Once upon a time there was a woman named Rita. She just loved Christmas, and especially decorating and looking at her tree. She had so many beautiful ornaments, and each one had special meaning. But her favorite one was Tiny Santa.
She couldn't even remember where she had gotten Tiny Santa, but she loved him because he was so tiny and cute. He couldn't have been more than an inch and a half tall, if that! However, he always got a place of prominence on the tree. Yep: she loved Tiny Santa.
But what she didn't know was that someone else loved Tiny Santa too. And that someone was...Pumpkin Louise! The little Chihuahua had seen Grammy Rita put Tiny Santa on the tree. Tiny Santa was just the right size of a toy for Pumpkin Louise. So she couldn't understand why it wasn't given to her to play with. Maybe it was an oversight.
However, Grammy Rita never gave Tiny Santa to Pumpkin to play with. And this made her very sad. Wasn't Christmas the season for giving? And didn't Pumpkin always get what she wanted because she was spoiled? Er...loved? So she would sit under the tree like a present, or in front of it, looking up at Tiny Santa. But to her horror, Grammy Rita said, "I know what you want Pumpkin but Tiny Santa is Grammy's. Go play with one of your toys." She didn't want one of her toys. She wanted Tiny Santa!
One day when Mama Kitty was rearranging ornaments, Tiny Santa fell to the floor. Now was Pumpkin's chance! She dashed over and grabbed Tiny Santa, then frolicked away. Unluckily, Mama saw her. "Pumpkin no! That is Grammy's Tiny Santa. You can't have it!" and she got it away from her, replacing it with squeaky raccoon. Who in the world wanted squeaky raccoon, now that she'd had a taste of Tiny Santa? Pumpkin vowed to bide her time...
The following year when the tree was put up, Pumpkin watched very carefully to see where Tiny Santa was placed. "I see you Pumpkin Louise. No touching Tiny Santa," Grammy Rita said.
But as we all know: Christmas is the time of miracles. Victoria the cat was under the tree, batting at the low-hanging ornaments. This made the branches shake, and lo and behold: Tiny Santa fell to the floor. Pumpkin grabbed it from the floor and ran to her bed to play with it. However, no matter how much she chewed on Tiny Santa, there was no sound. It wasn't a squeaky toy after all. Losing interest in the silent ornament, Pumpkin went on her merry way to annoy Victoria.
When Mama Kitty came home, she saw the remnants of Tiny Santa and her eyes widened in horror. "Pumpkin what did you do??? Grammy is going to kill you!" A few minutes later she came home. "Hi Kitty. What are you doing?" "Nothing," and she scooted over by the dog bed. Grammy Rita put her work bag down and went to the tree.
Uh oh: something was missing. "Where's Tiny Santa?"
"Oh mom, I'm so sorry," Kitty said. She opened her hand and there was the last bit of Tiny Santa.
Grammy Rita gasped. "What happened? How did Pumpkin get my Tiny Santa? Why is it always my things that get ruined? The one little thing that brought me joy is gone!" She sorrowfully went up to her room with the little bit of fluff that was left of her favorite ornament.
Kitty couldn't let her mom have a sad Christmas. She vowed to find her another Tiny Santa. And by the weekend she did! She was so happy, she rushed home to show her. "Look mom, it's Tiny Santa!" "Thanks Kitty, but it's not really. It's bigger." "But not too much bigger; only 1/2 an inch bigger. And look: it fits right on the same branch and has the same happy look on his face."
Grammy Rita knew she was being childish. Kitty had gone to all the trouble to find a replacement, and look how she was acting. That wasn't the Christmas spirit at all! So she gave Kitty a big hug. "It may not be Tiny Santa, but we can call him Little Santa." She put him on the tree, and he fit perfectly on the branch. "He looks good. Thanks so much Kitty: you're a good daughter." "Of course I am mom!"
To this day, Little Santa is placed on the tree every year. And this makes Grammy Rita very happy. The End.
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