WELCOME TO

CHRISTY, THE CHRISTMAS KITTY

By

BILL MACWITHEY

http://www.booksbybill.com

The wind was cold and so strong it blew snow crossways in the air.  The half-grown kitten huddled behind the garbage cans at the restaurant.

“Brrrr.  I sure wish they would

hurry and bring my dinner.”                                                                        

Of course, being a little kitten, she didn’t realize the people at the restaurant were just throwing out the garbage.  She thought it was her dinner they brought out every evening.  It was her only meal of the day, and it hadn’t been too bad being all alone until winter came and it seemed to snow every day.

The little kitten huddled as close to the garbage can as she could get and thought about what was happening all around her. 

The humans started putting all these colored lights up everywhere. 

They were strung all over the buildings and houses.  They even had these pretty trees sitting in front of windows with colored lights and shiny ornaments on them. 

As the little kitten lay against the garbage can, she almost fell asleep, thinking about how she would look with those colored lights wrapped all around her. She dreamed of laying all snuggled up and warm under one of those trees she saw inside the human houses.  That would be really nice!

The sound of the restaurant door opening startled her.  She always hid from the human that brought her supper every day.  This time, it was too late to hide.  As she slid as far behind the garbage can as she could, the man said, “Hello there, little kitty. You look like you are freezing!”

She wanted to run away, but the smell of the food he held in a pan was too good.  And, she was really real, real hungry.

The man bent down and said, “I’ll bet you’re hungry.  Why don’t you come inside with me where it’s warm and I’ll give you some delicious shrimp.”

The little kitten was so disappointed, when he turned and walked toward the door without leaving her supper.  But then, she figured it out that he wanted her to come inside to eat.  Well!  What was she to do now?  She had never gotten close to a human before!  What should she do?

Scared or not, she was hungry, and she was cold.  If she stayed out here in this snow and cold and wind what would happen to her?  The humans all seemed to be happy with all their colored lights everywhere, and this door did have lights strung across it.

Finally, she slowly made her way to the door and looked inside.  The smells were so good, she couldn’t help but walk on in.  The man sat the food down in front of her and it was as if only the food existed.  She didn’t even see or hear the owner of the restaurant, as he sat on a chair right next to her.  The only thing she saw was that pan filled with delicious food.

As she ate, the man kept talking to her.  “Bet you don’t know it’s Christmas, do you, kitty?  You know, little kitty, I have a five year old girl.  Tomorrow is Christmas and I have no idea what to give her.  You think she might like a kitty?”    

Well, the little kitten was so sleepy from being in where it was warm and having a belly filled with good hot food, she started toward the door, but was just too tired.  She just plopped down on the floor and fell asleep.  Again, she dreamed of the colored lights.

Someone yelling woke her up!  She popped her head up and found she was in a box wrapped with bright paper and right next to her was one of those pretty trees with lights and shiny things on it!

Then, a little girl grabbed her up in her arms and hugged her!  “Oh, daddy!  Just what I wanted!  Where did you find her?”   

“Well, she sort of found me.  She was freezing in the cold behind my restaurant.  The cook brought her inside to feed her.  Do you like her?”

“Oh, yes, daddy.  I love her!”

“What do you think you should call her?”

“It’s Christmas, so why don’t we name her Christmas?”

“That’s a good idea.  Maybe we can call her Christy for short.”

Well, the little kitten really didn’t care what they called her, because from then on, she always had lots of good food to eat and a warm place to sleep.  As the little girl grew bigger, Christy grew bigger and forgot all about how she was cold and lonely when she was a little kitten.  She not only got used to her name, but she became a big, lovable, full grown cat and enjoyed every Christmas from then on.