CEBU, Philippines - One day, Stripe and Blackfoot noticed how Brad, the world’s smartest rat, Dog-las, the grumpy old dog and Whitefang, the all white kitten, were huddled together in a semi-circle, deep in thought.
“What’s going on guys?” asked Stripe. “Yeah... Is there some bad news we don’t know about?” asked Blackfoot next.
“We were talking about this Santa Claus person,” said Whitefang. “I heard he’s this mysterious fellow who gives out presents to children every Christmas. I was wondering if the gift giving included us kittens, or if he only gave presents to human children.”
Looking at each other, Stripe and Blackfoot understood why Brad and Dog-las appeared to be lost for words. They knew that Whitefang was prone to being childish, and they knew how difficult answering that question must be for Brad and Dog-las. After all, the two of them knew about who Santa Claus really is.
Taking the initiative, Stripe, the smartest of the three kittens, says “’fang, the thing with this Santa Claus person is that children have to be able to get in touch with him, to tell him what they want for Christmas.”
“In order for us animal children to do that, we need to have a smartphone or an email address or a Facebook account which we could use to send a message to him,” Stripe continued to explain.
Crestfallen with Stripe’s words, Whitefang then knew that he would never be able to get a present from Santa Claus. He didn’t have a smartphone, an email address and a Facebook account, nor did he know exactly what those things were.
Brad and Dog-las, who could see the disappointment in Whitefang’s face, also felt crestfallen, well aware of the fact that Santa Claus was actually human, with no known equivalent of him for animals.
“Come on ‘fang,” said Blackfoot. “It’s not really that bad. So what if we kittens don’t get any presents from Santa Claus? We’ve got a lot to be thankful for here and now, and we know about the true meaning of Christmas.”
“Yeah,” said Stripe. “Come on. Let’s drop by the convenience store. Who knows, “Hi, I’m Jen, How can I help you?” might be on her break, and she always gives us treats whenever she sees us. We’ll tell you more about Santa Claus too.”
Upon hearing both Blackfoot and Stripe, Whitefang felt a little bit better.
“They’re right,” he thought. “It’s the true meaning of Christmas that counts. Besides, “Hi, I’m Jen, How can I help you?” never fails to give us treats. We’re practically getting presents from her all year long.”
That next morning, both Blackfoot and Stripe were rudely awakened by Whitefang, excitedly telling them to wake up.
“Guys! Guys! Santa Claus came by earlier!” Whitefang said.
“WHAT?!” mewed Blackfoot and Stripe.
“He came and he left us presents! Look!” said Whitefang, holding out gifts.
Staring at the gifts, Blackfoot and Stripe were left speechless.
“Did… did you see him, ‘fang?” asked Stripe after a couple of seconds.
“You bet I did!” said Whitefang with gusto.
“What did he look like?” asked Blackfoot.
“Exactly the way you guys described him! He rode on a magical reindeer, wearing a red snowsuit, with a sack full of gifts!” replied Whitefang.
Blackfoot and Stripe couldn’t believe it. There really was a Santa Claus who gave presents to kittens, and the gifts Whitefang had proved it.
“Although…” said Whitefang, “there was something strange about him.”
“How do you mean?” asked Stripe.
“Well… he seemed smaller than how you guys described him, and his magical reindeer’s horns looked like a bunch of twigs. In fact, Santa looked much like Brad wearing an old red snowsuit, while his magical reindeer looked a lot like Dog-las painted brown,” explained Whitefang.
“But we all know that those two would never be caught wearing anything like that.”
It was there and then when both Blackfoot and Stripe then knew who those gifts really came from.