December 21st: Donations

"Ho, ho, ho!" Red called, entering the room, carrying a sack full of presents.

"Wow!" all of the little kids breathed.

The fire truck smiled. In an instant, all of the countless hours of work- advertising, sorting through donations, contacting the orphanage- had become worth it.

Sally, who had accompanied him on the trip to the orphanage, smiled too. Seeiing all of the children in this orphanage and thinking of what had almost happened to Fudge earlier that year reminded her of how insanely lucky she was to have grown up in a loving family. Lucky to have lots of happy memories of Christmases with her parents, her sisters, her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Opening their presents together, eating a delicious Christmas lunch prepared by her grandmother, driving through Los Angeles, admiring the Christmas lights... She couldn't help but wonder if these kids got to do anything like that. Did they remember things like that from when they used to have families?

Shaking her hood, she refocused her attention on the kids.

"Awww! Look at that adorable puppy!"

"Cool! I want this action figure!"

"Babysitters Club! I love these books! And I don't have this one yet."

"Gabbie, it's the doll you wanted!"

The owner of the orphanage, a Hispanic woman named Juanita, smiled at Red. "Señor Red, muchas gracias. It fills my heart with so much joy to know that there are wonderful people like you in the world. And to see the smiles on the children's faces, of course."

Red smiled modestly. "It was no trouble. I'm just glad the kids are happy. Besides, I can't take all the credit. So many people donated."

He watched as three little girls- a forklift, a VW Beetle and a Toyota Corolla- had a make-belief tea party with their new dolls and bears. A human girl smiled softly as she read a donated book. A blonde human boy, who was playing with a bunch of toy trucks, was soon joined by a girl Porsche.

"Can I play?" she asked.

"Sure." He pushed some trucks towards the girl. No "girls don't play with trucks"; the kind of thing Fudge often heard when she talked about her dream of being a racer.

It was such a beautiful sight. Red remembered when it was he himself being raised in an orphanage by a woman much like Juanita. However, he hadn't quite fit in with the other orphans. Literally. He was constantly picked on due to his size. He remembered when some seemingly magical adult would stride into the room, loaded with presents. He would hang back, knowing that he would be pushed and shoved out of the way (even though he was so much bigger than everyone else, they knew he wouldn't fight back; he wasn't that kind of person). By the time he got there, all of the toys would be gone. So, he would go for a drive, not telling anybody- not even his Juanita- where he was going. He used to peer into store and home windows, just watching other children with smiles on their faces as they sat down to a Christmas meal with their extended family, or marvelled over the toys on display. Oh, how he wished that that could be him.

So, it warmed his heart to see that these orphans cared for each other, especially when he saw two boys- a forklift and a helicopter- kick a soccer ball towards a young fire truck.

Maybe the children didn't technically have families, but it was obvious that they had made a family with each other. Much like Radiator Springs.

When Red and Sally got back to their small hometown, they found everyone at Flo's. They couldn't tell what they were saying, but they were talking and laughing as they ate more leftovers Flo wanted to get rid of before Christmas.

For the millionth time that day, Red smiled. Caring for others and family. That was what Christmas was all about.

So, there was a little bit about Christmas memories in this chapter; more of that tomorrow. :)

Please review.