By Rachel H Grant

The fire crackled like an old crone, welcoming Christmas like a long-lost friend.

A white kitten stretched out on the red rug, purring in a warm bath of bliss. Her new home was a Christmas dream come true. The runt of the litter, no one wanted her, until a small child’s hands picked her up and a tiny voice whispered, “This is all I want for Christmas.”

On her third night in the new house, the first snowflakes of winter kissed the land. Luna looked out the window longingly. When the father arrived home, she shot out the front door like a snowball on attack. Christmas cheer lit her heart, as snow froze her feet. She ran and ran through the snowflakes, until she became lost.

Luna never saw the house again. Until twenty years later …

**

Harry and Hetty giggled as they played hide and seek in their new house. A bedroom each, stairs to chase each other down … and numerous corners to hide in. It was a Christmas wish come true.

Meanwhile, Mum finished decorating the tree. “Children! Come and see!” she called.

They surveyed a Christmas carol in frozen motion, a dream of delight purring in their head like a happy cat. Then Mum lit the fire, and they settled on the hearth to play Christmas card games.

They did not see the baubles move on the tree, as though a kitten were playing with them. They did not notice the kitten prints on the windows, as a stray soul regarded the snowflakes outside. Little did they know, that they were not alone.

Luna slept that night on Hetty’s bed. The child turned over in her sleep, instinctively moving a hand towards the tiny unseen indent on the duvet. Then sweet dreams of white Christmas kittens stirred in her soul.

Luna wandered the house unseen. She was back, with a new family. Her dream had come true. She was home.

“I would love a kitten for Christmas,” confided Hetty to her Dad. “It would be a Christmas wish in fur, it would make me so happy.”

“Santa doesn’t deliver kittens,” said Dad with a twinkle in his eye.

Christmas Day dawned like a new winter future, a herald to happier days.  Hetty and Harry ran down the stairs like racing horses on a track, magic misting their eyes. Then they saw her.

A white kitten.

“It looks like Santa does believe in kittens after all,” said Dad merrily.

The children played all day with the new arrival, happiness like moving shadows around them, while Luna the real shadow purred with quiet joy at a new friend. Klaus the kitten could see Luna, and telepathically talk with her. They were friends in no time.

That night, a large white cat appeared on the stairs, a red hat on her head. She found Klaus and her shadow Luna.

“I have come to take you to a new Christmas house,” she gently told Luna. “There is a new kitten here now and it is your time, a playful paradise awaits. Leave Klaus to the humans here, come with me now … “

Luna meowed silently. “I love it here. It is my home.”

“No, it is Klaus’ home. However there is a fireplace in my world just for you.”

So Luna quietly followed the white cat up the stairs, as a portal of white light opened above them. “It looks like a large snowflake,” thought Luna wistfully.

Then they were there, in a large house with a grand sitting-room, and a festive fire in ferocious glory. And there were other cats too … why, it was her mother and her siblings! Luna ran to greet them, a melting meow of love in her heart.

The large white cat silently left.

“Where are we?” asked Luna.

“We are in the land of feline dreams,” confided her mother. “We are in the happy ending that we all deserve. However, one day, if you choose, you can be born again and return. Or simply stay here … it is so nice, a dream of paradise that can never end.”

Luna rubbed around her mum, and curled in to her body as she fell asleep. And in her dreams, a hundred fireplaces burned, happy cats in front of them all.

However, the day came when she dreamt once more of the children in her old and real house. How she wished to return … snowflakes hung in her heart like a frozen dream waiting to melt.

A year later, Hetty and Harry again awoke on Christmas morning with excitement etched on their faces like indelible glee. They raced downstairs. Klaus met them, a knowing smile in his eyes. He ran to the front door, scratching frantically, maniac meows in his throat.

Harry laughed. “Ok Klaus, out you go.” He opened the door, staring in Christmas sparkled surprise.

A white kitten trembled in the snow. Harry swept her in to his arms, while the kitten purred, eyes shimmering with Christmas fire.

Hetty rushed up. “Another white kitten! It is my Christmas dream come true!”

Their parents did try to find the kitten’s home, but none emerged. “Let’s call her Snowflake,” said Hetty. “Because she has flown in to our lives like a snowflake from heaven.”

Little did they know, that the white kitten had lived before. Little did they know, that they were her Christmas wish come true. However somewhere in their hearts, the children did understand that cats have nine lives.

Hetty, Harry, Klaus and Snowflake became inseparable friends. As January blizzards battered the house, they lay by the fire, encased in the poem of purrs.

For every cat deserves a second chance, a new home that saves them from the cold. May all your Christmases be filled with the wonder and joy of a festive kitten, and may the purrs of happiness soothe your mind forever. And may all snowflakes find their way home.