my door. Two seconds later, Grandfather
William burst into the office.
Cheese niblets, here it comes, I thought.
Grandfather’s going to pull out my whiskers
now that he’s caught me sleeping on the job.
But instead of squeaking about my sleeping
on the job, Grandfather William began
squeaking about something else.
“Grandson! What are you still doing in
the office? ” he thundered. “We waited for
you all last night. It’s Christmas! You need
G
r
a
n
d
s
o
n
,
y
o
u
’
r
e
s
o
g
u
l
l
i
b
l
e
!
B
u
t
,
I
.
.
.
to be with the rodents you love!”
I was so confused. “But, Grandfather, you
kept telling me that I needed to WORK, WORK,
WORK. You said you would take over my
job if I didn’t,” I stammered.
Grandfather William chuckled. “Oh,
Grandson, you’re so gullible! Don’t
you know a joke when you hear one?” he
squeaked. “Work is important. But your
family is the most important thing in the
world!”
With that, Grandfather William turned
and left the office. Right then, I remembered
something. I had never written my
article on the true spirit of Christmas.
I wracked my brain for ideas. But I couldn’t
think of a thing. Not one sentence. Not one
word. I was a big blank.
What could I do?
78
2. Do a little
yoga.
3. Write with
a fa
vorite pen
or pencil.
4. Listen
to classical
m
usic.
1. Take a hot bath
with lots and lots of
ched
dar bubbles.
5. Stand on
y
our head.
7. Put away
y
our laundry.
6. Cut little
stars out of
modeling clay.
7
W
a
y
s
t
o
G
e
t
a
n
I
d
e
a
80
Right then, I remembered something my
aunt Sweetfur used to tell
me when I was a young
mouse. Just before I left
for school she’d say, “The
brain cannot function
if the body is not well fed.
Always eat a good breakfast and
you’ll be able to concentrate better.”
I fixed myself a nice cup of hot
chocolate and a fresh cheese log. As I
sat nibbling on the yummy cheese log, I
thought about my visit with Santa and Mrs.
Claus. Oh, what a wonderful dream!
An idea popped into my head. That was
ONE MORE
C
HEESE LOG
it! I could write about my
amazing dream.
I sat down at my computer
and began typing away.
My paws flew across the
keyboard like fluttering
butterflies. I had so much
to tell. So much to share. I
wrote about flying with the
reindeer, visiting
Santa's
Toy Factory, and meeting
Santa and Mrs. Claus. I
even wrote about Ding-
Dong and his fall through
the ice. I felt like I would
never stop typing. But
finally, I did.
e
r
S
a
n
t
a
a
n
d
M
r
s
.
C
l
a
u
s
S
a
n
t
a
'
s
T
o
y
F
a
c
t
o
r
y
M
E
R
R
Y
C
I leaned back in my chair
and sighed happily. Who
knew you could learn so
much from a dream?
I
H
R
S
T
M
A
S
Before I left the office, I decided to make
a few phone calls. Well, maybe more than a
few. In fact, I guess you could say I called
EVERYONE
. All of my friends,
my relatives, my coworkers.
I’M SORRY
W
e
’
l
l
h
a
v
e
&n
bsp; a
g
r
e
a
t
b
i
g
C
h
r
i
s
t
m
a
s
p
a
r
t
y
!
RING!
RING!
RING!
RING!
RING!
85
2
5
DECEMBER
I needed to tell everyone I
was sorry for ignoring them.
I invited them all to my house.
“We’ll have a great big
Christmas
party
,” I said. “Bring your friends, bring
your family. We’ll all celebrate together!
After all, that’s what the true Christmas
spirit is all about!”
Everyone accepted the invitation. I was
so EXCITED. I was finally getting
into the Christmas spirit. I couldn’t wait
to celebrate with my friends and family. I
grabbed my coat and ran home as fast as my
paws would carry me.
But when I got there, I realized I had
forgotten a few things. I didn’t have any food
in my fridge. I didn’t have any Christmas
decorations hung up. I didn’t even
have a single present.
Putrid cheese puffs! What was I
thinking?
I would never be able to get
everything together in such a short time!
“
D
i
n
g
-
D
o
n
g
!
D
i
n
g
-
D
o
n
g
!
D
i
n
g
-
D
o
n
g
!
D
i
n
g
-
D
o
n
g
!
”
But just as I was about to pull out all of my
fur, the doorbell rang.
88
I raced to my front door and yanked it
open. A huge crowd stood on my doorstep.
I tried to shoo them away. I didn’t have time
for visitors. I didn’t have time for carolers.
I didn’t have time for salesmice. I had very
dear
friends
and
family
coming over!
“It’s Christmas,” I squeaked. “Don’t you
rodents have somewhere to go?”
The mice laughed. “We came to help you
set up for the party, Geronimo!
” they shouted.
I blinked. Oops. When would I ever
learn to stop putting my paw in my mouth?
Standing right in front of me were my very
dear friends and family!
In a flash, my house was bustling.
WE CAME TO HELP
Y
OU, GERONIMO!
M
E
R
R
Y
C
H
R
I
S
T
M
A
S
90
Some mice decorated the Christmas
tree.
Some started a fire in the fireplace.
Others set the TABLE.
And my good friend Saucy Le Paws
whipped up a super fabumouse cheesy
lasagna
. Do you know Saucy? He’s one of
the most famouse chefs on Mouse Island.
It was truly a wonderful party. In fact,
I think I could honestly say it was the best
Christmas I ever had. Cross my paws over
my
heart
!
It felt good to have my friends and family
around. I had been so busy with work at the
office, I had forgotten how much I enjoyed
just hanging out and squeaking with the
ones I loved.
I raised my glass and made a toast.
“Thank you all for coming today. I
hope you all know how much I value
your friendship, and I’m
sorry if I’ve been ignoring
you lately. I let my work
take over, and I promise to
never let that happen again.
I love you all too much!
” I said.
Everyone clapped and hugged me. Well,
everyone except my obnoxious cousin Trap.
He was too busy stuffing his snout with
lasagna. That mouse would eat me out of
house and hole
if I let him.
We were so busy celebrating, no one
noticed the snow piling up outside.
When I finally looked out the window, the
snow was five feet high. And it was still
coming down!
SNOW, SNOW, AND
M
ORE SNOW!
T
h
e
r
e
'
s
s
o
m
u
c
h
s
n
o
w
!
C
i
t
i
z
e
n
s
o
f
N
e
w
M
o
use
C
i
t
y
,
w
e
n
e
e
d
e
v
e
r
y
b
o
d
y
'
s
h
e
l
p
!
93
“Holey cheese!” I squeaked. “We’ve never
had this kind of a
blizzard
in New
Mouse City before!”
I turned on the TV. We all huddled around
it to hear the news. The entire city was
buried under snow! The sick and the elderly
could not get around because the snow
BLOCKED the streets.
New Mouse City’s mayor, the Honorable
Frederick Fuzzypaws, appeared on the
screen.
“Citizens of New Mouse City, we have a
BIG
problem!” he announced. “The city
is paralyzed by snow. Ambulances cannot
get to sick rodents. Fire engines cannot get
to fires. Cheese delivery trucks cannot get to
the Stop and Squeak.”
Next to me, my cousin looked faint. “No
cheese?” he gasped in HORROR.
On the screen, the mayor continued. “There
is on
ly one way to fix this problem. I ask that
every mouse pick up a shovel. Together,
we can help New Mouse City!”
I turned off the TV. Everyone looked at one
another. It was so
WARM
and cozy
inside my mouse hole. And it was so
cold
outside. But our city needed us. We armed
ourselves with shovels and headed outside.
We shoveled sidewalks and driveways.
We shoveled front steps and back steps.
We even
SHOVELED
the whole town
square. I was so tired I thought my paws
would fall off. Did I mention I’m not much
of a MUSCLE MOUSE? Still, I kept on
shoveling. By nightfall, the streets of New
Mouse City were finally cleared.
We celebrated by drinking cups of steaming
HOT CHOCOLATE. I was exhausted, but
94
I was happy. I hugged my nephew Benjamin.
I had no gift to give him this year — except
for the gift of myself.
“From now on, I will not let work get
in the way of our relationship,” I told him.
“I will always make time for my favorite
nephew.”
Benjamin’s eyes
LIT
up. I smiled. Outside,
a cold December wind rattled the windows.
But inside, I felt warm and peaceful.
Oh, what a strange and wonderful
Christmas it had been. I’d learned so much
from my dream about the North Pole.
I thought about Santa and Mrs. Claus.
I thought about the elves and the
reindeer. I even thought about Ding-Dong,
my new elf friend. It all seemed so real!
I stared out the window thinking about
everything. And for a minute I thought
95
Me
Chris
erry
stmas!
I could almost hear a tiny voice in the
distance calling, “Merry Christmas
to all, and to all a good night!
The Christmas Toy Factory Page 4