I have permission from the author to share this.  If anyone does forward it on please include her copyright:  © PCRenzulli 2007

Santa Sighed...

"Please, Santa, I would like my own puppy for Christmas. I've been very good this year. And I don't want anything else. Love, Julie."

Santa sighed.

Santa has a strict No Puppy Policy on Christmas Eve.

There was a time when he could put a big red bow on a darling puppy and place it in a snugly stocking, and know that it would be a treasured member of the family for life.
Eve after eve, Santa would drop down chimneys and be greeted by the very dogs he had given in years past. Cheerful reunions, with bright eyes and happy tales of living in a family of love. Santa adored seeing the Old Ones. Though their eyes were dim and their ears could no longer hear him, their hearts felt his presence. They smiled in their warm beds and welcomed their friend.

The dogs used to work the stock, rid the place of vermin and help provide the family with dinner. They guarded the homestead, or kept a lap warm. Kids spent every daylight hour playing, and their pets were their very best friends. Important members of their families. But times had changed.

He began to see families madly rushing off to work and school. After school came soccer or video games, and dinner at a fast food place, and by then it was dark. No time to walk. No time to play. No time to teach tricks. No time for pets.

He saw families scolding his puppies for doing what bored puppies do.

Santa has a big heart, as big as love itself. When a heart as big as love breaks, it sends shock waves.
Fires, floods, droughts, tsunamis of sadness came upon the earth as Santa cried over his puppies. Thrown away like a broken toy, or tied out back and treated like a burden.

Santa couldn't risk another disaster, so he sadly implemented the No Pet Policy. But parents were cheating. They were buying puppies, putting them under the tree and signing his good name to them!

The very thought caused an earthquake, as Santa hiccupped in horror.

"A list! I'll make a list," thought Santa. He was good at lists.

1. No pets for Christmas. They are not toys!

Santa, the Champion of All Listmakers, could only come up with that one entry.
He chuckled, and stuck his red pen behind his ear, started a new sort of list, and went back to work ho, ho, ho-ing all the way.

Christmas Eve came, Santa's sleigh was packed, and the reindeer snorted their eagerness to get going.

At the houses where the pets snuggled warm with their humans, he dropped gifts of love, comfort and fulfillment.

At the houses with pets outside, shivering forgotten in the cold, he dropped gifts of responsibility, compassion and appreciation.

At Julie's house, he dropped gifts of intelligence, foresight and education for the adults in the home.

And he left a cheery note:

Dear Julie,
After your parents open the special gifts I brought just for them, they will be ready to find you a puppy. They will take care of your puppy, since you are a child. You may help! From your parents' care of the dog you will receive the gifts of responsibility and compassion. You will learn to appreciate the gifts of love and comfort your dog will bless you with. And from that you will enjoy a gift of personal fulfillment like no other.
Merry Christmas!
Love,
Santa Claus

Years later, when Santa came to Julie's house, her Old Dog thumped his tail in welcome. And curled up with the Old One was a puppy, greeting Santa with shining eyes. The old dog said, "My girl's parents used your gifts wisely, Santa, so I've been able to give dear Julie my heart and my love."

Santa dropped his trinkets under the tree, and gave the Old One a steak and the puppy a chew toy. Knowing there was no greater gift than a dear pet's pure love, he allowed himself a happy, all-is-well sigh, and then sailed on his way, shouting,

"Merry Christmas to all! And may love rule your life!"

© PCRenzulli 2007