The Silver and Web Series
Special #3: Silver and Web's Christmas
It was Christmas Eve morning, and Silver, Web, and Chinon were ready for Christmas; in the living room, their Christmas tree was fully decorated and a radio sat on a desk playing "Silver Bells". Silver, wearing a gold necklace with a jingle bell and green ribbon in the center, used a pen to circle the date on the calendar and walked across the room with a look of cheerfulness on his face. "This is my favorite time of year!" he announced, taking a seat at the desk, "Silver bells, silver ornaments, silver tinsel…silver is everywhere!"
"I think we all saw that one coming, Silver!" Web chuckled from nearby. Beside him, Chinon, wearing a red ribbon with a jingle bell in the center on her left ear, was going through a small chest, searching for something for him to wear for Christmas.
Chinon took out a red Santa hat and placed it over Web, but the normal-sized hat was much too big for a tiny spider. "Hey! I can't see!" he exclaimed, running about and causing the Santa hat to move across the floor. Since he couldn't tell where he was going, he soon bumped into the desk.
Silver took the Santa hat off of his friend. "Sorry, Web, we don't have any Christmas clothing small enough for you to wear."
"Aww," Web looked down sadly.
Vroom! Scree! Suddenly, the sound of a vehicle driving and then stopping rang out from outside the house. Silver, Web, and Chinon raced to the door and looked outside to see what was going on. In the snow just ahead, a man wearing a winter hat, coat, mittens, and boots was looking sadly at a red and gold sleigh that sat in the snow. The sleigh was decorated with white five-pointed stars on its sides and white four-pointed stars on its front and back, and on the bottom it had four wheels. It was clear that something was wrong.
The three friends ran over to the man and his sleigh. "Is everything all right?" Silver asked him.
"I'm fine, but my special mechanical sleigh isn't," the man replied worriedly, "I was just taking it out for a test run when the engine died. I was going to use it to take some toys to the local orphanage tonight for Christmas. But there's no way I'll have it repaired in time."
Web had an idea. "I know! Your sleigh could run on hedgehog power-Silver here could use his psychic powers to move it!"
Silver was surprised by this sudden change of plans, but before he could say anything the man answered. "Really? Oh, thank you so much! I'll come back and bring the toys tonight."
As he came back inside with his friends, Silver told Web, "What do I look like, a reindeer? I've never pulled a sleigh before!"
Web jumped onto one arm of the couch. "Aw come on, it's not hard. All you have to do is move yourself and the sleigh through the air."
Silver sat down on the couch with Chinon beside him, looking down uneasily at his necklace. "I know, but…what if I mess up somehow?"
Web could see that his hedgehog friend was nervous, but he knew just what to say. "Don't worry, you'll do fine! Just think about how happy all those kids will be when they find the toys you deliver!"
That thought gave Silver confidence and eased his worries. "Right!" he nodded, "Thanks, Web!"
That night, the man who owned the sleigh came back with a huge sack of toys, which he set in the back of the sleigh. Chinon jumped into the sleigh in front of the sack and Web held onto the brown fur on her head. Silver stood in front of the sleigh while the man tied one end of a strong rope around his waist and the other end around the front of the vehicle. "Ready to go, Silver?" the man asked.
"I guess so," the hedgehog replied. Then he used his powers, making both his body and the entire sleigh glow and float up into the sky. "Here we go! Hold on tight!" he announced.
"Up, up, and away!" Web said excitedly.
"Good luck!" the man called out from below, waving at his new friends.
Led by its new "engine", the sleigh flew easily through the night sky over the town. Web and Chinon gazed all around themselves in awe, watching the moon, stars, and gently falling snowflakes. It was a peaceful winter night with beautiful sights all around.
Silver noticed the snow beginning to come down harder and looked up. "Wow! It's really starting to snow!" Then he looked down, seeing numerous colorful lights shining on the houses below. "And look at all of those Christmas lights!"
"Look out!" Web shouted suddenly, getting Silver's attention.
The silver hedgehog looked ahead to see he was about to crash right into a telephone pole! "Whoa!" he shouted in surprise as he swiftly moved upward and out of the way.
Once the danger was over, everyone was relieved that they had avoided the impact. "Keep your eyes on where you're going, Silver!" Web said.
"Sorry," Silver replied, a bit embarrassed at his mistake.
Fortunately, throughout the rest of the flight Silver paid attention to where he was going, and soon he caught sight of a building with the words "City Orphanage" on the front. "Here we are!" he announced, landing on the roof, "Web, make sure there isn't a fire in the fireplace."
Web used a spiderweb to latch onto the bottom of the roof and hang just in front of the window. Inside he could see a fireplace decorated with holly and gold garland. Four stockings were hung on the fireplace and three logs were placed inside, but there was no fire. "All clear!" Web gave a thumbs-up.
Wanting to conserve his psychic energy for the flight home, Silver lifted the sack of toys out of the sleigh after untying the rope around his waist. Chinon helped him carry it over to the chimney, but it was quite heavy and so the process was somewhat slow. Both of them placed the sack on top of the chimney's opening and pushed as hard as they could. Finally the sack slid down the chimney, landing with a soft Thud! "There-we did it!" Silver said with a smile.
It was getting very late now, and the three friends were all beginning to feel sleepy now that their work was done. Silver turned to prepare to leave while Web and Chinon hopped back into the sleigh. "Now let's go home and get some sleep," he yawned.
The next morning, Chinon woke to a sunbeam shining on her through the window. She opened one eye and, realizing what day it was, was instantly wide-awake. "Chinon Chi!" she exclaimed, flying up into the air with excitement and waking Silver and Web. It's Christmas morning!
With her friends following, Chinon eagerly dashed into the living room and flew over to the Christmas tree, thrilled to see the stockings filled and presents under the tree. "Chi Chi!" she called out. Santa came! Among the normal-sized gifts for Silver and the miniature gifts for Web sat two gifts for her-a plush Hero Chao and a plush Dark Chao to go with her plush Neutral Chao.
Silver and Web came over to the small table where the stockings were hung; Web jumped onto it, seeing a tiny red Santa hat hanging from a folded piece of paper. "Look, Silver!" he exclaimed joyfully, "A spider-sized Santa hat!"
While his spider friend put on his new hat and danced around with joy, Silver took the folded piece of paper and looked at it. "There's a note here…'Dear Silver, Web, and Chinon, thank you so much for your help and for all the good you have done throughout the year. There are many happy children this Christmas because of you! Merry Christmas and enjoy your gifts! Your Friend, Santa Claus.'" After reading the note, he looked up in thought and wonder. "We never did get the name of that guy with the sleigh. Do you think, maybe…"
"It's a Christmas miracle!" Web said happily, hopping onto one of Silver's quills.
Chinon came over with her arms full of her three plush Chao, and Silver and she hugged one another. "Indeed it is," Silver replied, "Merry Christmas to all!" All three of them enjoyed celebrating the joyful holiday that day, knowing this Christmas was very special for them and for the children at the orphanage.
(from December 15-18, 2019)
Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope you enjoyed this story and Christmas is as special for you this year as it is for Silver, Web, and Chinon here! :)