A Christmas Miracle
Christmas Eve! A day of universal peace, happiness, charity, and love for others. And it was even greater than that for all our friends in Soah City. People would be throwing parties or attending them, whichever the particular person preferred. But the party we shall focus on today is the one thrown by Dragonfox257, AKA Df the Flying X-Mas Snow, everyone's favorite and beloved dragon/echidna (HEY! I'm allowed to over exaggerate things today). He was hosting his little shindig for all his closest friends, such as SailorSapphire123, Shiro (who would've guessed it, eh?), Bandit Dorian, and anyone person they felt really close to, and so on and so forth. This statement might add a little variety to the party, but only one or two extra people, because Shiro and BD were already there anyway (hint hint wink wink), so that only left Saph and himself. But since our beloved (I already said it) host was busy preparing the party, that really only left Sapphire to bring someone else along. And Df was quite sure of whom it would be. It's definitely gonna be that new guy she's been seeing. Shadow Mage I believe. These were the thoughts that ran through his mind. So he threw down one extra plate next to all the others. Alrighty then. Decorations up, table set, food ready, music going, all set. PARTY TIME! The party was due to start at eight o'clock in the evening, and it was 7:55. He had time to change. The Flying X-Mas Snow ran upstairs real fast and changed out of his normal, dreary garb and threw on a festive red decorated top and a pair of blue jeans with Rudolf's face glistening the right pocket. He also donned his little Santa hat and looked himself in the mirror. Quite the dashing young Santa I make! "HAHAHAHA!" he laughed at his own comments and then the bell rang. He ran down quickly to see who was at the door. He opened it in glad tidings and found there standing on his porch Bandit Dorian and Shiro, blushing slightly from something Dragonfox had missed.
"Hey guys! Merry Christmas and Happy whatever else ya feel like celebrating! Glad you could make it! Please please, come in and make yourselves at home. Grace my humble house with your benevolent presence!" He said in greetings and not even Shiro could help but laugh at the host's own foolishness.
"Merry Christmas Df," BD said and hugged him and walked in.
"Merry Christmas. Hehe. Didn't think you could get much stupider lookin'," Shiro answered, then took his and BD's coats and hung them on the rack next to the door.
"My friend, it's Christmas! I can be more foolish than anyone and everyone you and I know, for today is a day of great happiness! Rejoice and be glad, for the Lord is born this day! All who see him shall rejoice in his glad tidings!" Df laughed after this, too merry to even be drunk (Was he? No, he wasn't, but could have passed for it). "Please, take a seat in the parlor, have a drink, make yourselves at home!" Then the doorbell rang, and Dragonfox left the two to their own devices for the moment as he opened the door at the second and final couple of the day, Saph and Shadow Mage.
"HIYA!" Saph leapt at Df and embraced him hard. "Merry Christmas! YIPEE!" Dragonfox returned the embrace just has hard.
"Hey Saph! Merry Christmas to you too!" he let her go and then looked at Shadow Mage. "Ah yes. You must be the infamous Shadow Mage, if I'm not mistaken."
"Yes, that would be me," Shadow Mage replied and stuck his hand out for a hearty handshake. "And you must be Dragonfox. She has told me much about you."
"Yes, I'm sure. And she has told me much about you as well!" And Df embraced his newfound friend. "We don't shake hands around here pal. Especially on Christmas Day!" SM laughed at this and returned the hug.
"I'll remember that for future reference," and with this he laughed and took Saph's coat along with his and hung them on the rack next to Shiro and Bandit Dorian's. And so they party started with the full ensemble in the parlor, getting to know Shadow Mage, drinking a few drinks of their choice, and chatting away as merrily as any group of friends could. And this continued until about 8:45 when Df interrupted the flow of conversation with the proposition of dinner.
"Perhaps we'd all like to take a seat at the table and eat some warm cooked meals of mine? I got turkey and that weird jello stuff and cranberry sauce and anything else you can think of. So, if you'd all like to head that wa-" he pointed to the dining room and never finished his sentence. Everyone got up and bolted for the table. And they all stopped and stared at the banquet laid before them. Foods of all shapes and kinds and origins were laid out neatly and orderly in front of them on the enormous oak table. After a few minutes of awed silence, Shiro was the first to recover.
"Wow," was all he was able to get out, and soon the others responded in similar reply, and they then took their seats at his table and waited for the signal to dig in.
Outside in the dark, a group of happy-go-lucky carolers passed by a small group of the same number as those inside and feasting. They were the misfortunate who didn't have the luck and prosperity of the year to enjoy any banquet but the small one they were able to dig up for their children. The group in total consisted of a family of five, the mother and father hedgehogs, one child of eight years their very own blood, and the other two had been adopted. The girl was another hedgehog of five years of age, and the youngest, a year and a half, was an echidna. They sat outside next to a trashcan with burning contents trying to stay warm and celebrate as best they could. But the tiny one could not keep from wandering away. He saw something no one else did. Where they all saw a light and a gathering of friends, he saw hope. He saw the love of friends and he wished to share in this. So he crawled away to the door and banged on it as hard as he could, then the father saw the boy missing and ran up the steps to get him only to find the door open and a dragon/echidna looking at him.
The signal had been given. The food had been gouged at and plates had been piled high with food, but it seemed as though nothing had been taken. They all ate and ate until they finished and the girls became full from the first course and stared in disbelief as their male counterparts took not only a second and third course, but a FOURTH with the same proportions as the first. Shadow Mage finally dropped out after a few bites into it, so that left only Shiro and Dragonfox to eat. And so they did. They made it up to the sixth course, and finally the banquet of heavenly food was looking like it had taken a dent, when Df stopped and pushed his plate aside in surrender. Shiro had won the eating contest, but he put his plate aside after one final bite.
"That…..was…….so good!" he said, and relaxed in agony from an overly-full stomach. Then there came a knock at the door. Df got up and left the chatter friendly dining room to answer the door, and to his surprise, he opened it on a small family of the streets, a tiny child at the door and his father close behind, with the mother and the other two children down by the street and a trashcan. Df stared in surprise for a quick second, then he smiled in happiness and opened the door wider and bowed like a butler did for the guest to enter.
"Please, I entreat you to enter and grace your heavenly presence upon my humble home." The father looked at him in shock, but the child wasted no time. He crawled right on in and Df picked him up and tossed him in the air happily. The child laughed in glee, then turned and looked at his father in a begging look, and the old hedgehog laughed and turned to his family and waved them in. They rushed in before him and he brought up the rear and bowed before the saint.
"My greatest thanks to you, kind sir. This is the greatest thing anyone has done for us," the father said.
"No, my friend. It is you I must thank," was the host's reply. "It is because of you that I am able to experience the true meaning of Christmas. I know that sounds kinda selfish, but I beg of you to stay the night and all of tomorrow here. Take a load off."
"No, I'm afraid we can't. We don't wish to impede." At this Dragonfox laughed and put his hand on the man's shoulder.
"Nononononono no! You won't be impeding at all. I would be impeding on you if I sent you back out there. Tomorrow is Christmas. I wish for you and your family to spend it in the best of conditions I can offer. At least spend the night, if it really is against your nature to do anything else." The man hesitated; then looked Df in the eyes with a smile of happiness and a look of eternal gratitude and thanks.
"Alright. I shall accept your offer. Thank you so much," he said and stuck his hand out for a handshake. Dragonfox just gave the man an embrace and smiled, and was glad he was able to give someone something that could help his life somehow. And so the evening continued on, the table being cleared by the family's ravenous hunger, and talk was as free and gay as ever. The clock then struck 11 and the circle of friends had to depart their separate ways. Dragonfox saw them all off, with an embrace, a good word, and a small something else. With the party over and done with, all our host had to do was clean up, which all he did was throw the dishes in the sink, and saw the family to their own beds, giving up his own for the mother and father, and the guest rooms given to the children. He tucked the echidna in himself and saw the smile of happiness and dreams on his face. Dragonfox got the greatest joy from knowing that a small child was given a day of happiness. He then left the house at midnight after everyone was asleep and took a drive.
The morning came at 7 for the family, when the girl awoke the house by screaming the greatest word a child could hear: "PRESENTS!" The entire family got up and went downstairs to see that a tree was set up and decorated that wasn't seen the night before. They all stared in awe at the wonderful decorations, and then one by one they went and looked at the presents. They had all been arranged in piles, each with a picture of the recipient's face on top, and two pictures graced the bottom of the pile. One was of Santa, and the other was of Dragonfox and his friends. All the family members opened their presents except the father's one and only small card that lay there. He watched as everyone opened their own gifts, the mother getting a diamond necklace; the eldest boy getting a GameBoy Advanced and many various games. The girl got a dollhouse packed full of all types of dolls, and the little boy got a few small books and tapes to help him learn to read.
"Well, what did you get, dearest?" asked the man's wife.
"I don't know," he said, and then he proceeded to pick up the card and opened it. Out few two items. One was a huge wad of cash and some checks and a bank account all tied together, and the second was a deed. It was the deed to the house. The man was amazed at this, and looked at the card and read it.
Dear friend,
I'm sorry I missed you this fine morning. I wanted to see the looks on your faces from receiving your gifts, but I had a few things to take care of. Obviously, two items fell from this card. One is a large sum of cash, a few checks you should cash, and a bank account information. It's all yours, and inside it you'll find $100,000. That's all the money I have, and the cash and checks are from my friends. The second item is a deed. In fact, it is the deed to the very house you sit in now. And the reason I'm giving you this is because the house is yours. Legally even! Who would've thought lawyers worked on Christmas Eve! All my possessions I left in the house are also yours. Feel free to make use of them as you wish. The house is all paid for as well, so you only have your utility bills to worry about, but I called them and told them to go easy on you. I'm sorry I couldn't give you more, but that's all I have besides the clothes on my back and my car. I wanted you to have it but I needed something slightly warm to sleep in! And don't worry, I have someplace to go. It's just gonna take sometime to get there. Merry Christmas my friend, and I wish you the best of luck with you and your family's new life!
Your friend,
Dragonfox
P.S. I never got your name. If I ever run into you again, I'll make sure to get it!
The family sat in silence for many minutes after the last word had been said. Then the child of one and a half said his first words, "It's a Cwistmas mirawle!" And so it was. It was the greatest Christmas miracle that only the babe in a manger could beat all those years ago.
