Ginny stared out the window as the tiny snowflakes made their descent to the already snow-covered ground. The snowflakes made Ginny feel bad. The whole world was a beautiful, clean white, and she was dirtying it with her angriness. She had been naughty all year. But, technically, it wasn’t her fault. Ever since her father had left, Ginny’s colorful world turned into an ugly gray, and she had been living in that gray for some time. She didn’t try in school anymore; she deliberately started fights with her sister Kenzie; and worst of all, she had ignored people begging for her help. She was horrible, an she knew it. But she didn’t care. She missed her dad too much to care.
“Ginny!” called Mrs. DeFranco, Ginny’s mom. “I’m home! Come downstairs!”
Ginny rolled off her comfy little reading nook and bounded down the stairs.
“Ginny, you haven’t been outside all vacation. Go out and play with Kenzie.”
Ginny shook her head, crossing her arms.
“Well, then, you’re coming to the soup kitchen with me. Maybe then you’ll do something good.”
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The soup kitchen wasn’t as bad as Ginny had thought. The people there were very kind, and they had been very appreciative of their dinner and dessert. In fact, Ginny had even made some friends. Michelle and Katie were twins with an abusive father who had left their family to fend for themselves over seven years ago. Michelle and Katie had been living in a homeless shelter with their mom and three brothers since they were four-and-a-half years old. It really made Ginny appreciate what she had.
After the soup kitchen, Ginny and her mom had gone to an animal shelter. Ginny had wanted to stay in the car. But her mom wouldn’t have it.
The second Ginny stepped into the shelter, her heart swelled as if it had been pounded painfully with a hammer. There were these adorable cats and dogs EVERYWHERE. They all had looks on their faces that seemed to say, “Please, please PLEASE,take me home with you!” Immediately, Ginny wanted to take home every single animal she saw. There were fluffy balls of calico playing in the corner of a tiny cage; in another room, there were two rabbits nibbling graciously on a piece of lettuce; and in another room was a giant St. Bernard, lying on the floor of a dirty cage, which was about the size of six desks put together. This shelter was poor! Ginny realized that if something wasn’t done, all of the animals in the shelter could die. As Ginny ran to the front desk, something caught her eye. She whirled around to see a beautiful, white cat staring up at her with foggy, blue eyes.
Ginny jumped when she heard a voice. “That’s Miracle,” rasped an old woman standing behind her. “Her owner abused her. He even bashed her eyes blind.” Ginny turned away as the woman pulled back some fur around the cat’s eye to reveal a horrid, red scar. But it was too late. She had already seen it. “We call her Miracle because she would’ve died if we hadn’t found her on the streets last Christmas.”
“Her owner threw her out on Christmas?” asked Ginny, horrified. The woman nodded sadly. “Some people just don’t understand the beauty of an animal.”
The woman opened up the cage and picked Miracle up. “Would you like to hold her?” asked the woman, stroking Miracle’s soft fur. Ginny nodded, and the woman handed her over. Miracle was beautiful. Her fur was whiter than snow, and softer than a fleece blanket. She purred softly, and Ginny could feel her heart beating against her chest. Miracle looked up at Ginny, and licked the tip of her nose. Her tongue was rough as sandpaper, but there was still a gentle touch to it that made Ginny feel right at home with the beautiful cat. She wanted Miracle. She wanted Miracle BADLY. Almost as badly as she wanted her dad to come home. In fact, she NEEDED Miracle, just as much as Miracle needed her.
“You two were meant for each other,” cooed the old woman, breaking the beautiful moment between the two new friends. It was then that Ginny realized she was crying. The cat’s fur was wet with Ginny’s tears. But, instead of pulling away, Miracle just snuggled Ginny closer. Ginny just HAD to get Miracle.
“Ginny? Sweetie, are you Okay?” asked Ginny’s mom, stroking her daughter’s beautiful auburn hair.
Ginny lifted up her head and nodded.
“They’re the perfect pair, these two. They belong together,” said the old woman, smiling brightly.
“Thank you very much,” said Ginny’s mother warmly as she placed Miracle back into her cage. “Sweetie, why don’t you meet me out in the car? I’ll just finish up this donation I’m making, and I’ll be right, O.K?”
Ginny nodded, blew Miracle one last kiss, and ran out to the car.
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“Ginny, come help me put cookies out for Santa!!!!!” screeched Kenzie excitedly. Ginny slowly got out of her little window nook and bounded down the stairs. Kenzie was carefully laying out cookies on a shiny, green, plastic platter. Next to it was the tallest glass of milk Ginny had ever seen, a large bucket filled with water, and a bowl of large, peeled carrots. “For the reindeer,” explained Kenzie proudly when she saw Ginny eyeing the carrots and water.
Once the girls were done laying out the cookies, they got into their pajamas and stared proudly at the scene.
The tree was beautifully decorated, covered in tinsel, bright lights, and beautiful, hand-made ornaments. An angel sat mightily on top of the tree, surveying the room.
The table had a magnificent, crocheted table cloth on it. And sitting on the table-cloth was the plate of cookies the girls had made, the large glass of milk, the bucket of water and the carrots.
Stockings hung off the fireplace, begging to be filled. The fire had been put out with a special guest in mind.
There’s just one thing missing,thought Ginny sadly as she walked tiredly up the stairs.
A few moments later, Ginny’s mother came upstairs to say good-night.
“I love you, Ginny,” said Mrs. DeFranco lovingly, kissing Ginny on the forehead. “I’ll always love you, no matter what.”
And with that, Ginny fell into a deep, deep sleep.
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“Ginny, wake up, wake up!!! Santa came, Santa came!!” cried Kenzie jumping up and down on top of Ginny.
Ginny rolled out of bed and onto the floor.
“I’ll meet you downstairs,” giggled Kenzie, running off to her room to get her favorite blanket.
Ginny pulled on her bathrobe an skipped down the stairs.
And, upon getting downstairs, Ginny let out a little gasp. For there, standing next to the tree, was Ginny’s-
“DADDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” screamed Ginny, running towards the tall, brown-haired man standing next to the masterpiece tree. Her father put down the package he was holding and spread his arms out wide as Ginny leapt into them.
“I missed you so much, kiddo,” cried her father, squeezing her tightly.
“I missed you, too, Daddy,” whispered Ginny with tears in her eyes.
After a few minutes of long-awaited hugging, Ginny’s father finally let her go.
“I brought a present for you, kiddo,” stated Mr. DeFranco, pointing to the punctured package by his feet.
Ginny bent over tentavely, and pulled the top off the bright red box. When she looked inside, Ginny gasped again.
“Miracle!!!!!!” she cried, picking up the little snowball of a cat. “How did you know?”
Her father smiled. “Your mother called me yesterday and asked if she should buy the cat for you. I told her no, but I never told her that Iwas going to get her for you!” Mr. DeFranco said, patting Miracle’s soft fur.
“DADDY!!!!!!” shrieked Kenzie, running at her father.
“Jim?” asked Mrs. DeFranco, not believing her eyes.
As all of the family hugged each other, Ginny began to smile.
“This is the best Christmas present EVER!”
THE END
