Chloe's Christmas Wish - Advent Calendar (Day 25)

http://www.elainenybeck.com/DayTwentyFive.html

“Let's go outside and take pictures in the snow!” Megan squeals in delight as she watches the cats roll around in the wrapping paper. “We can send pictures to Mom of Baby Bean and Chloe playing together in the snow.” Megan grabs the camera from the living room table; then she and John each pick up a cat and take them outside. As soon as they put the cats down on the snow in the backyard, Chloe runs around the snowman, then plops down in the snow beside Baby Bean. Baby Bean, meanwhile, is staring curiously around her. She lifts her paw up and shakes the snow off of it, only to get snow on it again as she trudges through the snow to sniff the snowman. Then she runs around and tackles Chloe, playfully biting her ear. While they play, Megan excitedly takes photographs of the cats, occasionally putting herself or John in the picture.

After a while, Baby Bean and Chloe tire from playing and running around in the snow. So Megan places them next to the snowman to take a picture. Baby Bean stares at the camera curiously while Chloe looks around and up at the sky. Suddenly, she sees reindeer in the air pulling Santa in a sleigh. Dakotah sits next to Santa with her tongue hanging out. She winks at Chloe, then the sleigh flies out of her sight. A little bit of snow falls from the sleigh and lands close to a nearby tree. Baby Bean waddles past the snowman over to the tree to inspect the mysterious fallen snow. As she peers at the little pile of snow, a large clump of snow falls from the tree and plops on top of her head, some of which splatters onto her nose. She startles and her tail fluffs up in surprise. She shakes off the snow, looks around her, and then stares up at the tree while Megan and John laugh and Chloe purrs.

Chloe's Christmas Wish - Advent Calendar (Day 24)

http://www.elainenybeck.com/DayTwentyFour.html

“Chloe, meet Baby Bean. Baby Bean, this is Chloe.” Megan pets them both on their heads, then turns to the Christmas tree.

“Now she won't have to sneak outside to play,” John says to Megan.

Megan winks at John; then she says “time to open up presents!” as she picks up a gift wrapped in red paper. As Megan and John open their presents to each other, Chloe and Baby Bean paw through their stockings. Chloe decides she likes Baby Bean, so she bats one of her toy mice at her. Baby Bean bats the ball and chases after it, and she skids onto the wrapping paper strewn on the floor from opened presents. She jumps up from the unexpected noise, then starts patting the paper with her paws. Chloe joins Baby Bean in playing with the noisy paper. 

Chloe's Christmas Wish - Advent Calendar (Day 23)

http://www.elainenybeck.com/DayTwentyThree.html


She glances around the room quickly, but when she doesn't see John or Megan, she walks quietly to the box and peers over the edge. Inside the box lies a tiny gray and white kitten with a big red bow around her neck. Chloe stretches her neck and sniffs the kitten's head. The kitten startles and jerks her head up, staring up at Chloe with huge brown eyes. Chloe stares at the kitten for a few more seconds, then licks her nose. The kitten then meows and begins to purr.

“So you found your Christmas present already!” Megan walks into the room and scoops the kitten out of the box. She then picks up Chloe and takes both cats to the living room where John sits on the couch with a present wrapped in silver paper on his lap. Megan places them on the ground next to two stockings filled with toys and cat treats. Now Chloe understands why there's an extra stocking.

Chloe's Christmas Wish - Advent Calendar (Day 22)

http://www.elainenybeck.com/DayTwentyTwo.html

Soon Chloe hears Christmas music coming from the living room. Megan dances into the kitchen, still in her pajamas, holding a tiny Christmas hat in her hand. Chloe turns from her bowl and sees the hat; then she darts away into the living room, but Megan catches Chloe and laughs as she puts the Santa hat on Chloe's head, securing its band under Chloe's chin.

“You're so cute!” Megan exclaims as she hugs Chloe to her chest. Every year, Megan either buys or makes a Christmas hat or reindeer ears for Chloe to wear, but Chloe doesn't like to wear them, so she hides them under the bed or behind the refrigerator. So when Megan lets Chloe down, Chloe dashes into their bedroom and knocks the hat off her head, and then she hides it under the bed. As Chloe crawls out from underneath the bed, she again sees the large box.

Chloe's Christmas Wish - Advent Calendar (Day 21)

http://www.elainenybeck.com/DayTwentyOne.html


Just then, Chloe hears a door open and she runs to investigate. Megan is leaving her bedroom and walking towards the bathroom. John is sitting up in bed, his mouth open with a wide yawn. A huge box sits in the corner of the room. Curious, Chloe starts to walk towards the box (she loves to play in all kinds of boxes), but John scoops her up from the ground as he gets out of bed and takes her through the living room into the kitchen. Chloe forgets about the box and runs towards her food bowl as John opens a can of tuna for her favorite breakfast. John leaves the kitchen as Chloe happily licks up the tuna.

Chloe's Christmas Wish - Advent Calendar (Day 20)

http://www.elainenybeck.com/DayTwenty.html

The next morning, when Chloe opens her eyes she sees wrapped presents underneath the sparkling Christmas tree. Four stockings, full of goodies and toys, hang above the fireplace. It must be Christmas day, Chloe thinks to herself. Megan always fills the stockings on Christmas morning. Chloe looks at the stockings again. Her ears flicker and her tail begins to move. Four stockings? Chloe doesn't understand why there's a fourth stocking, since they only need three for Megan, John, and Chloe. Maybe Megan gave her an extra stocking this year! She had been good all year, not trying to escape the house to go outside.

Chloe then remembers Dakotah and the magical golden tag that took her safely home the day before. She meows happily to herself as she thinks about playing with Tabs, Mitzy, and Fluffy at the pond and in the woods. Did it actually happen? Or was it all a dream? Chloe doesn't have the golden tag on her collar anymore. Even if it was a dream, it is the happiest dream of her life.

Chloe's Christmas Wish - Advent Calendar (Day 19)

http://www.elainenybeck.com/DayNineteen.html

Chloe touches the collar and wishes she is home. Tabs, the pond, and the woods vanish from her sight; in their place, she sees the red-brick fireplace and the lit Christmas tree in her living room. She is home! Christmas music is still playing on the radio. She quickly runs around the house, but, to her relief, John and Megan aren't home yet. Chloe yawns again. She walks back to the living room and lies on the blue couch. Exhausted, she closes her eyes and drifts to sleep.

Chloe's Christmas Wish - Advent Calendar (Day 18)

http://www.elainenybeck.com/DayEighteen.html


Chloe's head pops up out of a mound of snow and she exclaims, “Oh no! What if it fell in the pond after Fluffy cut the ice open?” Chloe starts to whine at this thought.

“Don't worry. I'm sure it'll be in the snow.” Tabs continues to dig in the snow. A few minutes later, he sees a glint of gold next to a tree. “Aha!” he exclaims.

“You found it?” Chloe runs towards him. Tabs lifts his face from the snow, holding the collar in his mouth, the golden tag dangling from the collar.

“Thank you! Thank you so much!” Chloe purrs and licks Tabs' face.

“Don't mention it,” he mumbles and passes her the collar.

Chloe's Christmas Wish - Advent Calendar (Day 17)

http://www.elainenybeck.com/DaySeventeen.html

“Are you ready to look for your collar?” Tabs asks, startling Chloe from almost falling asleep.

“Yes!” Chloe replies, stifling a yawn.

“Where do you remember wearing it last?” Tibby asks, walking away from her kittens and towards Tabs and Chloe.

“Well...” Chloe thinks for a moment. “I think I was wearing it when Fluffy caught the fish.”

“Fluffy caught the fish...” Tibby looks at her husband. “I thought you said you caught the fish.”

“Well, I might have exaggerated a little....” Tabs grinned at Tibby.

“Mmmhmmm....” Tibby shakes her head.

“Anyway, that means we should look at the pond first.” Tabs nuzzles his wife with his head. Chloe and Tabs say goodbye; then they walk to the pond in the dark. They search by the ice first. Then they look around and start digging in the snow.

Chloe's Christmas Wish - Advent Calendar (Day 16)

http://www.elainenybeck.com/DaySixteen.html

“Honey, this is my friend Chloe,” Tabs says, “Chloe, this is my wife, Tibby.”

“It's a pleasure to meet you,” Tibby says as she sniffs Chloe.

“Chloe, I'll help you look for your collar after we're done eating. Please, join us.” Tabs invites Chloe. Everyone eats a piece of the fish until it's all gone. Chloe feels bad for taking even a little bit of food from the kittens. There wasn't much to go around, but Chloe is thankful for the little bit that she got.

After they finish eating, the kittens start yawning and curl up against each other. Soon they fall fast asleep. Chloe's eyes droop and she yawns, but she can’t sleep. She wants to go home.

Chloe's Christmas Wish - Advent Calendar (Day 15)

http://www.elainenybeck.com/DayFifteen.html

She meows and cries. She needs someone to find her. She needs someone to help her. But no one comes. As she continues to walk, Chloe's tail drags in the snow until she hears a noise. Then her tail twitches and her ears perk up. It sounds like little kittens arguing. She follows the sound and finds herself at Tabs' place in the woods. Tabs' kittens are fighting over the fish he had brought home. As soon as Chloe sees the fish, she remembers how hungry she is, and her belly growls.

All at once, everyone looks at her. The kittens stop fighting. Tabs runs to Chloe and asks, “Chloe, what are you doing here?”

“I got lost and couldn't find my way home,” she cries, “and I lost my collar!”

“Oh, you poor dear,” a short-haired black and white female cat says to her. “Tabs, invite her to eat.”

Chloe's Christmas Wish - Advent Calendar (Day 14)

http://www.elainenybeck.com/DayFourteen.html

“Well, I'm going to go home too,” Chloe says as she walks away and says goodbye to Tabs. She walks around the woods for a little bit before she remembers the tag on her collar that Dakotah gave her. She thinks about going home, but nothing happens. She squeezes her eyes tight and thinks harder. When nothing happens again, she notices that her collar is missing. She doesn't remember it falling off. She shivers in the cold, her fur damp from the falling snow. Her stomach growls. She tries to find her way back home, but she is lost in the woods. She doesn't know where to go. Snow-covered trees surround her, but they all look alike to her. She glimpses the dark sky above the trees. She then looks at the ground and sees her paw prints, so she tries to follow them back to the pond, but her paw prints seem to go everywhere.

Chloe's Christmas Wish - Advent Calendar (Day 13)

http://www.elainenybeck.com/DayThirteen.html

Fluffy looks at the fish and shudders. “I don't think I can eat a fish again.”

“Then I'll just take this. The wife will love me if I bring home dinner.” Tabs says before he picks the fish up with his mouth.

Mitzy's ears twitch.

“Mitzy! Dinner time!” They hear a voice yelling from afar.

“Well, sugars, it's been fun, but that's my human calling. I gotta run. Love y’all.” Mitzy says as she saunters home. They say goodbye to Mitzy.

Fluffy then licks his fur, trying to get it to lay flat again. It had gone all frizzy from everyone breathing on him. When his fur doesn't stay down, he gives up and tells his friends, “I need to go home where my human can fix this.” Then his tummy growls. “And my human will feed me too.” Fluffy scurries home, his poofy tail trailing behind him. Chloe and Tabs hold their laughter until they can no longer see Fluffy's long, frizzy white hair in the distance. He looks like a fuzz ball.

Chloe's Christmas Wish - Advent Calendar (Day 12)

http://www.elainenybeck.com/DayTwelve.html

“I got it!” Chloe shouts. “ We can breathe on him. Our breath is warm. It should be enough to free him, if we do it together.” So everyone huddles around Fluffy and breathes on him. He growls again.

“We could just leave it on you instead,” Tabs suggests.

Fluffy whines again. So everyone breathes on Fluffy again until finally his mouth is freed from the fish.

“Thanks,” Fluffy says with a slight lisp. “Now, my paw please.”

“Mine too!” Tabs reminds them. They start on Fluffy's paw first. As soon as Fluffy is free, he forgets about Tabs and jumps all over the place, sliding a little on the ice. Mitzy and Chloe continue to breathe on Tabs to remove his paw from the fish. Fluffy slides over to Tabs and blows really hard on his paw, finally freeing him from the fish. Tabs stretches his paw.

Chloe's Christmas Wish - Advent Calendar (Day 11)

http://www.elainenybeck.com/DayEleven.html 

Fluffy tries to shake the fish off, but it still sticks to his paw. Then Tabs bats at the fish, but his paw sticks to the fish too. Fluffy and Tabs try to run in different directions, but the stubborn fish remains stuck to their fur, causing them both to fall. Chloe laughs. Soon, Mitzy begins to laugh too. Fluffy and Tabs, however, do not find it funny at all. They growl, and Fluffy starts to gnaw on the fish, but then his tongue sticks to the fish. Chloe and Mitzy roll around the snow while laughing. Even Tabs starts to laugh, though his paw is still attached to the fish. But Fluffy does not laugh. He starts to whine. Mitzy, Tabs, and Chloe stop laughing.

“It'll be okay, sugar. We'll get you unstuck.” Mitzy tells Fluffy as she pats his back. Everyone stops to think.

Chloe's Christmas Wish - Advent Calendar (Day 10)

http://www.elainenybeck.com/DayTen.html


Finally, they reach the pond, which is frozen over with ice. Snow-covered trees encircle the pond in all directions.

“How are we going to catch any fish? The pond is frozen!” Chloe cries, a little disappointed.

Fluffy struts onto the ice. “I'll take care of this.” He puts his paw out, sticks out a claw, and traces a circle into the ice. Tabs, Mitzy, and Chloe stare at the circle, but nothing happens, so Fluffy punches the hole in. Everyone cheers. Fluffy quickly puts his paw into the cold, blue water. When he lifts his paw out, he has a fish. Unfortunately, the fish is frozen to his paw. 

Chloe's Christmas Wish - Advent Calendar (Day 9)

http://www.elainenybeck.com/DayNine.html

Mitzy runs around the corner of the house and squeals with delight, “Hey, sugar! You came out to play!” She looks over her shoulder and shouts to her friends, “Fluffy! Tabs! Chloe came out to play!”

“So you finally used one of my tricks. I'm dying with curiosity! Which one did you use to get out?” Fluffy pants as he runs up to Chloe.

“Who cares how she got out! She's out! Now it's time to play!” Tabs shouts as he skids to a stop right behind Fluffy.

“Sugar, we're going to have so much fun!” Mitzy purrs as she rubs shoulders with Chloe.

Chloe smiles and purrs. “Today is going to be purr-fect.”

“Well, after all that running, I'm starving. Let's go to the pond and catch some fish.” Fluffy says. So they walk to the woods towards the pond, chasing each other and playing along the way. They stop a few times for Fluffy because he runs out of breath very easily wearing his heavy fur coat. 

Chloe's Christmas Wish - Advent Calendar (Day 8)

http://www.elainenybeck.com/DayEight.html

Chloe shivers again in the cold and finally takes notice of her surroundings. Dakotah stands next to a giant snowman with a Santa hat on its head, a carrot for a nose, and coals for its eyes and mouth. They are in Megan and John's backyard. The back porch has lights strewn all around the windows and doorways. Across from the house, Chloe can see the woods where Tabs lives.

“I'm outside!” Chloe wiggles her paws in the cold snow; then she leaps and pounces and rolls around in drifts of snow. Snowflakes continue to fall from the sky, so Chloe looks up and sticks out her tongue to catch the falling flakes. One spot of snow falls on her eye, causing her to close her eyes and shake her head. In her happiness, Chloe turns to thank Dakotah, but Dakotah had disappeared. Soon after, Chloe hears voices coming from the front of her house. She bounds through the snow when she recognizes Mitzy's voice. “Mitzy! I'm outside! Come and play!”

Chloe's Christmas Wish - Advent Calendar (Day 7)

http://www.elainenybeck.com/DaySeven.html

“I'm here to grant you your Christmas wish,” the dog says as Chloe slowly floats down to the ground. 

“Santa says your greatest wish is to frolic and play outside with your friends.” A golden tag then appears and floats in the air while the Siberian Husky says, “You'll need this for when you want to come back home.” The golden tag attaches itself to Chloe's collar. “You just have to wish you are home and 'Poof' you'll be home.”

Chloe stares at the dog with absolute wonder, her eyes big and round. “Who are you?” she asks.

“I'm sorry,” the Siberian Husky says as she places a paw over her nose in embarrassment. “I'm Dakotah, Santa's helper.” Dakotah wags her tail.

Chloe's Christmas Wish - Advent Calendar (Day 6)

http://www.elainenybeck.com/DaySix.html

Chloe watches Mitzy until she disappears from sight. Then she closes her eyes and curls her head underneath her paw. She decides to take a nap. Not long after, maybe a half hour, Chloe wakes up because she feels cold and her ears twitch at a sound. She lifts her head and opens her eyes; then she stands and arches her back, her fur sticking up in fright. She hisses at a big black and white Siberian Husky dog with ice-blue eyes staring at Chloe. Her claws bared, she's about to attack when the dog says, “Calm down! I'm not going to hurt you.”

“That's what you say now, but then you'll attack!” Chloe pounces at the Siberian Husky, but before she can claw her nose, she becomes frozen in mid-air. 

Chloe's Christmas Wish - Advent Calendar (Day 5)

http://www.elainenybeck.com/DayFive.html

“So, what are you doing today?” Chloe asks.

“Well, we're thinking about going to the pond later, but first we have a date with the milkman. He always has some milk for us,” Fluffy says excitedly, licking his lips as he thinks about the milk.

“Speaking of the milkman,” Tabs says, “I think I hear his van now! See you later!” Tabs jumps down from the chair and runs around the house out of sight. Fluffy chases after him right on his heels.

“Those boys!” Mitzy sighs. She looks at Chloe who looks so sad. Mitzy rolls her eyes at their silly antics, then jumps from the chair gracefully, slowly trailing behind Fluffy and Tabs. “Cheer up, sugar. We'll be back soon.” Mitzy purrs over her shoulder.

Chloe's Christmas Wish - Advent Calendar (Day 4)

http://www.elainenybeck.com/DayFour.html

“You can do what I did this morning,” Fluffy suggests. “My humans left a hot pie cooling by the open window. I jumped up to the windowsill, looked behind me to make sure they had left the room, then gave the pie a little nudge. As it splattered to the floor, I squeezed through the small opening in the window and escaped before my humans could notice!” Fluffy is a fat cat with lots of long white fur. Sometimes Chloe can't see his chubby face through all his fur. He lives down the street from Chloe. She admires him because he knows how to escape from the house. He often tells Chloe how to escape, but Chloe doesn't want to anger Megan, so Chloe doesn't usually take Fluffy's advice. She definitely doesn't want to ruin one of Megan's precious pies. She'd be on the naughty list for the rest of her life.

“There's no pie on the window right now,” Chloe says, “and the window's closed, so I can't do that.”

Chloe's Christmas Wish - Advent Calendar (Day 3)

http://www.elainenybeck.com/DayThree.html

“Hi there, honey,” Mitzy says as she jumps on the chair on the back porch closest to the window. Mitzy is a sleek, gorgeous black cat with white paws. She lives next door, but, unlike Chloe, her human lets her out all the time.

“Hi Mitzy. Hi Fluffy and Tabs,” Chloe replies, her head hanging low.

“What's wrong, sugar?” Mitzy asks.

“I wish I could go outside,” Chloe answers. She lifts her head. “I want to play with you guys.”

“It'd be great to play with you too.” Tabs chimes in. He jumps up onto the chair next to Mitzy, who's licking snow off her paws, and places his orange paw on the window. Tabs is an orange tabby cat who lives in the woods. Chloe sometimes wished she had orange fur like Tabs instead of her blue-gray fur.

November Haiku

I wrote haiku poetry for a swap on swap-bot. The theme is November.

A cold gentle breeze

Stirs the leaves up into a

Whirlwind of colors.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I give thanks to God

For my family and friends

On this Thanksgiving.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

A blanket of leaves

Covers the earth while the trees

Become cold and bare.

Chloe's Christmas Wish - Advent Calendar (Day 2)

http://www.elainenybeck.com/DayTwo.html

As Chloe watches the three cats jump in mounds of snow outside, she can hear Christmas music playing from the radio in the kitchen. Megan had forgotten to turn it off before she left the house with John. The smell of gingerbread cookies wafts from the cooling racks on the counter. Chloe resists the temptation to jump on the counter and taste them. She continues to look out the window as her three friends pause in their play and walk towards her. John, her male human, often leaves the living room window open for fresh air, so Chloe would sit and watch Mitzy, Fluffy, and Tabs run around, chase butterflies and birds, and laze on the grass in the sun. However, during the winter, like now, John keeps the window closed because of cold air, so Chloe's friends talk to her through the closed window. Her favorite part of the day is talking to Mitzy, Fluffy, and Tabs.

Chloe's Christmas Wish - Advent Calendar (Day 1)

A few months ago, I mentioned that I'd be writing a story for my friend Elaine for her advent calendar of 2011. Now that the advent season has started, each day I will share with you a portion of my story "Chloe's Christmas Wish" (coauthored by my sister Cassandra) and will post a link to Elaine's advent calendar.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

http://www.elainenybeck.com/DayOne.html (Elaine's advent calendar)

Chloe, a Russian Blue cat, sits on the windowsill in the living room of her owners', John and Megan's, house. She watches large snowflakes fall from the sky onto the glistening trees already heavy and drooping with lots of snow. Chloe lies down and tucks her paws beneath her body. Her blue-gray ears twitch as she continues to look outside. Her tail swishes back and forth as she watches her friends play. Chloe wants to go outside and play with her friends and chase birds and taste the snow, but she can't leave the house because her humans don't like her to go outside. If she tried to run out the front door, her female human, Megan, would chase her and catch her.