It was Christmas Eve and the day of the pageant; everyone in town was bussing about to make sure everything was perfect, not only for the pageant but for Christmas Day as well. It was only an hour and a half until the show and Martha was excited and nervous all at the same time; Felicity styled her hair, did her makeup, and even helped her with her costume. Martha and her parents had a quick dinner and they were off to the school. When she got there, the entire cast and crew was running around getting everything ready for the show.
"Okay, sweetie. We'll see you soon." Felicity beamed.
"Break a leg out there, my little superstar." Mortimer kissed Martha's forehead before he and his wife made their way out of the room to find their seats.
Martha looked around and saw Mr. Welltether approach her. He smiled at her and said, "There you are, Martha. You look great. Come on, it's almost time to start."
"Right behind you." The little girl said with a grin; the teacher took her hand and led her to a group of girls who were playing her fellow fairies.
'I hope I'll see you tonight, Mr. Grinch.'
0-0-0-0-0-0
Meanwhile up on Mt. Crumpit, the Grinch was pacing the floor of his room while Max was lying on the bed and watching him. He was trying to figure out if he should just stay in his cave like he always does, or go down to Whoville and watch Martha May perform in the pageant.
"The pageant is tonight. Martha is expecting to see me there. I don't want to let her down, but I don't want to be run out of town by an angry mob either." He said. "What do I do? Should I go? Should I stay here? What should I do, Max?"
The puppy cocked his head to the side, unsure of how to answer. Then the Grinch remembered something Martha said a few nights ago; he could go to the pageant in disguise. It was a fairly good idea, but what would he wear? It had to be subtle and sophisticated; something ingenious, yet not obvious at the same time. He needed a disguise that could help him blend into crowds with ease. He went to his closest and quickly rummaged through it, but there was nothing but his trousers on hangers inside. He groaned, putting his hands to his head.
"Ugh, this is ridiculous!" He whined. "If I can't find a decent disguise, I'm not going! …But I can't disappoint Martha! She'll be heartbroken! What am I gonna do, Max?! …Max? Max, where'd you go?"
Max suddenly came running back to his master with something in his teeth; it was a brown fabric. The Grinch took the fabric and held it up, realizing that it was a hooded cloak. He looked at his companion.
"Where did you find this?"
Max turned his head to the closet and a dirty white box lay open in front of it.
The Grinch looked at the cloak in his hands again and slowly smiled. "…This is PERFECT!" He hurriedly put the cloak over his head before heading over to the mirror; he was completely covered from head to toe. "Wow, look at me! Nobody will know who I am in this! Thanks, Max!" He grabbed a black scarf, tied it around his neck, and drew the hood. "Let's go, Max. We have a pageant to see."
Max barked and followed his master out the door and down the mountain.
"I just hope we aren't too late." Grinch muttered as he walked through the snow; he adjusted his scarf so that it covered his mouth.
0-0-0-0-0-0
"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, hello and good evening everyone! It is my great honor to welcome you all to our show of shows!" Mr. Welltether announced into a microphone. "Before we begin, I just want to wish you all a very merry Christmas. Now sit back, relax, and enjoy our production of The Nutcracker on Ice!"
The crowd applauded and the show began.
Martha silently watched the pageant unfold from behind the curtains that concealed the backstage area. She eagerly waited in the wings to go on, but she knew she had to wait until the second act. As she waited, she grew more and more excited… as well as nervous. She thought the butterflies in her tummy would burst out of her any second now. And eventually, it was time for the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. The music gradually started, Martha adjusted her pigtails, brushed the skirt of her tutu, took a deep breath, went out onto the ice, and began her dance. As she skated, she did every step perfectly; she spun, leaped, and twirled with such grace that she could've been walking on air. She finished on the last note and everyone applauded before some more members of the cast joined and did their own respective dances for Marie and the Nutcracker Prince.
As the show went on, the Grinch had finally made it to the school. But as he was looking around for the ice rink entrance, he got lost and ended up somewhere near the backstage area just when Martha May's big number was about to come up: the Sugar Plum Fairy and Cavalier Pas de Deux. Martha confidently strode out onto the ice and began; the Grinch peeked his head out from behind the curtain while remaining out of sight. The music began to play and Martha skated and danced just as beautifully as she did before, but she quickly realized that she was alone on the ice and the boy who was supposed to play her cavalier was nowhere to be seen. She curiously looked around, only to see him throwing up into a trash can in the backstage area; Mr. Welltether was standing beside him.
'What?! No! What is Bert doing? He can't get sick now!' Martha thought as she started to panic.
From his hiding spot, the Grinch quickly took notice of Martha's change of mood and soon, he saw that she was starting to fumble. He started to panic as well.
"Oh no, she's in trouble. I've gotta do something… but what?" He whispered as he looked around; he saw a spare costume, a hat, and a pair of skates hanging on a clothing rack in another corner and got an idea.
By now, Martha had started to cry as she continued to skate, but she held in her tears as best she could. But just as she was about to break down, she felt someone pick her up off of the ice. She and the crowd gasped in surprise; what was going on? Martha looked up and saw the Grinch dressed as the Cavalier. She smiled and silently gasped at him.
"Mr. Grinch? What are you—?" She asked before he shushed her; he put her back onto the ice and wiped away her tears.
"What do you say we do this Pas de Deux together?" He asked, taking her hands in his.
"Together?"
"Together."
"…Okay. Let's do it."
They smiled and nodded at each other before they started to dance, just like they did during their daily lessons together. The audience didn't really know what was going on but at the same time, they didn't seem to care; the two figures out on the ice were fantastic and they couldn't turn away. Their movements were graceful and perfectly synchronized and they both seemed to move as one. And at one point, the Grinch did a perfect jump while Martha followed with a midair twirl. The music came to a close and Martha and the Grinch finished with a dramatic pose, which made the audience roar, clap, and cheer in applause.
Soon enough, the rest of the cast including Marie and the Prince, joined Martha and the Grinch in a beautiful, grand finale; the Grinch was so caught up in the dancing that he didn't even feel self-conscious about being the tallest one there. The music ended, the dancing stopped, and everything faded to darkness. The audience clapped and cheered as everyone took a bow, even the Grinch. He looked at Martha who was holding his hand and standing right beside him; she smiled and silently thanked him for everything.
In the cafeteria, Felicity and Mortimer were showering their daughter with hugs and kisses as well as congratulations for her performance.
"That was fantastic, sweetie!" Felicity beamed.
"My little star!" Mortimer proudly exclaimed.
"Thanks, you guys." Martha said bashfully.
"Oh! We need pictures!" Felicity said, taking Martha's camera out of her purse. Mortimer got closer to his daughter before his wife snapped a photo. She gave the camera to Martha. "Here you go, honey. Go get some more photos for your scrapbook."
"Thanks, mom. I'm gonna go find my friends. See ya guys later." Martha said as she ran off in search of her friends.
"Martha!" Tina and Donna's voices cried out.
Martha turned around and smiled to see Donna and Tina running over to her with big smiles on their faces. They squealed in delight and hugged her tight; she hugged them back.
"Martha, you were amazing!" Donna exclaimed.
"Yeah, we loved it!" Tina cried.
"Thanks, girls." Martha grinned.
Donna looked behind her and her face lit up at Martha. "Don't look now, but a certain someone is coming this way."
Martha smiled before she felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned around to see the Grinch still wearing the costume he borrowed. She grinned up at him; he gave her a tiny embarrassed smile before he took her hand and led her out of the cafeteria and into the foyer where nobody could see them, Tina and Donna followed after them.
"Mr. Grinch, I can't believe you did that!" Martha cried.
"What?" Grinch asked innocently.
"That performance! During the pageant! You were GREAT!" Donna exclaimed.
"Where'd you learn how to skate like that, Mr. Grinch?" Tina asked.
"Well… ask her." The Grinch replied, gesturing towards Martha.
Donna and Tina looked at their friend with wide eyes. Martha gave them a playful shrug, followed by a smirk.
"I've been giving him private lessons, okay?" She said. "What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing at all, dear." A new voice said.
The group turned their heads to the door to see a woman with red hair and wearing a magenta dress approach them. Martha lit up at the woman.
"Auntie Azalea!" She exclaimed, giving the woman a hug.
"Martha May! How's my favorite niece today?" The woman said with a big smile.
"I'm good!" Martha said.
"Hi, Miss McGerkle." Donna and Tina greeted.
"Tina, Donna. Nice to see you girls." Miss McGerkle said before she noticed the Grinch giving her a nervous grin. "Martha, is this the mysterious friend I heard about?"
The Grinch tensed up at this statement. "Y-y-y-you've heard of m-m-me?"
Miss McGerkle stopped hugging Martha and walked over to the disguised Grinch. "Yes. Well, only once or twice. And I think my niece teaching you how to ice skate is a very kind thing to do. How did you two meet, if I may ask?"
Martha and the Grinch froze and looked at each other in silence, unsure of what to say to that. They couldn't tell her about the incident on Mt. Crumpit, they just couldn't. What would Felicity and Mortimer think? What would the rest of Whoville think? Donna and Tina noticed their worried expressions and quickly took action.
"Hey, how about we take a few pictures?" Donna said, giving Martha back her camera.
"For Martha's scrapbook! Right, Martha?" Tina added.
"Oh yeah! Yeah, of course! We need pictures, lots of them. You don't mind, do you auntie?" Martha asked, handing Miss McGerkle the camera.
"Of course not." Miss McGerkle said. "Martha, how about a few with Tina and Donna?"
"Okay, auntie."
Martha put her arms around her friends' shoulders and all three of them grinned as the camera flashed. Then Martha took one with Donna and another with Tina. The three girls giggled as they looked at the pictures; Martha looked at the Grinch.
"What about some photos of me and Mr. Grinch?" Martha asked her aunt.
"Oh yeah. We can't leave him out." Tina said.
"He was a real big help." Donna added.
"Mr. Grinch? Very well, Martha dear." Miss McGerkle said.
"What? Oh, no thanks. I'm camera shy." The Grinch said with a nervous grin.
"Come on, just a couple pictures? Pretty, pretty please?" Martha asked with big pleading puppy-dog eyes.
"Did Max teach you puppy eyes?" The Grinch asked. After a moment of silence, he finally relented. "Fine, just a couple."
The little girl grinned as the Grinch picked her up. Miss McGerkle aimed the camera, told them to give her big smiles, and snapped the picture.
"One more?" Miss McGerkle asked.
Martha looked at the Grinch, who said, "Fine, one more."
They took another picture before Martha was set back down onto the floor. She looked up at the Grinch and smiled up at him before she gave him one of the pictures. It was the photo they just took; Martha was in the Grinch's arms and they were both smiling.
"Here you go." She said.
"But… don't you want this?" Grinch asked.
"That's why we took two pictures, silly. So we can each have one." She held up the other picture of them together. He smiled at her before Miss McGerkle took her niece's hand.
"Sorry dear, but I think it's time to head back. Your parents are probably wondering where you are by now. It's Christmas Eve, you know." She said.
"Okay, auntie Azalea. Bye, Mr. Grinch." Martha said before she, her aunt, and her friends walked back into the cafeteria.
"…Bye." Grinch said as Max went up to his master.
"That was a very brave thing you did back there." A deep voice said.
The Grinch quickly turned around to see Mr. Welltether calmly walking towards him; he was carrying the Grinch's cloak and scarf. He froze.
"You saw that?" The Grinch asked.
"I did… and it was very impressive, Grinch. Did Martha May really teach you how to skate?" Mr. Welltether asked.
The Grinch paused before nodding his head. "Yes."
He took the scarf and cloak before taking off the costume and skates giving then to the teacher in front of him.
"How long has this been going on for?" Welltether questioned.
"The past few days or so. Why?" Grinch replied.
"I knew it was you looking after those girls that night."
"What gave it away?"
"While you were wearing all of that snow gear as a disguise, I noticed you were panting and sweating like crazy, either because you were afraid of getting caught or because of your fur and you were possibly overheating. I figured the latter was most likely."
"Yeah, that jacket was pretty hot. But I didn't want Martha or her friends to get into trouble."
Welltether paused before he and the Grinch turned their attention to the cafeteria entrance where they could see Martha talking and laughing with her family.
"You really do care for that little girl, don't you Grinch?" Welltether asked
"I… huh, I guess I do. But what can I say, Welltether? She's… different." Grinch said.
"Different is good. And I'm glad to see you make friends with her."
"It won't last long, though. She and her folks are leaving the day after Christmas."
"So she really is just visiting."
"Yep."
Max sadly whimpered at that response. The Grinch bent down and scratched the puppy's head in response.
"I know, Max. I know you're gonna miss her when she's gone." He said solemnly.
"You'll miss her, too." Welltether said.
Grinch froze. "Well, uh… so what if I will? …She's not gonna miss me."
"Are you kidding? From what I've seen, she adores you and she'll miss you very much."
"But… what should I do?"
"Give her a gift."
"A gift? But… what kind of gift? All of the shops in town are probably closed by now and I didn't bring any money with me."
"Then be creative. You were probably the most creative student this school has ever seen. Make her a gift; I know you're perfectly capable of it. Unless you're afraid she won't like it."
Grinch scoffed. "Oh, please Sven. Don't stoop to reverse psychology. You're better than that."
"It never hurts to try."
"Consider it considered."
And with that, Mr. Welltether walked away, leaving the Grinch and Max alone with their thoughts. Grinch looked at his dog for any guidance, only to be met with a slight shake of the head in confusion.
"Be creative, be creative…" He said to himself as he and Max made their way to the school's exit; he put his scarf and cloak back on.
As he walked through the snowy streets of Whoville, he took a quick look at the enormous Christmas tree at the center of town. It was bright and colorful and there was a beautiful angel sitting on the very top. As he stared at the angel, he got an idea.
"I think I've got it. I know what to give Martha!" He said before picking Max up and looking him straight in the eye; he smiled a rather sinister smile. "Max, it's time to get a little crafty."