Ax looked out upon a
comical wintery scene. A small town was nestled in a valley, where an assortment
of small, rather odd looking people were singing. Two people caught his
attention, one a tall boy who acted as a leader, the other boy acted almost
as a bird, where he knew them from, he couldn't quite remember, his memory
was clouded. On one side of the town was a large mountain with a cave where
a girl who, also looked vaguely familiar, was staring down at the town.
< Every Who down in Who-ville liked Christmas alot. But the Grinch,
who lived just above Who-ville, did NOT!
< The Grinch hated
Christmas! The whole Christmas season! Now, please don't ask why, no one
quite knows the reason. It could be that her head wasn't screwed on quite
right, > The girl pushed her head around, quite an unsettling sight, <
It could be, perhaps, that her shoes were too tight, > she snapped her
slippers, < But I think that the most likely reason of all may have
been that her heart was two sizes too small.
< But, Whatever
the reason, her heart or her shoes, she stood there on Christmas Eve, hating
the Whos.
Staring down from her cave with a sour,
Grinchy frown at the warm lighted windows below in their town. For she
knew every Who down in Who-ville beneath was busy now, hanging a holly-who
wreath. >
"And they're hanging
their stockings!" she snarled with a sneer. "Tomorrow is Christmas! It's
practically here!" The Grinch, for that was surely who the girl was, growled
and drummed her fingers. "I must find a way to keep Christmas from
coming! For, tomorrow, I know all the Who girls and boys will wake up bright
and early. They'll rush for their toys! And then! Oh, the noise! Oh, the
noise! Noise! Noise! Noise! That's one thing I hate! The NOISE! NOISE!
NOISE! NOISE!
"And they'll shriek
squeaks and squeals racing 'round on their wheels. They'll dance with ting-tinglers
tied to their heels. They'll blow their flu-flubers, and bang their
tar-tinkers, they'll blow their who-who-bers and bang their gar-ginkers!
They'll beat their tum-tookers and slam their slu-slunkers, they'll beat
their blum-blookers and whack their who-whookers! And they'll play noisy
games like zoo-zither-carzay, a roller skate type of lacrosse or croquet!
Then they'll make ear-splitting noises deluxe, on their great big electro-who-cardio-flux!
"Then the Whos, young
and old, will sit down to a feast. And they'll feast! And they'll feast!
And they'll FEAST! FEAST! FEAST! FEAST! They'll feast on Who-pudding, rare
Who roast beast. Oh, roast beast is a feast I can't stand in the least!"
"And then they'll do
something I hate most of all. Every who down in Who-ville the tall and
the small, will stand close together, with Christmas bells ringing. They'll
stand hand in hand and the Whos will start singing!" As the Grinch had
been saying all this, Ax's view had changed from just the Grinch to all
she was saying, and now he was back to watching the Whos sing.
"They'll sing! And
they'll sing! And they'll SING! SING! SING! SING!"
< And the more the
Grinch thought of the Who-Christmas-Sing, > Ax found himself saying, as
he was the narrator of this tale, < The more the Grinch thought, >
"I must stop this whole
thing! Why for fifty-three years I've put up with it now! I MUST stop Christmas
from coming! ...But HOW?" The Grinch picked up her little bronze dog and
threw him into a snow drift. The poor dog poked his head back out, snow
sticking to his head and his chin like a hat and a beard.
The Grinch noticed
her dog's state. < Then she got an idea! An awful idea! The Grinch got
a wonderful, awful idea! >
"I know just what to
do!" The Grinch Laughed in her throat as she picked up her dog. "I'll buy
myself a new Santy Claus hat and a coat!"
Suddenly, surrounding
Ax as he looked into the Grinch's cave where the Grinch was on the phone
ordering her clothes, a deep baritone voice starting singing. "You're a
mean one, Mrs. Grinch!" If Ax had had a body, he was only watching this
you must remember, he would have jumped at the sudden song.
The Grinch chuckled,
and clucked as her new coat was delivered, "What a great Grinchy trick!
With this coat and this hat, I'll look just like Saint Nick!"
"All I need is a reindeer..."
The Grinch looked around once she was dressed in her outfit. She did look
like the jolly elf with her long blond hair all tucked up in her hat and
her blue eyes twinkling. < But since reindeer are scarce, there was
none to be found, > Ax explained. < Did that stop the old Grinch...?
Ha! The Grinch simply said, > "If I can't find a reindeer, I'll make one
instead!"
< So she called
her dog, Max. Then she took some red thread, and she tied a big horn on
top of his head. > Max, being the undersized dog he was, couldn't handle
the weight of the horn. The Grinch sighed then set to work on cutting away
excess horn so Max could be an almost convincing reindeer. He was still
too small, but she'd have to take what she could get.
Then she loaded some
bags and some old empty sacks on a ramshackle sleigh and she whistled for
Max.
Ax watched, nearly
laughing, as the comical little dog jumped up on the Grinch's sleigh, all
ready for a ride. The Grinch glared at the dog, grabbed him by his collar,
and hitched him up at the front of the sleigh.
Then the Grinch said,
"Giddyap!" < And the sleigh started down toward the homes where the
Whos lay a-snooze in their town, > Ax narrated. He watched as the large
sleigh got enough momentum to carry itself down the hill, leaving poor
Max to end up underneath, and finally sitting on the back of the sleigh.
The Grinch saw him and yanked him back up front, she obviously enjoyed
pulling the dog around. He watched as the sleigh nearly fell off the mountains
several times, but was saved just before it began to plummet.
Finally, the Grinch
and Max reached the town. < All their windows were dark. No one knew
he was there. All the Whos were all dreaming sweet dreams without care.
When he came to the first house in the square, > "This is stop number one,"
The old Grinchy Claus hissed, < And she climbed to the roof, empty bags
in her fist.
< Then she slid
down the chimney. A rather tight pinch. But if Santa could do it, then
so could the Grinch. She got stuck only once, for a moment or two. Then
she stuck her head out of the fireplace flue, where the little Who stockings
all hung in a row. >
The Grinch grinned
when she saw the stockings, designer ones at that! "These stockings are
the first things to go!" One by one, she took ever stocking as Ax could
only watch.
< Then she slithered
and slunk, with a smile most unpleasant, > Ax found himself saying, <
Around the whole room, and she took every present! Panplookers! Pantookers
and drums! Checkerboards! Bistlethings! Pop corn and plums!
< And she stuffed
them in bags. Then the Grinch, very nimbly, stuffed all the bags, one by
one, up the chimney! >
Once again, the rich
baritone began to sing 'You're a Mean One, Mrs. Grinch' as the Grinch quietly
crept around the room, stealing all the presents she could get her hands
on and even the candy canes from the little Who girls and boys.
Once the song was over,
Ax re-started his narration. < Then she slunk to the icebox. She took
the Whos' feast! She took the Who-pudding! She took the roast beast!
She cleaned out that icebox as quick as a flash. Why, that Grinch even
took their last can of Who-hash! > Ax had no idea what all these were,
but as he watched the Grinch took them all from the Who's refrigerator.
Then she stuffed all
the food up the chimney with glee. The Grinch grinned her evil grin. "And
NOW! I will stuff up the tree!"
< And the Grinch
grabbed the tree, and she started to shove when she heard a small sound
like the coo of a dove. She turned around fast, and she saw a small Who!
Little Cassy-Lou Who, who was not more than two. >
The dark colored Who-girl
stared at the Grinch and said calmly, almost too calmly, "Santy Claus,
why? Why are you taking our Christmas tree? Why?"
< But, you know,
> Ax commented, < That old Grinch was so smart and so slick, she thought
up a lie, and she thought it up quick! >
"Why, my sweet little
tot," the fake Santy Claus lied, "There's a light on this tree that won't
light on one side. So I'm taking it home to my workshop, my dear. I'll
fix it up there. Then I'll bring it back here."
< And her fib fooled
the child, > Ax said sadly. < Then she patted her head and she got her
a drink and she sent her to bed. And when Cassy-Lou Who was in bed with
her cup, the Grinch went to the chimney and stuffed the tree up!
< Then the last
thing she took was the log for their fire. Then she went up the chimney
herself, the old liar. On their walls she left nothing but hooks, and some
wire.
< And the one speck
of food that she left in the house was a crumb that was even too small
for a mouse. Then she did the same thing to the other Whos' houses, leaving
crumbs much too small for the other Whos'
mouses! > And, for hopefully the last
time, the Grinch's theme song started, stating that three words that best
described her were stink, stank and stunk, which Ax thought was an accurate
description at the moment.
The sky was beginning
to lighten when Ax was aloud to narrate again. < It was a quarter of
dawn, all the Whos, still a-bed, all the Whos, still a-snooze, when she
packed up her sled, packed it up with their presents! The ribbons! The
wrappings! Their snoof and their fuzzle, their tringlers and trappings!
> Once the sleigh was loaded, the Grinch got out her whip and cracked it
in Max's direction, causing the dog to struggle with the sleigh's immense
weight.
< Ten thousand feet up!
> Ax explained. < Up the side of Mount Crumpet, she rode to the tiptop
to dump it! >
"Pooh-pooh to the Whos!"
she was grinchly humming. "They're finding out now that no Christmas is
coming! They're just waking up! I know just what they'll do! Their mouths
will hang open a minute or two, then all the Whos down in Who-ville will
all cry BOO-HOO! That's a noise that I simply must hear!"
< So she paused.
And the Grinch put a hand to her ear. And she did hear a sound rising over
the snow. It started in low. Then it started to grow... > Ax's attention
was turned from the Grinch and Max, who was now hanging precariously over
the snow, back to Who-ville, where all the Who's were gathered in the center,
around where their Christmas tree would have been if the Grinch hadn't
interfered.
< But the sound
wasn't sad. Why, this sound sounded glad! Every Who down in Who-ville,
the tall and the small, was singing! Without any presents at all! She hadn't
stopped Christmas from coming! It came! Somehow or other, it came just
the same! >
And the Grinch, with
her grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling: "How
could it be so?" She grabbed Max and pulled him close to her face. "It
came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes
or bags!"
< And she puzzled
and puzzed 'till her puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something
she hadn't before. >
"Maybe Christmas,"
she thought, "doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means
a little bit more!" In the sheer joy of that realization, the Grinch let
go of Max, causing the sleigh to overbalance itself, very nearly falling
off the mountain. The Grinch's face froze in horror before she managed
to climb through the snow and grab Max. < And what happened then...?
> Ax wondered, < Well...in Who-ville they say that the Grinch's small
heart grew three sizes that day! And then the true meaning of Christmas
came through and the Grinch found the strength of ten Grinches! > Just
in time, the Grinch lifted the sleigh out of danger, and above her head!
< Plus two! >
The Grinch and Max
jumped back onto the sleigh, the Grinch from once not moving away from
her dog. < And now that her heart didn't feel quite so tight, she whizzed
with her load through the bright morning light.
< With a smile in
her soul she descended Mount Crumpet, cheerily blowing Who Who! on her
trumpet. She rode into Who-ville, she brought back their toys! > Ax watched
happily as the Grinch and Max handed out toys. < She brought back the
floof to the Who girls and boys! She brought back their snoof and their
tringlers and fuzzles, brought back their panthers, their dafflers, their
wuzzles. She brought everything back, all the food for the feast. > Quite
suddenly, everyone was inside, sitting around for Christmas dinner. <
And she, she herself, the Grinch, carved the roast beast.... >
< Ax? Yo, Ax-man,
wake up! >
Ax opened his eyes,
startled and shivering. < Tobias? >
< Dude, how could
you sleep through the blizzard we had? >
Ax looked around and
noticed that he and the entire woods was covered in a thick blanket of
white. < I was...dreaming. >
< About what? >
< I'm...I'm not
quite sure. But I do believe that you were there. And the others, too.
It was...quite unsettling. > He then looked around, and noticed a small
pine tree near by was now covered in decorations, and underneath it sat
many packages wrapped in multi-colored paper. < What is that? >
< Oh, that's your
Christmas tree. >
"Yeah, merry Christmas,
Ax!" Rachel stepped through the trees and Ax's dream suddenly came back
to him. The Grinch...the one with the long blond hair.... Soon the rest
of the Animorphs had stepped into Ax's modest scoop, and he recognized
others from his dream. Max, little Cindy-Lou Who (who was no more than
two), the Who he had recognized...they were all there!
< Is this not a
family holiday, though? > Ax questioned once everyone had gathered.
"Yeah, it is," Marco
said. "And Dad nearly had a fit when I told him I had to go out. You know,
wanting to spend Christmas as a family, especially with Nora," he pretended
to gag slightly, a sound that sounded almost dog-like to Ax's ears, "But
I convinced him to let me out for an hour, so can we get this gift exchange
under way?"
< Oh, quit complaining,
Marco, and go look under the tree for your presents, > Tobias chided. Marco
did so, followed by the rest of the human Animorphs, all grabbing an assortment
of gifts from under the tree.
"Tobias, Ax, there're
presents for you, too, under there," Rachel said when she noticed neither
had made a move for the tree. It was understandable in Tobias' case, but
Ax was usually so curious he'd have been the first up there.
< But I did not
buy anything for you, > Ax protested, having seen enough Christmas Specials
to know the traditional exchanging of gifts went both ways.
< Neither did I,
> Tobias said sheepishly.
"We don't care," Cassie
said. "Christmas is more about what you give than what you receive." With
that in mind, Ax got the four gifts labeled for him and set them in his
scoop, while Tobias morphed human and borrowed some of Ax's blankets so
he wouldn't freeze while opening his gifts.
The next few minutes
went by in a flurry of wrapping paper strewn around the scoop and cries
of delight (or annoyance every time a present from Marco was opened as
he bought gag gifts) as presents were opened. Ax received a gift certificate
to the Cinnabon, a book on television trivia, a book of idioms so he could
better understand slang and...a book. By a certain doctor who wrote about
a certain green guy who didn't like Christmas all that much. That gift
was from Rachel, who had no doubt been told by Tobias about Ax watching
the movie. The book wasn't new, it was ragged and faded, obviously it had
been read many times. Perhaps it had been one of her sisters', but Ax liked
it anyway. It's the thought that counts, he thought to himself. It was
a phrase he'd heard on TV many times, and he'd grown to like it.
Once
the presents had all been opened the Animorphs sat around and talked for
awhile, enjoying their holiday from being super heroes and just being kids
on Christmas Break. But before long, it was time for the human Animorphs
to go.
Marco was the last
one to gather up his gifts to leave. He turned to the group and said in
a loud voice, "Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"
A/N: Hey, I didn't write a sappy/dark story!!!
Yea me!!! And it was all about Ax...hm, I think the lack of snow here is
getting to me! Anywho, quick little disclaimer, I do not
own 'How The Grinch Stole Christmas'. That belongs to MGM. I just happened
to think the idea of the Animorphs being characters in the wonderfulest
Christmas movie of all time was a funny idea so you all will just have
to live with it!
As always, there's my thanks to Bob for
putting up with my ranting and physical abuse as he was just trying to
be a good beta reader/friend, you rock!!! And I'm gonna get pretty close
to sappy here and give a shout out to my mom for helping with the rudimentary
plot development. Okay, since I thanked you, Mom, you better be getting
me everything I want for Christmas!!! ;-)