A Christmas "Tail"

Shags yawned as he stretched and rolled over. The fire was crackling and his family was asleep upstairs. He liked watching the lights on the tree twinkle and reflect on all the shiny objects that hung from it.

"Yes," he thought to himself, "I am a very lucky Sheepie." 

Normally, Shags slept next to Amelia. Her father would push her chair to the bottom of the stairs, then carry her to her room and tuck her in. Shags waited patiently until this process was completed before taking his "position" on the bed. Amelia's father always gave Shags a quick butt scratch and reminded him to take care of "our girl" before leaving the room. This was the time of day Shags loved the most. Amelia would scratch his head and tell him her dreams, sometimes through tears - dreams of dancing, skating, playing or even just walking. Shags tried his best to comfort Amelia by softly licking her fingers or very quietly whimpering, just a little, to let her know he understood. He wished he could tell her how much he loved her, as she told him, every night, just before they drifted off to sleep. 

Tonight was different, though. After Amelia's mom and dad went to bed, Shags quietly stole downstairs to wait. This was his fourth Christmas with Amelia and her family, but he only started remembering his arrival this past year. He remembered that before he was Amelia's, there was no one to love him. He wandered the streets of the city with his buddies, looking for food and shelter. Neither of those things came easy. One day, while Shags was off sniffing around on his own, a man approached him. Shags was not afraid of humans like the others were, and so he allowed this man to get close. The next thing he knew, there was a cord around his neck and he was being put into a truck.

He was unloaded at a place where there were lines of cages, some of them held old friends and acquaintances. He was placed in a cage with another dog of no particular lineage, who was very old and very tired.

"What is this place?" asked Shags.

The no particular dog explained the place to him, which really didn't sound all that bad until the last sentence was uttered: "They keep you until someone comes for you or your time is up, whichever comes first."

This did not sound good.

As days came and went, people would walk down the aisle to choose a pet. Shags always tried to look friendly and willing to learn. It was not easy, though, with so much matted and dirty fur. He did not even have a tail to wag!

"Oh, I'm doomed," thought Shags. "This is not good" he thought to himself.

 

Shags' time was up two days later. As he walked down the aisle, listening to the others wish him well, something strange happened. A big man with a long white beard appeared before him and said: "This here big fellow is greatly needed, so I'll be taking him with me."

He was fed, doctored and cleaned up, but the details of that are fuzzy. He also had a vague memory of the bearded man in a bright red suit flying him through the sky to Amelia's home. This was the reason that Shags was waiting up tonight. He needed to see that man again to ask what happened that night and why he was brought here.

Just when he was about to give up on waiting, he heard something. It was in the distance, but it was getting closer. Then the sounds seemed to be all around and in the middle of the room the air started to twinkle and swirl. Shags sat up, and quite frankly, almost let out a nervous bark, but stopped himself just in time. Then, the swirling stopped, and in the middle of the twinkles stood the bearded man in the red suit.

"Shags, my boy, it's wonderful to see you!" said the man, "How are you?"

Much to Shags' surprise, he was able to answer, "I have never been happier."

His look of shock and surprise at being able to say this caused the man to say, "It's Christmas, and Christmas is a magical time, my boy!"

Then Santa introduced himself and asked why Shags was waiting for him.

Shags said to him, "There was a time when I felt I was worthless. No one wanted me, no one loved me and because of that I was about to be removed from the Earth. Now, I have a wonderful home and family. But, most of all, I have the greatest love of a sweet little girl who is happy to have me by her side all the day long. I would have done this sooner, but you see, this only became clear to me recently, that I have you to thank for giving all of this to me. Before you brought me here, I never could have imagined I could be so happy. So, I thank you for giving me this family, but most of all, I thank you for Amelia. But, Santa, why me?"

Santa sat down with Shags and said, "For years, from the first Christmas that Amelia could talk, she asked for one thing only. Each year, she would ask me for a friend who would love her even though she could not run and play with them; a friend who would be loyal to her and with whom she could be herself. She wanted that friend to be able to comfort her when she was sad, and sometimes to be goofy to make her laugh. She said she needed a friend who would always be by her side and who would let her love them back with all her heart. I saw that friend in you, so I brought you here to be with Amelia. So, you see, Shags, I thank you for helping me to give this little girl the only thing she ever asked of me - a true friend."

 

Shags helped Santa place the presents around the tree. He also helped Santa out with the plate of cookies that Amelia left out for Santa. Then, Santa winked at Shags and was gone in a swirl of sparkles. Shags sat down for a moment to think about everything Santa had said to him. Then he quietly went up the stairs and took his place next to Amelia. He fell asleep as she scratched his head. 

Hugs & Paws

(Pat)

 *****

 

(I don't know who’s Pat and I don't know how to reach him or her.)