The Cat and the Christmas Tree

25 The Cat and the Christmas Tree In my culture, around mid-December, we go out and buy a Christmas tree and put it in the house. We decorate it with lights and other things. These trees can be quite beautiful, and they always give the air a special pine smell. It smells like Christmas to me. My mother doesn't like our cat, especially at Christmas because the cat can't resist trying to play with the shiny decorations on the tree. This Christmas was no different. Every time the cat got close to the tree, my mother yelled at it. The cat soon decided that this was a fun game. I actually think he enjoyed getting my mother mad. Mom worked very hard this Christmas. It seemed that she tried harder than anyone in the family to make Christmas special for us. She made special Christmas meals and wrapped all the presents. Needless to say, Mom was very tired. I think she was even stressed about the coming Christmas Day.

It was finally the night before Christmas and not a creature was moving except our cat. He had been chased from the Christmas tree three times that evening. We didn't see him the rest of the night. At about midnight, my mother got up from bed to get a glass of water. Suddenly, we heard her screaming that there was someone in the house. We cautiously followed Dad out to the living room. There was someone hiding in the Christmas tree! We could see the branches moving slightly. My father moved towards the tree with a baseball bat in his hand. Suddenly, the tree moved again. I saw two small eyes looking out at us from the tree, and I shone the flashlight at the eyes. It was not a burglar. It was our cat! He was inside the tree, stuck between two small branches. Before I freed him, I took a picture. Everyone, including my mother, laughed at what had happened. The next day, we exchanged gifts. The biggest laugh came when Mom opened a special present from all of us- a picture of the cat in the Christmas tree.