'Twas the night before Christmas,
And deep in the shop
A hedgehog growled softly
And sat with a flop.
He reached for the table,
Grabbed a bottle and glass,
And poured out his soda
To drink it with class.
He whined, "Man, this sucks!
How I wish Tails were here.
He'd make fun of my humor
And bring me some cheer."
Sonic pulled out the postcard
And smiled at the sight
Of his two-tailed mechanic
Backed by palm trees, in flight.
"At least he's got family,"
Sonic whined with a sigh.
"Coulda gone if I'd pushed,
But I'm not one to pry."
Sonic put down the postcard
And sipped from his drink
as he brushed off the silence
And tried not to think.
He supposed he was lonely,
Though he guessed 'twas by choice.
Although there in the night,
He could stand Amy's voice.
She'd gone home with Cream
For the holiday meal,
And though he'd been invited,
Not with Amy; no deal.
Knux was off on his island;
Shad had gone to the ARK.
Vector's crew went to Central;
Big had gone off with Bark.
So there Sonic sat,
All alone with regrets
As his friends partied hard
And he tried to forget.
He had just thought that sleep
Could be his cheap way out;
He would run from his boredom
By being a lout,
When a sudden, loud bang
Made his heavy heart flutter.
He heard scraping and grunting;
He heard feet in the gutter.
Sonic rose from his couch
To see what was the matter.
He thought he saw red,
But knew Santa was fatter.
He charged up a spin dash
And aimed for door.
Sonic hoped to fight Eggman;
'Least that jerk wouldn't bore.
But the door never opened,
Though it creaked in the wind.
Sonic thought it was over
And he cracked a big grin.
As he made for the couch
To lie down for a nap,
A horrible crash made him think
'Twas a trap.
Sonic leaped to his feet,
And he looked 'round the room.
Ashes rose from the fireplace;
Sonic feared for his doom.
Could it be Doc Robotnik
At this Christmas hour?
Surely some kind of magic
Would stop Ivo's power…
Then out of the hearth
There emerged a squat soul:
A red and white creature
with a nose like a mole.
He smiled at the hedgehog,
Then coughed and looked down.
"What the heck are you doing?
Knux, don't fool around!"
The red spiny anteater
Laughed as he coughed.
"Merry Christmas, you jerk,"
Knuckles said with a scoff.
"What'd you do with the island?"
Sonic asked through a frown.
Knuckles shrugged. "Took the gem;
Got two hours 'til it's down."
Sonic smiled; that made sense,
But it didn't explain,
"Ok, why'd you come, then?
I'm not trying to complain,
But I'm not used to company
On Christmas, or ever.
Especially when you
Leave that island, like, never."
The spiny anteater
Cracked a big toothy grin.
"Tails said you were alone;
Maybe I should drop in.
We echidnas don't celebrate
Christmas like you,
But I hear it's for giving,
And that's all that you do.
I wanted to visit
And tell you hello;
Maybe eat all your cookies
'Fore I have to go."
Sonic felt his heart leap
As the gloom seemed to lift,
But he said to Knux sadly,
"Hey, I don't have a gift."
Knuckles grinned. "I don't need one,
But I got one for you.
Rouge said you should give this
To someone who's true."
He pulled out a box
Sonic opened with glee.
He found mistletoe there
that fit Rouge to a tee.
"What's wrong? Don't you like it?"
Knuckles asked, looking sad.
"Oh, it's funny, but
If I say why you'll be mad."
Knuckles crossed his red arms,
And he glared at his friend.
"So tell me or don't;
I'll find out in the end."
"Your bat friend's a prankster;
This dumb plant's hard to miss.
If you walk under a little,
They'll expect you to kiss."
The spiny anteater turned
Red in the face.
"The bat told me to get that?
That thief's a disgrace!"
"Dude, relax," Sonic said,
With a huge, impish grin.
"We'll pretend you brought cookies,
Then everyone wins."
"Hey, speaking of cookies,
Do you have any here?
I hear you need food
To make some guy appear."
Sonic laughed and walked off,
Returning with treats,
And the pair sat there eating,
Counting wins and defeats.
By the time Knuckles left,
Sonic's heart felt much lighter,
But his eyelids were heavy
And the outside grew whiter.
He went toward his bed,
Feeling peaceful and free,
When he noticed some boxes
There under the tree.
"Did Knuckles leave these?"
Sonic asked as he knelt
To look at the boxes
That someone had dealt.
The labels said "Santa"
Had left them for him,
Plus one tin of popcorn
Had a note on the rim.
"Your friend's treat's on the island,
And Miles got his gifts, too.
I know giving to them
Is the best gift for you."
Sonic looked at the boxes,
Then turned back to the note.
"I'll give you gifts regardless;
That is not why I wrote."
His eyes burned a little
As he read Santa's letter.
"Thank you for my present;
You've made the world better.
Without your best efforts,
There's no naughty or nice.
To put you on a list,
Well, why even think twice?"
To Sonic, those words
Trumped the best of the gifts.
Still, nothing could beat
A good friend's visit's lift.
He decided, still grinning,
To do presents at dawn,
When the evening
And all of its magic was gone.
Then he would go out
In the snow and the ice,
To visit the friends
That he thought had been nice.