Little Kitty and the Meaning of Christmas

There was a local newspaper contest about writing a Christmas and it was a chance to challenge my writing skills and get something published. The winners ended up being tales of house fires torching a families Christmas dreams and then those around suppor

LITTLE KITTY
and the
MEANING of CHRISTMAS

 

 Kitty lived with his mother beside the train tracks on Elgin Street across from the Townehouse Tavern, downtown in the Greater City of Sudbury. Kitty’s mother always warned him not to go to the parking lot across the street, because it was where his sister and brother were last seen before they went missing. Kitty’s mother said the humans must have captured them and they are “Pets” now.
 “No cat ever wants to become a pet of a human,” his mother always told him. They didn’t know of the comfort a human can bring and the love and caring they provide. But, this is the life of a stray feline.
 It was a sunny winter day and Kitty played at the park across from the Sudbury Regional Police Department with his mom. There were trees to climb, room to frolic and piles of snow to jump in for the young kitten. Kitty heard a ringing bell in the distance and wondered off from his mother toward the Salvation Army. He saw a human in a red suit, with a white beard, ringing a bell and the other humans were dropping something into the bucket he carried in the other hand.
 “That’s Santa Claus,” meowed Kitty’s mother approaching him from in behind.
 “What’s Santa Claws?” asked the small kitten confused about the strange man standing on the sidewalk. Why was his last names Claws anyway? He didn’t look like a cat.
 “It’s a human thing. It is a sign that Christmas is coming, Kitty. It’s a very magical time of year.”
 “What’s Christmas?” asked the curious kitten.
 “You’ll find out when it comes on December 25,” answered his mother. “It’s getting late and it’s time to go home.”

 Time passed since Kitty saw the strange human wearing the red suit and more snow has fallen. Instead of living by the train tracks, Kitty and his mother moved to a small opening underneath the CP shack on Elizabeth Street. It was warmer and the area around the shack provided protection from the cold wind.
 “Mom,” meowed Kitty one night when they were in their warm house. “What’s Christmas and when is it coming? Is it the reason why the humans put the silly decorations up downtown with the colorful lights?”
 “Yes,” answered his mother, “but Christmas is about more than decorations and lights. Today is Christmas Eve and when you wake up tomorrow it will be Christmas morning, the happiest time of the year.”
 “It can’t be tomorrow,” exclaimed Kitty. “I don’t even know what Christmas is yet.”
 “It’s a nice night and the wind isn’t too cold,” his mother meowed. “Why don’t you go take a look around by yourself and see if you could find what Christmas is all about? It makes it much more special than somebody explaining it to you. Besides, Christmas is many things to many different people.”
 Excited, Kitty darted out heading across the small parking lot making pawprints in the freshly falling snow. “Don’t be gone too long!” meowed his mother loudly as he ran away. “It may be snowing lightly now, but it can turn into a blizzard. This is Northern Ontario.”
 “Yeah mom,” Kitty meowed back. “I’ll be home as soon as I know what Christmas is.”

 Kitty walked up Catherine Street and he reached the corner of Morris Street. He knew for sure it was called Morris Street because it was named after a very famous cat who used to do commercials, or at least that’s what his mother would say. “Morris was never a Pet,” he remembers her meowing. “Morris was a Star.”
 Deciding this would be a good place to start, Kitty approached the home of a family of humans with flashing lights scattered around it like the decorations downtown. It looks awfully silly to Kitty, but he remembers his mom saying Christmas isn’t about decorations anyway. “Maybe if I look inside, they will be doing Christmas stuff,” thinks Kitty to himself.
 Slowly Kitty crept up to the house and luckily they shoveled a path through the snow from the driveway to the front door. From the step it was an easy jump for an athletic feline kitten such as himself and he was on the window sill. He peered into the house and saw a little girl sitting on her mother’s lap, holding a box with gold-wrapping and a big red bow. Kitty thought to himself how fun it would be to tear that paper with his claws. He watched on as the little girl tore the wrapping paper and bows, much to his enjoyment, and then opened the box and peers inside. With a gigantic smile, she pulled out a small doll and she gave her mother a giant hug.
 Kitty remembered when his mother brought home a piece of a shiny tin foil when his brother and sister went missing. It made him happy to have something to play with. Kitty wondered, is Christmas about presents? That would be great, he likes presents. But figuring there is always a catch behind a present, Kitty decided to investigate further into this Christmas thing. Maybe a house further down the road will hold more answers.
 The snowflakes seem to get bigger and Kitty tried to catch them on his tiny pink tongue as he wonders down the sidewalk. He barely even notices the “Howey - Moonlight” city transit bus driving by on the road and he almost got soaked when the bus drives through a puddle splashing slush into the air; however, Kitty is a cat and cats are quick and agile and he easily avoided the down pour and continued on his journey.

 Further down Morris Street he walked until he reached ?????. It seems like as good as anywhere to check out and he approached a house, hopped up onto the window sill and he peered through the window.
 This family was different. A father stood at a table using a large knife to cut into the largest cooked pigeon Kitty had ever seen. Through an open crack in the window Kitty could smell the bird and he realised it wasn’t a pigeon, but smelt so good anyway. He remembered when his dad used to catch pigeons, squirrels and field mice before the “Man With the Net” took him away.
 There was a mother at the table, the father, a little girl and a little boy. Looking around the room Kitty saw a tree in the corner of the living room with more wrapped boxes underneath. So, thought Kitty to himself, another human house and more presents. Christmas definitely had something to do with presents and cooked birds. It kept sounding better and better to Kitty at every moment.
 “After supper is done, it will be an early bedtime tonight,” said the mother as she served out the food to her children. “Santa Claus is coming tonight and he only comes if you are sleeping.”
 Kitty hopped down from the window sill and walked away as the family enjoyed its wonderful Christmas feast. Kitty was still very confused about the new discoveries on his Christmas Eve walk. There have been decorations, presents, delicious smelling food, and more talk of this Santa Claws guy. His mother told him Santa Claws was only for humans, even though his named sounded very catlike, and Kitty didn’t mind that since children have to go to bed early on Christmas Eve and Kitty never liked going to bed early.
 Still confused, Kitty decided to make his way home since the snow was starting to come down quite quickly. He rushed along making a path through the freshly fallen snow on the sidewalk. Up ahead of him he saw a man walking with a little girl holding hands. Kitty thought maybe he might learn more about Christmas if he listened to them when they were talking, so he rushed up, but not to close, and followed them listening to their conversation.
 “Are we going to be able to have turkey on Christmas this year, daddy?” asked the little girl.
 “Daddy registered for the food drive since we don’t have much money,” answered the father looking down at his young daughter as they walked. “I bet those good people will come through for us.”
 “Are we going to be able to have presents on Christmas this year, daddy?” asked the little girl.
 “You know Daddy hasn’t been working, my girl. But if the Lions Club Christmas Telethon goes good, you know those nice people will always have a nice gift to go with whatever I can get for you.”
 “Don’t worry about it,” said the little sounding proud. “It doesn’t matter if there are presents or turkey this year.”
 Kitty was now really confused. Christmas wasn’t about turkey or presents? Kitty crossed the street and the father and daughter continued their walk further down the street toward the **** Inn. Kitty walked slowly down Elizabeth Street on his way back to his house trying to put the pieces together in the puzzle called Christmas.
 The family was eating turkey at one house, but the little girl said that turkey wasn’t important. Both houses had presents, but the little girl said that presents weren’t important. Kitty wondered, what did they all have in common? Santa Claws. No.
 Then it reached Kitty like a light bulb turning on over his head. He almost thought he heard 100 heavenly cats singing “hallejuah” in the background. Christmas is about family. Everywhere he went there were families, whether it was a mom and dad with kids, a mom with a kid or a dad with a kid. Everywhere he went, families were spending time together, but he wasn’t spending time with his mother.
 Kitty rushed the rest of the way home excited to see his mother and spend time with her on Christmas. “I know what Christmas is?” meowed Kitty running through the entry way.
 “Go shake the snow off, Kitty,” hissed his mom loudly. Kitty went back out and shook the snow off, as much as he could, and he went back inside. “Now you are not covered in snow, you can talk,” meowed his mother. “What is the meaning of Christmas to you?”
 “Whether you are a human family or a cat family,” began Kitty proudly, “and even if part of your family is missing, Christmas is about spending time with as much of your family as you can.”
 “I think you understand Christmas now,” meowed his mom with a big smile. “Merry Christmas, Kitty.”
 “So what does Santa Claws have to do with the humans anyway?” asked Kitty. “I still don’t get that. Why is his last names Claws if he helps humans?”
 “It’s spelt C-L-A-U-S, not C-L-A-W-S,” meowed the mother to her dumbfounded son. “Santa Claus supposedly delivers toys to all the good human boys and girls in the world.”
 “I wish Santa Claws was real,” smiled Kitty.

 Kitty and his mother spent the rest of the night cuddling together to keep warm throughout the night. The wind blew ferociously more snow fell until Christmas morning came. Kitty opened his eyes and he sees a huge ball of yarn inside their small shelter under the CP shack. “Thanks mom!” yelled Kitty waking his mother up. “This is great.” Kitty pounced on the yarn and began rolling around in the small confined area.
 “I didn’t get that for you this time,” meowed Kitty’s mother.
 “Maybe Santa Claws is real,” purred Kitty. “I mean C-L-A-W-S. He comes to all the good kittens in the world.”
 “Maybe,” smiles Kitty’s mom. “Maybe.”