Hi, I am Mike C. Mouse, the "C" stands for Christmas, my favorite time of the year. Ah, yes, Christmas time, a time of lots of bread crumbs, bits of cheese and all kinds of good food that we in the Mouse family loves. Wow, it is even better than Thanksgiving. But, after the dream I had the other night, I think there just might be something more to this season than good food.
I had a dream (Yes, mice do dream) and I saw many strange things. Maybe this time of year brings on some sort of special magic. Think that could be true?
In my dream, a little angel came to me and asked if I wanted to go on a journey with her. "I will show you what real magic is,"she whispered to me on the wind. Then she pointed up to the sky and I saw a beautiful star shinning and twinkling down to me as if it was singing a song.
"Come on, and I will let you meet my other friends. They are really happy and fun to be with," she giggled.
I met her friends, a squirrel and a rabbit, laughing and playing tug-of-war with a real big Candy cane. "This is Sammy Squirrel and Roy Rabbit," she laughed lightly with a sweet smile. "They like things that are sweet. Think it can make them any sweeter?"I didn't think anything could have been sweeter than these two happy little creatures, sitting on the snow-covered ground, laughing and playing as friends should do.
Hey," the little angel said "Want to make a snowman?"
Well, now that is not a bad idea, especially in a dream where you cannot get cold from the snow. Soon, the four of us were packing snow for our great big snow man and, of course, throwing snow balls at each other. I think it was so funny when the snow ball, thrown by Sam hit the tiny angel. For a few seconds it looked like a big ball of snow with wings flapping like crazy to stay in the air. In the end we had us a most unusual snowman.
"That is such a funny snowman," Roy the rabbit said, laughing as he took a lick of the candy cane.
"Oh," Angel said, giving me a wink, "he is funny but, did you know he is a very magical snowman?"
"There is no such thing as magic," I pointed out to the three of them.
"No such thing?" Angel giggled. Watch this," she said with a laugh as she flew to the snowman then, with a musical laugh, flew around his head three times.
"I think you have been out in the cold night air too long," I said to Angel when she flew back over to us.
"Mister Snowman says he will take you any place you want to go," Angel said, flying real close to my nose. "Where would you like to go?"
"I want to go to the North Pole and see Santa," I whispered, not really thinking it could be done.
Angel flew back over to the snowman, hovering in front of him as if the two were talking. "He says that is a long ways away, and that we will need help from the most magical animal there can be."
"And just what such a creature be?" I asked, trying to think in my tiny mouse brain what animal could be so magical.
"Why, silly, a Unicorn. See..." Angel pointed to a mighty horse with wings as its feet brushed into the snow. Come on," Sammy and Roy shouted to me as they scamper up onto the mighty beast of magic.
"He looks a little cold." I said, getting onto the almost purple animal, wondering to myself if unicorns got cold. But, before I could think another mouse thought, up and away we flew, the ground soon looking like a giant sheet of cotton. "Yahoo," I shouted as I blew a kiss to the full moon smiling down at us.
"And who might you be?" A funny looking, little man with long pointed ears said when we landed at the North Pole.
"I am Mike C. Mouse," I announced proudly.
"Let me check my list. Have to do it twice, you know. Boss's orders," the funny man said, holding up a long list of names. "Ah, there you are. you have a nice stay," He said with a smile as he put a mark by my name.
"Hey," Roy Rabbit said, whispering into my ear. "Isn't he the daddy of that guy on Star Trek? You know, the one with those pointed ears."
"Come on, lets play," Sammy said, finding a sled leaning up against the North Pole.
Oh, did we have fun that night, my friend. Sammy pulled Roy and I all about the North Pole as Angel flew around us, laughing and singing. I felt so good to know that I had gone where no mouse had gone before. Yes, I was finding out that there really is magic.
"Hey, there is Santa," Shouted Roy, rolling off the fast moving sled, a shower of snow cascading out as he laughed and tumbled to his feet.
Yes! There he was. The big man of the North Pole. Mister COOL himself. Wow, funny how real dreams can make things seem. Santa Claus stood there smiling at us, his arm around the oddest looking reindeer my mind could think of.
I soon found out that the reindeer was named "Ralph" and he was in reindeer flight training. Santa and Ralph sure were best of buddies as they picked on each other. I was again reminded of what magic I could have in my dreams.
We all turned when we heard a happy screaming from the top of a very tall mountain of snow. Down the snow-covered surface came another funny looking little guy, holding tightly onto the ropes of his toboggan.
"That is Toby and his Toboggan," Santa chuckled as the wee guy sped past us, waving his hand at us as he laughed loudly. In a dream's instant, he was gone, all remaining was the tracks of the toboggan in the deep snow.
The North Pole was a nice place to visit. We got to help Mister and Misses Clause decorate their Christmas tree. I had fun eating the popcorn off the strings of pop corn, Santa just laughing at me when it was realized that there was no pop corn left to put on the tree.
All of a sudden I felt real sad. "What is wrong, Christmas mouse?" Santa asked, walking over beside me and picking me up in his big hand.
"I don't want to wake up," I sighed, leaning up against Santa's big thumb. "I just want to stay here where there is fun and magic."
"Well, my sad little friend," Santa whispered down to me so that no one but me could hear. "Would it help if I told you your mother may have put a real big bag of 'Crumbs Ahoy' on her list for you?"
I brushed a tear from my right eye, wiping it off on Santa's big glove. "But this is magic," I said, looking up into his warm eyes.
"You don't know, do you my friend? There is magic back there."
"I don't see any magic when I wake up," I protested. "People yell and scream at each other. They hurt each other. How can that be magic?"
"Well, they, like you, have not found where real magic is. It is not a tree with lots of toys under it. Yet, it is so very easy to find." Santa sat me down on the ground as Angel came over and sat on his shoulder.
"Yes, there is magic, Christmas Mouse," Santa said with a loud chuckle, reaching out and taking a huge cookie from the brightly shinning tray Misses Clause held in her hands. "The magic I am talking about is the magic in the hearts of all people, but they know this magic by a very different name," Santa took a bite out of the cookie he had picked up and looked down at me with a gleam in his eyes.
"What could that name be?" I asked, looking around in hopes of finding a cookie crumb.
"Love," He laughed out loudly. "It is love that is the greatest of magics, my tiny friend. It is how people who are so very different become friends"
"I don't see much of it in the world," I pointed out.
"Trust me, my friend, it is there. I guess maybe it is still all wrapped up in pretty paper somewhere in each person's heart. I am sure there will soon be a time for these gifts to be unwrapped."
"Well, my furry friend, guess it'd be like Christmas all year long," He looked from Angel to the pretty star, now looking just a little bit dimmer to me. "The gifts would be friendship, respect and understanding. the whole world would reach out with their hearts, embracing each other becuase, to just do that is the biggest gift the world can give to each other."
Eveything was becoming real misty now. "But when will that be?" I moaned out in a whispering as I woke up.
"It will happen when you and everyone else takes the time to give that great gift that was given to everyone the instant they were born... That gift is yoursleves, give it freely."
Wantta know something? I think that old guy was right.
