Chapter 4: The Big Night

The audience sat in the pews, anxious for the show to begin. "When's the show gonna start?" Mr. Krabs asked. His daughter Pearl, a whale, shushed him. "Quiet dad it's starting." she said as the lights dimmed. "You ready Kells?" asked Sandy. Her, Kelly, and Spongebob were in the back. All wearing white silk robes. "You bet." said Kelly holding her Bible close to her. Spongebob took a CD with Christmas music burned on it and put it in a CD player. Music began to fill the room. Kelly slowly walked on to the large front area of the church. "Welcome everybody." she said. Kelly was nervous but everyone's applause comforted her a bit. "God help me get through this." she prayed in her mind. Everyone clapped when she came out. She smiled and thanked them. "As we all know tomorrow is Christmas day." Kelly began. "Me and two very good friends of mine have put together a presentation telling the story of how Christmas came to be. As well as what this holiday is really about." Kelly then opened her Bible. She thumbed over to the first chapter of Matthew began to read. "This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came to be:" Kelly began. Kelly began with the story of the Annunciation.

"The angel came to Mary and said 'Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you." Spongebob and Sandy hummed a peaceful tuned as Kelly read. "Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the King," Kelly continued. behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, 'Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have come to worship him."

Spongebob and Sandy started to sing, "We Three Kings."

"Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star appeared; and he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him bring me word, that I too may come and worship him." Kelly said, getting in Matthew 2:7-12, the essentials of their story. "When they had heard the king they went on their way; and lo, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came to rest over the place where they child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy; and going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way." The LED star of Bethlehem shone on the set. The audience oohed. Spongebob and Sandy broke into a rendition of "O Holy Night". Kelly continued to read not noticing everyone in the audience had a confused look on their faces. Some even looked disappointed. Spongebob and Sandy noticed this though. Kelly closed her Bible and looked out into the audience. She didn't like what she saw. The audience were muttering amongst themselves.

"Your attention please." she called. The scene became silent. All the people in the audience had a "I'm not satisfied" look on their faces. One fish in the back row stood up and shouted. "That's it!?" he said "No, that's not it." Kelly said. "There's a lesson to be learned here. I ask you all to listen to what I'm about to say." "I'll say there's a lesson to be learned." said another fish in the crowd. "Apparently you don't know what you're talking about!" Everyone muttered in agreement. Kelly backed up slightly. Spongebob and Sandy looked worried about their friend. They went to Kelly's side to help. "If you would just listen-" Kelly started but was stopped by shout of a female patron. "Listen to what!?" she said. "To your made up fictitious tales?" "Yeah we all know what Christmas is really about!" said another fish. Kelly felt like crying. Spongebob was angry. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He angrily marched forward. "Look buddy, we all worked very hard to put this together, especially Kelly. The least you can do is sit down, be quiet and hear what she has to say!" He scolded the fish. "Oh, blah blah blah!" said a female fish. "Yeah!" said another guy. "Let's get outta here." The crowd stormed of out the door.

Only a few patrons remained. Mr. Krabs, Pearl, Squidward, Mrs. Puff, and Patrick. "Oh dear." Spongebob said. Kelly felt warm tears in her eyes. She sat down and began to cry. Patrick came to Kelly's side. "I thought that was a pretty story." he said. "And well told I might add." said Squidward. Kelly sniffled. "You really think so?" she asked. Everyone nodded. "But did you understand the message?" Kelly added. Everybody had a confused look on their face. "I thought that was a pretty story." Patrick said again. Kelly sighed. "I'm sorry Kelly." said Spongebob. "Me too.." said Kelly. "If y'all need me I'll be crying my eyes out at Sandy's place." With a heavy heart, Kelly stood up, grabbed her Bible, and left the church to go home to the treedome. Her tail dragged across the floor as she left. "I'm gonna go talk to her," said Sandy. She followed her friend with a broken heart. "This is terrible." said Mrs. Puff. "Poor lass." said Mr. Krabs. "Yeah, you guys really worked hard on this show…" Pearl added. "But no one worked harder than Kelly." said Spongebob. "She put her faith in this."

Back outside,

Sandy raced off to catch Kelly. "Kelly, wait!" she called. Kelly just kept walking. Sandy raced to her side. "Kelly wait, please." she said. Kelly stopped when she got to Sandy's door. "Kelly, this isn't your fault." Sandy said. "But it was stupid of me to think I could change what people think." said Kelly with her voice breaking. "No it wasn't." Sandy said, perhaps a little more forcefully than she meant. "Look, at least you tried. Most people would have done nothing, but you got guts and stepped up. Anyone who can't see that is either blind or a fool." "And they would be the majority of Bikini Bottom." Kelly said with a sigh. Sandy hugged her. "I'm sorry it didn't go the way you planned." Kelly hugged Sandy back. Still feeling heartbroken.

Back at the church,

"We need to do something." said Spongebob. "And we should." said Mr. Krabs. "I agree." said Mrs. Puff. "It's so disheartening to see people act in such a horrendous manner." "And Kelly was brave to stand up in front of the whole town just to tell us something." said Squidward feeling that even he cared too. "You guys are so right." Pearl said. "We've go to do something." "But what can we do?" asked Mr. Krabs. Spongebob thought for a moment. Then, he had it. "I've got it!" he shouted. "What is it?" asked Patrick. "First you guys need to know what Kelly's message was." said Spongebob. "Then I'll tell you my plan." Everybody huddled up to hear what Spongebob had to say.