The Grinch ruined Christmas - did he?
I'm sure many of us are familiar with "How the Grinch ruined Christmas" by Dr. Suess. It was a very popular children's Christmas classic. Well, here is my story on how it happened.
Once upon a time...
It was December 24, Santa Claus and his team of elves were preparing the gifts which would be distributed to every house all over the world. Children from all over the world were getting ready for this beautiful day, they spent the day trying to do a good deed to warrant a good gift from Santa Claus.
They helped mother in the kitchen, wash Dad's car, take their neighbor's dog for a walk, even enlisted in the army to fight for world peace. Yes, it was that serious, kids back in the days did the most, ask grandma or grandpa.
In exchange for each good deed, they would get wonderful Christmas presents from Santa. Each matching the heart and thought put into each task in magnitude.
There was an Elve charged with distributing these gifts who felt sad for kids who don't get anything for Christmas, the name of this Elve was Grinch.
His intentions were pure, he felt it was unfair that so many children (like myself) were not getting present and so decided to balance the scale.
Hold on guys, stay with me,
it's about to get interesting Have you ever wondered how Santa Claus gets so much power and gets to live for so long? Well, the answer lies in the heart of a rock, a blue crystal. This was the source of his strength but soon will become his greatest weakness.
Time 12:00 pm, 24th of December in an anonymous year
Grinch carefully times Santa Claus, as he sneaks into the private chamber to steal the blue Jewel Crystal, but this task won't be easy as he would have to solve a riddle to get in.
Written on the wall was
"What is in seasons, seconds, centuries, and minutes but not in decades, years, or days?"
"Ha, Typical, the old man is so full of himself, I bet the answer can also be found in his name - N"
As soon as he said that, the door opened. Think of all the fancy things you would love to use to decorate your room, this man has it in his chamber with what I would consider overuse of the color red and white.
(Speaking of which, I still don't have a Christmas-themed clothe, is this what growing up feels like?)
Well, as I was saying, right there at the center of the room was the blue shining Jewel. The moment Grinch moved the Jewel, Santa Clause lost his magic, the Christmas spirit was gone.
Grinch had finally settled the inequality issue but the world still wasn't any better. He was convinced that by carrying out this act, everyone could be on the same page but without the Christmas spirit, they can be no Christmas.
Time: 2 pm, 24th of December same year
Santa Claus rushed down to his chambers trying to catch the Grinch but he was gone, there was no longer hope for Christmas, the Grinch had ruined Christmas.
"Oh oh oh oh no, what do we do now? Christmas is ruined" - Santa Claus cried out.
With only 10 hours to go, he knew he had to do something to set the course of history straight
So what did he do?
He sent out a challenge to the Grinch knowing fully well that he wouldn't be able to turn down a challenge, very predictable that one.
"Hey Grinch, what do you think about a Faceoff, 3 challenges, the loser promises to leave the Earth and never return"
When the Grinch got the message, of course, he couldn't back down, who could? He had just been presented with an opportunity to get rid of Santa Claus forever, there was no way he would turn it down, he knew that without the Jewel in the possession of the old man, he would definitely win.
He considered not going for a while but Santa Claus gave his word that no harm would come to him, and when he gives his word, he would never break it. (Unlike my friends who immediately go around to stab me in the back).
Challenge No 1 - The eating competition
The rule was simple, finish the food before the time was up. Santa Claus was an Oldie with a big belly and appetite, imagine all the cookies he had eaten each night he went from house to house dropping gifts. He had to be a speedster to be able to complete all of these tasks in one night right? That means a lot of calories to be burnt so he could stay fit.
All the beings gathered at the big hall just to watch how this would go down. The bell soon rang and all the competition was on.
You have never seen an Elve eat fast without taking a break as Grinch did (I mean it literally, you haven't), Santa tried to keep up but without his magic, he wasn't fast enough, and believe me this, he WAS going really fast.
Grinch won the first round (without cheating)
He looked up at the mumbling crowd and said - "Hey, have you ever had a Grinchmas" - without a big smirk on his face.
Challenge No 2 - Solve the riddles
This round would about solving riddles, a very tricky one, in fact, the first to solve it wins the round. Grinch was pretty smart, but so was the old man, it was very hard to predict which way this would go, bear it in my mind that if the Grinch wins this round, Santa Claus would have to leave Earth for good.
"I give you a group of three. One is sitting down and will never get up. The second eats as much as is given to him yet is always hungry. The third goes away and never returns. What are they?"
This was tricky, they had to get the answer to all three members of the group correctly.
The Grinch thought long and hard but couldn't quite place it, it was indeed a tough one. (Do you have the answer?).
That was when it struck Santa Claus, a man skillful with breaking and entering mostly through the Chimney yet never charged to the court of law.
"A stove, Fire and Smoke, the three of them work together with the stove just sitting there and the fire burning according to the amount of fuel that is fed to him and the smoke always running away, never returning"
Santa Claus wins this round, perhaps there is hope yet. There was a big cheer as everyone was rooting for Santa Claus to win.
Challenge No 3 - I was invited
It was a really long year for me, so when I got the invite to drop a tie-breaking question to settle this little conflict, I couldn't turn it down.
The challenge yet simple was difficult
Tell the other person "I love you" and mean it
"I love you" is a really powerful word, it shows a person's true intentions when said properly.
I I....I...I"- stuttered the Grinch unable to make those words fall out
"I love you" - said Santa Claus with tears of emotions forming in his eyes, I'm sorry if I have ever hurt you in any way, I just wanted to give the kids something to look forward to, I hope you can forgive me.
After hearing this, I broke down in tears unable to deal with my emotions, it was true love and I wasn't a believer of such.
Grinch returned the blue jewel as promised and turned to leave, but the big man himself called him back and said:
"Should you ever feel the need to return....come back for some ass-whooping oh oh oh"
We all shared a laugh, including the Grinch
12 am, 25th of December, still in that anonymous year
We cheered on and on as we celebrated a wonderful Christmas holiday, the kids who went to war to fight for world peace were also back in time to celebrate Christmas. Christmas was saved again
...The end
Christmas is all about showing love to one another, let us all try to do that in every little way we can, it might not be much but the thoughts go a very long way.
Merry Christmas friends
References
[Riddle Source] - you didn't really think I thought that all on my own, did ya? Haq, it's always good to give credit when due.
[Lead Image Source] - iStock
It interests me when the Santa loses his magic. The riddle I pondered on until you have the answer, they were mind blowing.