"So where are we even going?" Thomas asked from the passenger seat.

The teenage buck's older sister, Judy, kept her eyes on the road as she drove in the direction of Bunnyburrow's shopping area. "You'll see," was all she said in response to his question.

Thomas sighed, pressing a paw against his face as he looked out the window at the darkness of the night. He was still unsure where they were going at this time of night, but Judy, after what had happened back in the burrow, told him to come with her.

Not even twenty minutes ago, the buck had said something to his parents that was just wrong. Things had been a little bit on the tighter end this holiday season, and so they couldn't have the feast they usually made. When he saw that some of the dishes he favored weren't on the dinner table, he scoffed at what was served and said that it was the crappiest Christmas ever. And when it was time for everyone in the Hopps family to take part in their annual holiday traditions, he refused to take part in them, stating that he would rather spend the rest of his Christmas evening alone.

Judy has heard what he had said, and saw that he had made his mother upset. If there was one important thing that she knew, it was that you should never make the parents who unconditionally love you upset like that. So the doe decided that she was going to teach her teenage brother an important lesson in being grateful for the things he has. If there was only who was able to teach someone a valuable life lesson, it was her.

"You know," Judy said as she continued to drive. "The way you acted wasn't right."

"You sound just like Mom," Thomas huffed. "But what do you expect? First of all, I pretty much have no choice but to take part in these stupid Christmas traditions with family every year."

"Spending quality time with family and loved ones is not stupid, Thomas," the doe replied. "You don't see it this way because you're younger, but one day you can look back on and remember some of the good times you had when you get older. You never how great a moment is until it becomes a memory." She let out a heavy sigh and shook her head. "Don't you know there's mammal out there that have to spend Christmas alone, that don't have anybody to spend time with?"

Crossing his arms, the buck answered, "They should consider themselves lucky, because sometimes I'd rather just be alone too." After a momentary pause, he added, "And what about the Christmas dinner? We didn't even get to have the cranberry sauce or the apple pie we always make."

"It doesn't matter what you eat on the holidays," Judy responded. "All that should matter is that you have a hot meal in front of you. Not everybody is lucky enough to have that this year. You might not know it, but there are tons of mammals out there that have it very rough."

They arrived at their destination, and Judy found themselves a parking spot just at the end of the area. Illuminated by some holiday lights wrapped around some poles, the small business, closed for the holiday, could be seen lining either side of the street.

Judy shut the truck off, unbuckled her seat belt, and looked over at Thomas. "Grab those things and walk with me," Judy said, pointing to what had been placed in the backseat. "You'll see what we're going to do."

Thomas got out from the truck, the cold weather hitting him as he stepped outside. It had gotten even colder since the sun went down some time ago.

From the back seat he pulled out what his sister had instructed him to. In his arms was a soft gray blanket, one that he had said once was worthless because it didn't really provide him with enough warmth. Resting carefully on top of it was a plate of food from Christmas dinner, preserved with plastic wrap with a fork inside of it.

He followed Judy as they walked down the sidewalk, passing by all of the closed shops and other buildings. Some time later, they made there way over to where some benches and chairs could be seen. On one of them, illuminated by the streetlight, they could see a badger laying on his side, shivering in the chilly weather.

"You see that badger over there?" Judy asked. "He has to spend the holidays on the street."

Thomas looked at the homeless mammal and then back at her sister. All he did in reply was nod his head.

"I want you to give him that plate of food and that blanket you're holding," his sister said.

"But it's not that great of a blanket," the teenage buck replied, "and the food is just leftovers."

"Just go up to him and give those things to him," Judy replied. "I'm sure he will be more than happy to accept them from you."

With a sigh, Thomas said, "Okay..."

He slowly walked over to the bench, where the homeless badger continued to shiver. The mustelid's fur was untrimmed, and the clothes he had on were tattered slightly and unable to provide with warmth from the current temperature.

"Uh, excuse me, sir?" Thomas said to him. "I'm sorry if I'm bothering you."

The badger on the bench grunted as he picked himself up and sat up straight, rubbing a paw over where his side ached.

The buck held out the blanket and plate of food. "I don't know if you want these, but my sister wanted to give them to you. The blanket isn't exactly the warmest thing, and the plate doesn't have the usual holiday food on it."

All of a sudden, the mustelid started to break out into tears. Not tears of sadness, but of joy that someone had given him these things. Wiping the tears from his eyes, he said, "I've been so hungry... and so cold..." He sniffled. "I didn't where I was goin' t' get my next meal. Thank you so much."

The badger immediately wrapped himself up with the blanket he had just been given, and he smiled with relief that he now had something to wrap himself up with during this colder time of the year. He then tore the plastic wrap off of the paper plate, digging into the food with the fork that had been given to him with it. As he took a bite of the food, his smile grew wider.

"Bless you, sir," the badger said to him. "Bless you."

Thomas nodded his head and smiled back at him. "Merry Christmas," he replied.

The buck made his way back over to where Judy was standing. "See how grateful he was that you gave him that stuff?" she asked him.

"I'm really glad we gave him that," her brother replied in agreement, smiling back at his sister.

"You see, Thomas," Judy said, "not everybody is fortunate enough to have the things that you take for granted, like a roof over your head or clothes on your back. The 'crappy' meal you were upset about might have been the first thing he got to eat all day. He might have even went longer without any food."

"You're right, Judy." Thomas nodded his head. "And you know what? I changed my mind on spending the rest of the evening alone. When we get back home, I'm going to join in on the yearly traditions, and spend time with the family that I'm grateful for the most."

"Glad to hear that," his sister replied, happy that she was able to help him learn a lesson that he wouldn't ever forget.

Author's Note: Sometimes we take the things that we have for granted, wishing for and coveting the things that we don't have instead of being grateful for all of the wonderful things that we do have. This year has been a hard one for everybody, but let us all remember, even during these challenging times, to be thankful for what we have.