The Christmas Toy Factory Read online

  to hurt my nephew. I couldn’t wait to get

  back to Mouse Island to see him. But first,

  I decided to take a quick snooze. After all,

  traveling around the world in one night can

  really take a lot out of a mouse.

  I

  p

  r

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  a

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  s

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  m

  e

  m

  b

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  a

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  C

  h

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  i

  s

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  m

  a

  s

  !

  I was happily snoring away when a loud

  knock woke me up. Was it SANTA?

  I blinked and looked around. What was

  happening? I was sitting behind my desk

  at The Rodent’s Gazette. Sun streamed

  through the window. It was morning. How

  very strange. Had I been sleeping? Was my

  THE MOST

  I

  MPORTANT THING

  77

  adventure with

  Santa all just a

  dream?

  I was still trying

  to make sense of

  everything when

  I heard another

  loud knock at

  my door. Two seconds later, Grandfather

  William burst into the office.

  Cheese niblets, here it comes, I thought.

  Grandfather’s going to pull out my whiskers

  now that he’s caught me sleeping on the job.

  But instead of squeaking about my sleeping

  on the job, Grandfather William began

  squeaking about something else.

  “Grandson! What are you still doing in

  the office? ” he thundered. “We waited for

  you all last night. It’s Christmas! You need

  G

  r

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  d

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  ,

  I

  .

  .

  .

  to be with the rodents you love!”

  I was so confused. “But, Grandfather, you

  kept telling me that I needed to WORK, WORK,

  WORK. You said you would take over my

  job if I didn’t,” I stammered.

  Grandfather William chuckled. “Oh,

  Grandson, you’re so gullible! Don’t

  you know a joke when you hear one?” he

  squeaked. “Work is important. But your

  family is the most important thing in the

  world!”

  With that, Grandfather William turned

  and left the office. Right then, I remembered

  something. I had never written my

  article on the true spirit of Christmas.

  I wracked my brain for ideas. But I couldn’t

  think of a thing. Not one sentence. Not one

  word. I was a big blank.

  What could I do?

  78

  2. Do a little

  yoga.

  3. Write with

  a fa

  vorite pen

  or pencil.

  4. Listen

  to classical

  m

  usic.

  1. Take a hot bath

  with lots and lots of

  ched

  dar bubbles.

  5. Stand on

  y

  our head.

  7. Put away

  y

  our laundry.

  6. Cut little

  stars out of

  modeling clay.

  7

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  80

  Right then, I remembered something my

  aunt Sweetfur used to tell

  me when I was a young

  mouse. Just before I left

  for school she’d say, “The

  brain cannot function

  if the body is not well fed.

  Always eat a good breakfast and

  you’ll be able to concentrate better.”

  I fixed myself a nice cup of hot

  chocolate and a fresh cheese log. As I

  sat nibbling on the yummy cheese log, I

  thought about my visit with Santa and Mrs.

  Claus. Oh, what a wonderful dream!

  An idea popped into my head. That was

  ONE MORE

  C

  HEESE LOG

  it! I could write about my

  amazing dream.

  I sat down at my computer

  and began typing away.

  My paws flew across the

  keyboard like fluttering

  butterflies. I had so much

  to tell. So much to share. I

  wrote about flying with the

  reindeer, visiting

  Santa's

  Toy Factory, and meeting

  Santa and Mrs. Claus. I

  even wrote about Ding-

  Dong and his fall through

  the ice. I felt like I would

  never stop typing. But

  finally, I did.

  e

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  Y

  C

  I leaned back in my chair

  and sighed happily. Who

  knew you could learn so

  much from a dream?

  I

  H

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  S

  T

  M

  A

  S

  Before I left the office, I decided to make

  a few phone calls. Well, maybe more than a

  few. In fact, I guess you could say I called

  EVERYONE

  . All of my friends,

  my relatives, my coworkers.

  I’M SORRY

  W

  e

  ’

  l

  l

  h

  a

  v

  e

&n
bsp; a

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  !

  RING!

  RING!

  RING!

  RING!

  RING!

  85

  2

  5

  DECEMBER

  I needed to tell everyone I

  was sorry for ignoring them.

  I invited them all to my house.

  “We’ll have a great big

  Christmas

  party

  ,” I said. “Bring your friends, bring

  your family. We’ll all celebrate together!

  After all, that’s what the true Christmas

  spirit is all about!”

  Everyone accepted the invitation. I was

  so EXCITED. I was finally getting

  into the Christmas spirit. I couldn’t wait

  to celebrate with my friends and family. I

  grabbed my coat and ran home as fast as my

  paws would carry me.

  But when I got there, I realized I had

  forgotten a few things. I didn’t have any food

  in my fridge. I didn’t have any Christmas

  decorations hung up. I didn’t even

  have a single present.

  Putrid cheese puffs! What was I

  thinking?

  I would never be able to get

  everything together in such a short time!

  “

  D

  i

  n

  g

  -

  D

  o

  n

  g

  !

  D

  i

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  g

  -

  D

  o

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  !

  D

  i

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  -

  D

  o

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  g

  !

  D

  i

  n

  g

  -

  D

  o

  n

  g

  !

  ”

  But just as I was about to pull out all of my

  fur, the doorbell rang.

  88

  I raced to my front door and yanked it

  open. A huge crowd stood on my doorstep.

  I tried to shoo them away. I didn’t have time

  for visitors. I didn’t have time for carolers.

  I didn’t have time for salesmice. I had very

  dear

  friends

  and

  family

  coming over!

  “It’s Christmas,” I squeaked. “Don’t you

  rodents have somewhere to go?”

  The mice laughed. “We came to help you

  set up for the party, Geronimo!

  ” they shouted.

  I blinked. Oops. When would I ever

  learn to stop putting my paw in my mouth?

  Standing right in front of me were my very

  dear friends and family!

  In a flash, my house was bustling.

  WE CAME TO HELP

  Y

  OU, GERONIMO!

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  90

  Some mice decorated the Christmas

  tree.

  Some started a fire in the fireplace.

  Others set the TABLE.

  And my good friend Saucy Le Paws

  whipped up a super fabumouse cheesy

  lasagna

  . Do you know Saucy? He’s one of

  the most famouse chefs on Mouse Island.

  It was truly a wonderful party. In fact,

  I think I could honestly say it was the best

  Christmas I ever had. Cross my paws over

  my

  heart

  !

  It felt good to have my friends and family

  around. I had been so busy with work at the

  office, I had forgotten how much I enjoyed

  just hanging out and squeaking with the

  ones I loved.

  I raised my glass and made a toast.

  “Thank you all for coming today. I

  hope you all know how much I value

  your friendship, and I’m

  sorry if I’ve been ignoring

  you lately. I let my work

  take over, and I promise to

  never let that happen again.

  I love you all too much!

  ” I said.

  Everyone clapped and hugged me. Well,

  everyone except my obnoxious cousin Trap.

  He was too busy stuffing his snout with

  lasagna. That mouse would eat me out of

  house and hole

  if I let him.

  We were so busy celebrating, no one

  noticed the snow piling up outside.

  When I finally looked out the window, the

  snow was five feet high. And it was still

  coming down!

  SNOW, SNOW, AND

  M

  ORE SNOW!

  T

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  93

  “Holey cheese!” I squeaked. “We’ve never

  had this kind of a

  blizzard

  in New

  Mouse City before!”

  I turned on the TV. We all huddled around

  it to hear the news. The entire city was

  buried under snow! The sick and the elderly

  could not get around because the snow

  BLOCKED the streets.

  New Mouse City’s mayor, the Honorable

  Frederick Fuzzypaws, appeared on the

  screen.

  “Citizens of New Mouse City, we have a

  BIG

  problem!” he announced. “The city

  is paralyzed by snow. Ambulances cannot

  get to sick rodents. Fire engines cannot get

  to fires. Cheese delivery trucks cannot get to

  the Stop and Squeak.”

  Next to me, my cousin looked faint. “No

  cheese?” he gasped in HORROR.

  On the screen, the mayor continued. “There

  is on
ly one way to fix this problem. I ask that

  every mouse pick up a shovel. Together,

  we can help New Mouse City!”

  I turned off the TV. Everyone looked at one

  another. It was so

  WARM

  and cozy

  inside my mouse hole. And it was so

  cold

  outside. But our city needed us. We armed

  ourselves with shovels and headed outside.

  We shoveled sidewalks and driveways.

  We shoveled front steps and back steps.

  We even

  SHOVELED

  the whole town

  square. I was so tired I thought my paws

  would fall off. Did I mention I’m not much

  of a MUSCLE MOUSE? Still, I kept on

  shoveling. By nightfall, the streets of New

  Mouse City were finally cleared.

  We celebrated by drinking cups of steaming

  HOT CHOCOLATE. I was exhausted, but

  94

  I was happy. I hugged my nephew Benjamin.

  I had no gift to give him this year — except

  for the gift of myself.

  “From now on, I will not let work get

  in the way of our relationship,” I told him.

  “I will always make time for my favorite

  nephew.”

  Benjamin’s eyes

  LIT

  up. I smiled. Outside,

  a cold December wind rattled the windows.

  But inside, I felt warm and peaceful.

  Oh, what a strange and wonderful

  Christmas it had been. I’d learned so much

  from my dream about the North Pole.

  I thought about Santa and Mrs. Claus.

  I thought about the elves and the

  reindeer. I even thought about Ding-Dong,

  my new elf friend. It all seemed so real!

  I stared out the window thinking about

  everything. And for a minute I thought

  95

  Me

  Chris

  erry

  stmas!

  I could almost hear a tiny voice in the

  distance calling, “Merry Christmas

  to all, and to all a good night!