Children Singing
Animal did not know how long he stayed in the fireplace, staring up the chimney, hoping, watching, listening.
There was no sound of sleigh bells. There was no sound of hooves on the roof. There was no distant, sweet laugh of
ho, ho, ho…
But there
was the sound of soft footsteps coming down the stairs.
“…Animal?” a quiet voice said.
Animal slowly turned around to see Robin sitting down just outside of the fireplace.
“Isn’t it kind of cold in there?” Robin asked quietly.
Animal sighed and looked at the fireplace around him.
“And dirty…” Robin said softly. “You should come back in here. If you’re in the fireplace, there’s no room for Santa to come in.”
Animal looked up at the chimney. Then he slowly climbed out of the fireplace.
“Do you think he’ll like the cookies?” Robin whispered, eyeing the plate and the glass of milk.
Animal shrugged and sighed, looking down.
“I think he’ll be here
soon,” Robin whispered. “Wanna wait for him together? Maybe we’ll
see him!”
Animal hesitated, and then looked at the window. “…San-ta…”
Robin took his hand. “Come on!” he whispered, and he led the drummer to an armchair that, ever so conveniently, perfectly faced the fireplace. They crawled into the chair and settled in to watch… and wait…
*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*
Very quiet footsteps entered the room. Twinkling eyes spotted the drummer and the little frog, curled up in the armchair, sound asleep. There was a soft, low, and yet very merry chuckle.
Silent as shadows, hands opened a big bag and began pulling out presents, carefully placing each and every one under the tree.
When all the presents had been set into place, the very quiet footsteps made their way to the coffee table. Hands brought the cookies and the glass of milk to lips, and then set the glass back down.
The very quiet footsteps moved once more, this time stopping in front of the armchair so that the hands could bestow a pat on the head to each of the chair’s sleeping occupants. “Merry Christmas,” a quiet, gentle voice whispered.
Mere moments later, Animal urgently woke Robin up, his eyes wide. “Sleigh bells!” he whispered. “Sleigh bells!”
Robin sat up, rubbed his eyes, and looked under the tree. He looked at the coffee table, at the empty glass and plate. “
Santa’s been here!” he whispered excitedly.
“Sleigh bells!” Animal whispered urgently. He picked Robin up and, carrying the little frog, crawled back into the fireplace, eagerly looking up. “Shh… sleigh bells!”
Robin looked up as well, straining to hear. He frowned. “…Animal, it’s just the wind—OH!” His face lit up, and he looked at Animal. “I hear it!”
“Shhh!” Animal whispered.
They stared up the chimney for what seemed like a long time, listening to their sleigh bells in the dark Christmas night.
*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*
“MERRY CHRISTMAS!”
The entire house seemed to ring with the greeting. The Muppets eagerly raced down the stairs for Christmas morning. There were piles of presents all around the tree, the stockings were all stuffed, and Robin and Animal were already there, passing out presents and excitedly announcing the events of the night.
“SANTA! SANTA!”
“We heard SANTA!”
“SLEIGH BELLS!”
“We fell asleep, but—we woke up
right after he left! We heard the
bells!”
Floyd slung an arm around Animal’s shoulders. “Looks like Santa Claus came to town,” he said, grinning.
“SANTA REAL!” Animal triumphantly declared, and Floyd laughed his low, scratchy chuckle.
“Merry Christmas, everybody!”
“MERRY CHRISTMAS!”
“Merry CHRISTMAS!”
“MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!”
“MERRY Christmas!”
The wrapping paper was ripped to shreds, the presents all opened and, for the most part, set to immediate use, or destruction, or both. At some point, they started to eat some breakfast, and soon after that, they began to gather for even more carol singing. (No, they had
not tired of singing the night before. It was Christmas, after all, and besides, they
are the Muppets.)
As they played and sang, Zoot sat off to the side, his saxophone in his lap, looking at the shiny, brand new whistle in his palm.
To Zoot. From Santa Claus.
The saxophonist nodded and looked up, out the window. “Thanks, Santa. …’Bout time,” he whispered. He took a deep breath and gave his shiny new whistle a long, hard blow.
It was about that time when someone tried to use the microwave. Suddenly, all of the lights, and just about everything else electrical, turned off.
Considering all of the lights and other decorations plugged in all over, around, and inside of the house, they all knew whom to blame for that.
“
GON-ZO!”
“…Merry Christmas?”
And they all laughed.
*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%**%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*
Close your eyes and listen; the sweetest bells of Christmas ring deep inside your heart.
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Is that it?
Not sure, the author hasn't said if it's over. So, how'd you like it?
It's okay, go back to sleep, Santa landed already.