A Christmas Tale

A variation on a theme by Dr. Seuss... There once was a Grinch who was bad to the bone, Which was why he always spent Christmas alone, But one year the Grinch said, "Enough is enough!" And decided to steal everyone's Christmas stuff. In the village below, in the center of town, Stood a great Christmas tree with gifts all around. There were gaily wrapped presents, some large and some small, Filled with treats and surprises for one and for all. The Grinch plotted, connived, he schemed, and he hatched. "Come Christmas morning," he vowed, "all that loot will be snatched." Then he rushed back inside to flesh out his plan To disguise himself as that Santa Claus man. He measured, and cut, and stitched stitches galore, When he suddenly heard, just outside his front door, Something that set both his Grinch ears to ringing. The sound was quite audibly somebody singing. He opened his door just a crack so to peek, And what he beheld made the Grinch squeak out "Eek!" In front of his cave was a sight quite bewilderin' A small group of seven or eight village childeren. Then a curly-haired toddler toddled forward an inch And cooed, rather cutely, "Mewwy Cwissmas, Mistuh Gwinch!" The snarl that he tried for turned into a grin, And 'stead of biting their heads off, he invited them in. He dashed to his fireplace, tossed on a Yule log, Then served gingerGrinch cookies and sweet green eggnog. They ate, drank, and sang for an hour or more Then announced they must leave and bounced out the front door. As he watched them depart, to his utter surprise, The Grinch felt his heart trying to double in size. He quivered, he quaked, his knees started to shake. "This unGrinchlike behavior has been a mistake!" Then he slammed shut the door and proclaimed with a sneer, "Well, you thwarted me this time, but just wait 'til next year!" This tale has a moral, quite simple yet bold: Some people can't change, if the sad truth be told. The Grinch, of his species, was simply a bad 'un, He couldn't change his spots, poor thing, even if he had 'em.