Disclaimer: I do not own The Grinch, or How The Grinch Stole Christmas, or it's characters.
Note: I have always loved the story How The Grinch Stole Christmas. I love the book, the cartoon, the live action and the new animation. I know that the live action gets on some people's nerves, but there is a lot about the story that I do love. And this story, I hope, will be a little of all the stories. All while throwing a bit of my twists on the way. I hope for all the fans that love the story as much as I do and will pick up if the Easter eggs I plan to plant.
Chapter 1,
Valentine's Day, a monstrous affair of hearts and hugs, and kisses. The Grinch hates it so, but he wasn't the only one. He walked around Whoville and it was clear who was in love and who was miserable at this time of year. The shoe salesman with the shy smile was happy. The cashier with a huge smile plastered on her face was sad. The distracted bag boy was happy. And the store manager yelling at his employees was sad. The Grinch hates coming into town but he needed some supplies for a new invention. You see the Grinch was quite the engineer; always attempting to make life a bit easier for him and his customers. Right now he was building a machine that could easily make breakfast for people on the go. The Grinch called it a Break-case, or a Brief-fest. He hadn't decided which was better. But he needed to get some small motorized fans for insulation. Otherwise the device might overheat and catch fire. The Grinch quickly found them in their usual spot, and bought a case. He listened carefully around the store, being the paranoid furry beast that he was, he was worried about being jumped.
"Sprinkles! Come on girl, where are you? Sprinkles! Excuse me, ma'am have you seen my puppy, Sprinkles? No? Excuse me. Excuse me, sir." The Grinch could heat the child before he laid eyes on her.
She entered the store holding a picture of a full grown dog asking anyone she saw if they knew anything; the Grinch heart went out to the child, but he hasn't seen any dogs, so there wasn't anything he could do. He thought that if he passed her without making any eye contact, then she would ignore him. But when he walked out of the store, he could hear her calling out to him.
"Mr. Green-man, Mr. Green-man, please stop." The child asked and the Grinch sighed and he stopped for her.
"Look kid, I haven't seen your dog." The Grinch said and the child walked right up to him. It was unusual for the Grinch who was use to people standing away from him. But he got a good look at the child. She was about two feet tall, she was blonde and she had her hair tied up in a traditional Who fashion.
"Please, Mr. Green-man. Look at the photo." The child said and she looked so worried that the Grinch had to comply.
"It's a cute dog. And I'll be sure to keep an eye out for it, kid." The Grinch said and the child sniffed and the Grinch couldn't help but sigh.
"Listen kid, what's your name?" The Grinch asked and the child looked up at him with her sad baby blue eyes.
"Cindy." She said and the Grinch nodded.
"Cindy, where is your mother?" The Grinch asked and Cindy sniffled.
"She has to pick up my brothers at Day Care, then she is going to drop us off at my aunts house so that she can work at the hospital tonight." Cindy said and the Grinch nodded.
"I know where the Day Care is. Come on, let's go there. She is probably worried sick about you." The Grinch said and a few tears left her eyes and she nodded.
They walked in silence, which the Grinch did like; but he didn't enjoy the way Cindy kept trying to hold the Grinch's free hand. He couldn't understand why the child insisted upon doing this. Especially since she had just met him. She would grab his hard, then the Grinch would pull his hand away and she simply grabbed his hand again. But finally they got to The Who-Care building. The Grinch looked around for a random woman who resembled this tiny and random child. Or perhaps a screaming hysterical woman who couldn't find her child.
"Hey kid, do you see your mom?" The Grinch asked an Cindy looked around.
"Oh, there she is, by the door, she just came out." Cindy said and the Grinch looked up, and he saw a blonde who, about his height, well maybe shorter. She was holding a set of twin boys and shrugged while the two boys made faces and lunges for the other. There was something about her that threw the Grinch off, and it took him a second to realize that he was staring at this woman.
"Um, excuse me, ma'am, is this your daughter?" The Grinch said and the woman turned and her eyes widened as she saw Cindy standing next to the Grinch.
"Oh, man, Cindy. I told you to stand by the flagpole." The woman said and Cindy sniffled.
"Sorry mommy." Cindy said.
"Well, what did you think you were doing?" The mother asked and Cindy's eyes widened.
"Ma'am, it seems like your daughter was asking the kind people of Whoville about a little canine named Sprinkles." The Grinch intervened and the mother blinked then sighed.
"Cindy I know how much you loved that dog, but you can't go roaming around town all by yourself." The mother said and then the woman turned towards the Grinch and gave him a small smile.
"Thank you for bringing my daughter back to me. You're Mr. Grinch, correct?" The woman said and the Grinch.
"Yeah, the green fur does tend to make me stand out." The Grinch said and the mom giggled softly.
"Well, thank you, Mr. Grinch." The woman said and the Grinch smiled.
"You're welcome, Mrs...?" The Grinch said and the woman blushed at the realization that she hadn't introduced herself.
"Oh, please, I'm Miss Donna Lou Who." She said and the Grinch wanted to ask why she wasn't married, but he really didn't want to make her feel awkward.
"Well, Miss Lou Who, I'm sure that you don't really need me anymore, so I'll just get out of your hair." The Grinch said and Donna nodded.
"Ok, Mr. Grinch. Now Cindy, what do we say to Mr. Grinxh for bringing you back to mommy?" Donna said and Cindy stared at her mother and Cindy grew angry.
"Nothing." Cindy said and Donna blinked.
"Cindy that isn't very polite." Donna said and Cindy took a step away from her.
"Who cares about being polite? Sprinkles is missing and it seems like I am the only one who cares." Cindy said and the mother set down her boys and knelt down to Cindy.
"Honey, please understand that I do care, but we can only do so much." Donna said and Cindy looked disgusted.
"You're not doing anything, mom." Cindy said and Donna was thinking to stay patient.
"That's not true." Donna said and Cindy clenched her fists.
"I'm gonna do something; I'm gonna find my dog." Cindy said and she ran away.
"Cindy!" Donna called out to her, but she hesitated.
"You get her. I'll grab the boys and follow you." The Grinch quickly said when he recognized her dilemma. So without another word, Donna ran after Cindy and the Grinch turned to the twins and was easily able to pick them up and run after Donna. The Grinch has been to Whoville many, many times, but he never once considered that he would be trapped in a situation like this; chasing after a little girl trying to find her dog while carrying two boys and following an overworked mother. However the Grinch had a sneaky feeling like this whole display was the beginning of something big.