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December 19, 2002 - Goldie's Christmas tale7Fft &'dLJTTW'�rligi 0 bg��rr%er 16�1�002 oldie's Christmas tale t was about three weeks before Christmas when Evan's best and most faithful goldfish died. He had called it "Goldie" from the first day he had seen it. Why it died no one knew, but that's the way things go sometimes. What Evan did know was that he was going to have to get a new Goldie as soon as he could. Evan had always wanted a pet of some kind, but his little sister was allergic to FOCUS dogs and cats, so they could- ON n't have one of NATURE those around with all their by Paul hair and dust. Stoutenburgh Their doctor, who had a son the same age as Evan, knew how much boys liked pets and suggest- ed a fish might do. What Evan liked most about having a goldfish in his room was that Goldie was always there to greet him. It didn't matter if it was when he first got up in the morn- ing or when he came home from school in the afternoon or when he had to go to bed. Goldie was always there, his nose pressed against the glass of the fish bowl looking at him, his big orange tail swishing back and forth. Sometimes Evan even thought Goldie smiled at him. The weeks before Christmas are a busy time for everyone, with stores selling Christmas trees and colored lights, toys, jackets, skis and skates and all those wonderful things that make Christmas so special, especially for boys and girls. And, of course, way up at the North Pole Santa Claus was the busiest of all. He was getting ready for his Christmas Eve trip to deliver toys to girls and boys. The last thing he had to do was fill the orders that boys and girls had mailed to him asking for that "spe- It was during this time that Evan finally persuaded his mother to take him to the pet shop so he could buy his new goldfish. He wanted it to be with him during Christmas. They had waited for days to go because it had been snowing hard and the roads Santa wanted to were deep with snow. help Evan, but Finally their road was plowed and his moth- he just didn't er thought it would know how. be okay to head for the pet shop. Well, unforeseen things do hap- pen, as we all know, and on the way to the pet store Evan and his mother were in a bad car accident Both Evan and his mother landed in the hospital. The mother only had a few scratches but Evan was paralyzed from his waist down. H couldn't walk. He tried to look happy when people came to cheer him up but a hospital is no place to be when Christmas is just a few days away. One thing that kept Evan's spirits up was that he was able to sneak a letter out to Santa asking him to try to get a goldfish for his Christmas to replace the one he had lost. Sure enough, Santa came across his letter and realized this request for a goldfish would take some real doing. He scratched his head and said, "I don't know how I can get a goldfish to a boy down in that big hospital. I usually bring hikes and skis and dolls and things like that. If I got a goldfish and had it in a fishbowl with water, how would I keep it from freezing and where would I get a goldfish, h the first place ?" He wanted to help Evan so badly but he just didn't know how. Finally he decided to ask all the little elves that work, in his shop if they had any ideas.. They always seem to have pretty good sugges- tions; so they all met and went 'round and 'round trying to figure out how Santa could get a goldfish in his bag of toys with- out spilling the water, let alone having the water freeze solid with a goldfish in it. That would surely never do. Then Robin, the smallest of all the elves, raised his little hand and said, "Why couldn't we put the goldfish in Santa's big ther- mos bottle? It's made to keep things warm no matter how cold it gets." Everyone jumped with joy and shouted, "That's it! That's it!" That is, everyone but Santa, who wasn't quite sure he liked the idea of losing his good red thermos bottle that he kept his coffee in. Then he remembered that in many of the houses he visits on Christmas Eve boys and girls leave coffee or milk and cookies for him, so he said, "Why not? I'm all for it. We'll use my thermos bottle to carry the goldfish in, but where are we going to find a gold- fish at the frozen North Pole ?" That stumped everyone and things looked pretty gloomy around the room, but once again, the littlest elf raised his hand that was now trembling and said, "Why can't we chop a hole in the ice down on the pond? Remember last summer when, it was warm' there were goldfish there?", "What a wonderful idea," Santa said. So three of his strongest elves headed off to the pond with their axes to cut a hole in the ice. First they swept the snow off. Then they chopped a big hole in the ice. Next they all got down on their hands and knees and looked in the snow - covered pond. It was (very dark inside. "Go get a flashlight," someone said. And off went the fastest elf to get a flashlight. In no time he was back and once again they all peered into the black water below At first they couldn't see anything then they spotted an old rusty can and some old branches, but no goldfish. Just about the time they were ready to give up, one of the elves remembered that goldfish bury themselves in the mud and sleep through the winter. That could be the problem. "Let's poke around in the mud and see if we can find anything," one elf said. And so, they poked and dug and every once in a while they'd pull their net up full of black mud. Then one time when they pulled up the net, they saw some- thing orange in it. It was a gold- fish! They had found one! They quickly picked it up and dropped it into the bucket of clean water they had brought along. How proud they were as they ran back to the workshop yelling, "We found one! We found one!" Everyone gathered around to see the goldfish. It was so exciting. They got out Santa's big thermos bottle and slowly poured the water in, then "Slurp," in went the goldfish. They put the top on and proudly handed it over to Santa, who put it right up in the front seat of the sleigh with him. When everything was ready, Santa stepped into the sleigh, snapped his whip and off he went. It was Christmas Eve. Santa stopped,on his way to leave presents for all those good little boys and girls along the way. About midnight he arrived at the hospital where Evan was. He grabbed his thermos bottle and the empty fishbowl he had brought along and walked right into the hospital. For some reason no one paid any attention to him. He walked past the nurses and the doctors and no one even turned their heads. No one noticed-Santa. Could it be he was able to walk right in without being seen, like an invisible man. We'll never know that part of the story, but he went right to Evan's There he found Evan'§ mother st asleep in the chair alongside van's bed. Evan, too, was fast leep. The mother had said she'( ty right in that chair until her n was able to walk again. She A would not leave her son lone. As soon as he cou anta of out the fishbowl, took the ork out of his big thermos bottl, tipped it up and out went the water and the goldfish as well. Well, that goldfish was some glad to get ou of that dark place. With his job now complete, Santa Claus just disap- peared. How he could do that we'll never knout Now the gold- fish was in the bowl and happy with his new home. He was charging around, splashing and making such a noise that he woke Evan up. Now remember, this was Christmas Eve. Evan could hardly believe his eyes. He said, "Look, Mommy! Look, Mommy! Someone brought me a goldfish. It must have been Santa." And just about that time the goldfish, being so excited with his new home and freedom, flipped right out of the fish bowl and lay flopping on the table. Oh, gosh! What to do? Evan knew just what to do. He threw back the covers and for the first time since he had ,ome to the hospital, he walked ever and picked up his new 3oldie and put him back in the .' ishbowl. His mother couldn't )elieve what she was seeing. This vas the greatest, the best "hristmas present she could ever lave expected. Evan was walking The very next day when the doctor came to check on him, he couldn't believe his eyes. He asked what had happened and they told him. "Oh, that couldn't be," the doctor said. " I've never heard of anything like that." But then, miracles do happen: Let's you and I keep it a secret. We know that Santa was there even though no one saw him. There must have been some sort of Christmas magic going on that And so, on Christmas Day Evan picked up his fishbowl with his new friend Goldie in it. and, with his mother at his side, walked out of the hospital waving his arm and shouting, "Merry Christmas, averyone!" .