By Rachel H Grant

Snow slowly fell from a dark winter sky like a huge white flower star shedding its petals. Magic hissed in the air. It was a night of potential, a hundred different stories flowering like new stars in the still sky. It was the night before Christmas …

A black cat walked through the dusting of snow, her eyes shining like lanterns. A catflap loomed ahead. The little cat began to purr, the sound of a million “have a nice day”s turned in to a song, the sound of feline miracles.

Yvonne came home from work to find a black cat in front of her fireplace. “Oh well, just as you are here …” Yvonne lit a fire and nursed a hot chocolate as the cat purred. “Have you a home?” wondered Yvonne. “You can stay here tonight, I wouldn’t put you out on this cold evening.”

Christmas Day dawned like a cat waking from a deep sleep, light gradually seeping in to the day as if too tired to wake up.

Yvonne stretched in bed. Christmas Day! And her first ever all on her own.

Downstairs, a Christmas miracle purred like the beginning of a happy ever after story. The black cat was gone as silently as she had appeared. In her place, there lay a small white kitten. Yvonne’s heart beat with an instant connection. The kitten became her cherished companion, a Christmas wish fallen from the stars above.

Next Christmas came round like a stone of destiny toppled by a line of dominoes. Gemma was stunned to find a black cat in her sitting-room on Christmas Eve, curled up before the wood stove as though she had always belonged here. Gemma’s heart melted as she lit the fire. A cat for Christmas, this was what she needed after a difficult year.

In the morning, the black cat was gone. In her place, a white kitten. “I will call you Snowfall,” whispered Gemma, a Christmas dream erupting like a shooting star in her heart.

The next Christmas Eve, Nina arrived home to find a black cat sleeping under a radiator. However, Nina worked for a local cat rescue and had five cats already. One phonecall later, the mystery black cat was en route to the cat shelter.

On Christmas Day, two volunteers arrived at the cat shelter. The new black cat arrival, Festive Fiona, was curled up asleep in her little bed. Next to her, was a pure white kitten.

April and Jasmine looked at each other, a knowing smile in their eyes. “So which one do you want?” It was a Christmas wish come true for Fiona and the surprise kitten, the first day in what would be their new homes.

Fiona slept in front of the fire that night, a Christmas purr in her chest. It was a forever home. She never strayed again, and no more impossible white kittens appeared in her wake.

Until the day she died one Christmas Eve many years later. April cried herself to sleep that night. In the morning, there was a white kitten in front of the fireplace. The kitten opened its eyes and purred. April’s tears flowed as a smile fingered her face. “I will call you Christmas Chloe.” For each time a cat leaves your life, it sends another in its place, a hello from heaven that will never leave your side.

So this Christmas, believe in feline magic and let festive miracles light your way. Look up to the stars, hear their secret song, and dream of white kittens and so so much more …. Merry Christmas, may an enchanted black cat cross your path and grant you wonders, and may 2026 deliver all your deepest wishes and more.