The Spirit of Giving
Darknessxxx
Author's notes: I'm assuming that I lost the Halloween contest; however, I am writing this with the intention of winning the Christmas/ Holiday one! Yada yada, I don't own the PowerPuff girls etcetera etcetera, you know the drill.
The RowdyRuff Boys laughed as the giant snowman, which was erected in the center of town, exploded before their eyes.
"That was great!" Butch declared as he wiped the snow of his shoulders. "What else is there to blow up?!"
"I don't know!" Brick answered him. "But we should go find out!" he was just about to lead his brothers in search of more things that they could destroy, but he was immediately interrupted by three unwanted figures.
"The RowdyRuff Boys!" Blossom snarled as she, Bubbles and Buttercup descended upon them. "Why am I not surprised?"
"Why'd you have to destroy the snowman?" Bubbles complained. "I put a lot of effort into building that!"
"Duh!" Boomer rolled his eyes. "'Cause it was there!"
"Why are you so uptight?" Brick asked. "It was just a giant pile of snow!"
At Brick's words, Bubbles' eyes began to water. "Oh no!" Buttercup groaned. "Now you've done it!"
"It wasn't just a 'pile of snow'" she cried. "It was a special snowman that I made especially for Christmas!"
"Christmas?" Brick echoed.
"Yeah, Christmas is coming soon" Blossom sighed. "And I don't want to spend it fighting with you three!"
"So be sure to book that day off, and, like any normal person, do nothing!" Buttercup told them.
The boys exchanged looks. Each as confused as the other, they all shrugged. "There two questions here!" Brick said. "First, what is Christmas? And why should we care?"
"Oh brother" Buttercup rolled her eyes at their question.
Blossom and Bubbles, meanwhile, eyes had widened at the question. "You don't know what Christmas is!" Blossom said, shocked.
"I had no idea" Bubbles seemed on the verge of tears.
Slightly spooked, Brick took a step back. "What's with those looks? And are you gonna answer me or not?"
Before he knew it, Blossom had sped to him "Christmas is the best time of the year!" she said.
Shocked, Brick took another step back just as Bubbles also rushed up to him. "It's a time of love and magic!"
"And family and friends!"
"And giving and sharing"
Butch and Boomer laughed at the sight of their brother retreating, as Blossom and Bubbles relentlessly gave 'facts' about Christmas.
"What my two sisters seem to be failing to mention" Buttercup suddenly intervened. "Is the best part of Christmas! And that is The Presents!"
"There're presents!" It was Butch and Boomer this time whose eyes widened. "Tell us more!"
"Yes simpletons" Buttercup basked in the attention. "It is quite common for people to receive gifts on Christmas from, the elusive, Santa Clause!"
"Can anyone get gifts from this 'Santa Clause'?" Butch asked.
"Any boy or girl can get a gift from Santa!" Buttercup, who was now enjoying herself, declared. "Provided that they have been good all year long!"
"You have to be good for a whole year?" Boomer complained. "Should've known that there'd be catch!"
"Buttercup!" Blossom shouted. "There's far more to Christmas then just getting presents!"
"Yeah but receiving gift is the best part of it!" Buttercup responded.
"And that's where you're wrong Buttercup!" Bubbles said. "There is something better than getting a gift."
"There's something better than getting a gift!?" Brick shouted. "Tell us!"
Blossom and Bubbles exchanged knowing glances and smiled. "You want to know what's better than getting a gift." Blossom asked.
"Of course we do!" Butch said. "Tell us!"
"You really want to know?" Bubbles smiled deviously.
"Yes!" Boomer nearly shouted. "Tell us already!"
"The best part about Christmas…" Blossom began in a near whisper, which caused Brick, Butch and Boomer to inch closer.
"Even better than getting presents from Santa…" Bubbles continued; the boys inching yet closer still.
"Is giving a present!" they both said in perfect unison.
"Giving a present?" Brick raised an eyebrow. "You're kidding."
"No, we're serious!" Blossom said. "Giving is much more rewarding than receiving one!"
"There is no way that's true!" Boomer let out, clearly unconvinced.
"But it is" Bubbles adamantly shouted. "There's a certain magic that happens when you give someone you love a gift! I assure you, there is nothing better than seeing a smile on that person's face! Tell them Buttercup!"
Buttercup sighed. "Okay boys listen up" she said. She looked into the defiant eyes that were boring into her. Eyes that were trying to determine if she was lying or not. "The truth is…" she searched her mind for the perfect wording. "…. The truth is, my two sister her have clearly gone insane! Getting a present is clearly the best part, while giving presents is just a nuisance!"
The boys burst into laughter, while Blossom and Bubbles's jaw dropped.
"I thought as much!" Brick declared. "Well, since this Christmas thing has absolutely nothing to do with us…"
"Hold on!" Blossom shouted to them. "She was really just joking!" then to Buttercup she snarled under her breath "How can you even joke about that!"
"Well, I'm sorry" Buttercup snarled back. "But it's true!"
"NO IT'S NOT!" Bubbles angrily joined the argument. "Giving to others is basically the underlining principle behind Christmas!"
"You're going to have a hard time convincing me of that" Buttercup told her.
"Then I'll just have to show you!" Bubbles shouted. She then turned to the three RowdyRuff Boys, who were poised to leave. "You three are coming too!" she told them.
Brick laughed at her request. "Why would we want to go with…"
"I SAID YOU'RE COMING TOO!" Bubbles Screamed. The threatening anger in her voice caused a change of heart in the boys, and they obediently followed her as she flew off to show them how rewarding giving can be.
Bubbles smiled as she and her sisters handed out bowls of warm soup at the soup kitchen she had brought them too. "See?" she said. "Isn't it nice to help out those who are less fortunate then yourselves?"
"Uh, no" Brick, who was merely watching them, answered. "It looks like your just giving away good looking food!"
"You can only say that because your just watching" Blossom said. "If you were to come over here and help I'm sure your attitude will change."
"I'll pass!" Brick answered.
"You girls are fighting a losing battle" Buttercup said while, reluctantly, handing out servings. "I am helping, and I'm still convinced that it's better to get stuff."
"I'm still not giving up!" Bubbles declared. "Boomer, why don't you help out?"
"I'd rather not" Boomer told her
"I SAID HELP!" screamed again. Immediately Boomer stepped up to help pour soup.
Buttercup sighed at the sight of her sister enforcing her sense of 'compassion', when she heard a voice behind her.
"Is she always that way?"
Buttercup turned to see Butch behind her, he was pointing to Bubbles. "Not always" she said "Only when she really gets into something!"
"I take it she really gets into this then?" he asked.
"Like no-one else" Buttercup said.
"You don't look like your enjoying this as much" Butch observed. "Giving to the needy not all it's cracked up to be?"
Buttercup sighed again. "Don't get me wrong, giving to others is fine" she said. "And Bubbles is right about the smile on someone's face when they get one. But nothing can beat the rush you get when, for months, you wait, and then you get the present! And when you're opening it!"
"Sounds fun" Butch said.
"You have no idea" Buttercup said back.
"So" Bubbles said to Boomer. "Do you feel the joy of giving yet?"
"Not really" Boomer said. "But I am starting to crave soup."
"No surprises here" Brick said, taking sips from a bowl of soup in his hands. "This is actually pretty good!"
"What are you doing?" Blossom gasped. "That's not for you! It's for the starving people of Townsville!"
"Well I live in Townsville, and I'm starving here" Brick told her then took another sip.
"It's still not for you" Blossom then attempted to wrestle the bowl from his hands. "Give it here!"
"No!" Brick fought back, until the bowl of soup, inevitably, slipped from both of them and flew into the air.
"Okay, so giving to the needy didn't work out!" Blossom said as she wiped soup from her face. "So we're going to try something else!" The six of them were outside, having left the soup kitchen after soup had flown all over. "Instead of giving to just anybody, you are now going to give to someone special!"
"This isn't going to work" Brick groaned.
"Just, try it!" Blossom shouted. "Now, I want you three to think really hard about who's closest to you."
"Oh, my gosh!" Butch suddenly shouted.
"What, what?" Blossom and Bubbles cried out.
"I found a Toonie*" Butch said, showing them the coin.
"Can you please focus?" Blossom pleaded.
"Nuts to that. I'm spending this" was Butch's answer. He then rushed off before Blossom or Bubbles could protest.
"Anyway" Blossom sighed as she turned to Brick and Boomer. "Come on guys! Surely there's someone you care about."
"Well obviously I care about B…"Brick began but stopped himself.
"Yes?" Bubbles focused on him.
Brick muttered something incoherent.
"What was that, sorry?" Bubbles asked. "I didn't quite catch it."
"I said…" Brick said but once again his answer couldn't be understood.
"One more time" Blossom said.
"Butch and Boomer!" Brick let out.
"That's great!" Blossom cried out. "Now, if you could give them anything, anything at all, what would it be?"
Brick looked at his blue eyed brother. "I guess the one thing I want to give him" he said. "Is one of these!" he then backhanded Boomer, causing him to fly back several meters.
Boomer quickly regained his composure and flew back to his redheaded brother. "Well maybe I want to give you this!" he ran his foot into Brick's face unaware of Blossom and Bubbles's protests.
"Well, I'm back!" Butch announced upon his return. "What'd I miss?"
"Nothing much" Buttercup said. "Your brothers are still your brother. And my sisters are still trying to change that!" she pointed to the fighting Brick and Boomer, and Blossom and Bubbles trying to stop them.
"Any luck?" Butch asked.
"None!" Buttercup said. "Get anything good with that toonie?"
"Maybe?" Butch shrugged.
Buttercup glared at him, wanting a better answer than that, but Butch seemed to be intentionally avoiding her gaze.
Eventually, Brick and Boomer stopped hitting each other. Blossom and Bubbles, who had put themselves in between them.
"Okay that's it!" Blossom muttered. "I don't care anymore! Go on thinking that it's better to receive than to give! I just don't care anymore!"
"Me neither!" Bubbles agreed. "Though I really hope that one day, you do understand!"
"So, we can go now?" Brick asked.
"Yes" Blossom said. "Just go!"
"Cool!" Brick said, then flew off, Boomer right behind him.
Butch turned to Buttercup "I guess, I'll see ya later!" he then grabbed Buttercup's hand and shook it, before he flew off himself.
"!"
"Well, that was a waste of time!" Blossom complained.
"Yeah" Bubbles agreed. She then noticed the smile on Buttercup's face. "What are you so happy about?"
"Nothing!" Buttercup turned her back to them. She examined the small plastic flower, probably worth only $2, that Butch had slipped into her hand. "Just glad to know that I was right all along. It is so much better to get a gift from someone you care about then it is to give one!"
Author's Notes: well that's that. Barring any apocalyptic event between now and when the polls are up, be sure to vote for this- 'The Spirit of Giving- From Darknessxxx in marisa lee's 'Christmas/ Holiday Word of the Month Contest'! Merry Christmas, Happy: Hanukkah, Kwanza, and any other event you celebrate!
*for those of you who don't know, a toonie is a $2 coin in Canada- For those of you saying, 'But Townsville isn't in Canada' well screw you, I'm in Canada