Chica and the Christmas tree, un árbol de Navidad
Chapter 7
Learning the rules
“Buen
día, Princesa Chica. ¿Cómo está?” I said, “Good
day, Princess Chica. How are you?”
“¿Estoy bien, gracias, y tú?” Chica answered me
in cat-Spanish, and I understood. She had said she was doing well, thank you,
and then asked how I was.
I was so pleased I couldn’t stop my tail from doing
its helicopter-spin of happiness. “I’m very well, thank you,” I replied, and then I noticed she was sitting beside a little tree covered in cute
decorations.
“Oh, that’s a good idea, an indoor bathroom for pets,”
I said. “But why is it sitting on a table? It should be on the floor.”
“No!” Chica quickly said. “This is our Christmas tree,
un árbol de Navidad. Our humans would be upset if you peed on it.”
“Really?” I put my front paws on the wooden table
and gave the tree a sniff. It didn’t smell anything like a real tree. “What’s a
Christmas tree?” I asked.
“It is part of the decorations our humans display at
this time of the year.”
“So, Servant and Driver are also Decorators? Do we
call them Decorator One and Decorator Two?” The rules of my new home were very
puzzling. And why shouldn’t I pee on the tree? That’s what trees were for.
“No,” Chica answered, “she’s always Servant, and he’s
always Driver. Tommy says we don’t want to confuse them.”
“Si, now I remember. He told me that humans are
difficult to train.” I agreed.
“Sí, very difficult,” she agreed. “Tommy is smart, and
you should always listen to his advice.”
“I will,” I said, carefully studying the fancy tree. I
still didn’t understand why I couldn’t use it for my indoor bathroom.
“We are extra lucky because we were born in Mexico and
there are many winter celebrations, not just Christmas,” Chica said. “The
holiday season starts with December 12th, Día de la Virgen de Guadalupe, the
Virgin of Guadalupe Day. Then, December 16th to the 24th
is the Posadas, a procession that recreates the journey of Mary and
Joseph, and December 24th, Nochebuena or Christmas Eve, is
when Mexican families have their special feasts. Our people and many of their
friends are called Gringos, and they have their feast on December 25th.”
“Is that when the people create loud noises? Lots of
booms and bangs?”
“Yes, fireworks scare me,” Chica answered.
“I usually just hide under something and try to
sleep,” I said.
“Me too!” Chica said. “The best part of the holiday
season is that our people like to invite their friends and some of their
cat-friendly dogs to a party at our house. They laugh, play music, sing, and
eat lots of yummy foods.”
“I don’t think my first human had a lot of money. We
never had a party,” I said wistfully. “Parties sound like a lot of fun.”
“Si,” she agreed, “and our humans also go to our
friends’ houses to celebrate.”
“Do you get invited too?” I asked.
“Tommy and I are invited to the parties that are close
by,” she said. “We follow Servant and Driver along the beach.”
“What else do you do to celebrate?” I asked.
“My goodness, you ask a lot of silly questions!” Chica
flicked her tail and glared at me.
“I’m sorry. I don’t understand everything about my new
life yet.” I said, “Please be patient with me.”
She sighed, “Yes, you’re right. I’m sorry. We were all
strays at one time.” She licked one paw and cleaned her whiskers.
I was fascinated. She knew how to self-clean just like
Tommy. Maybe she could teach me, but not right now, because she was still
talking about the holidays.
“And there are parades with funny costumes,” she said,
“and music, and people tossing candy for the children and their parents. Many
people go to a building called a church and sing nice songs,” she added. “It’s
a busy time on the island, but we enjoy the excitement. My favourite day is
Christmas Day. We get presents in the morning, then we eat turkey and sweet
potatoes at dinner time.”
“Turkey? What’s that?” I asked.
“Turkey is awesome! It’s a huge bird that is roasted
for hours, and then we feast on it. Servant, Driver, Tommy, me, and of course
you this year. We eat and eat, and then fall asleep.” Just thinking about the
upcoming feast made Chica feel sleepy. She stretched and yawned, “The
celebration continues until January 6th, Día de Reyes, when
the Mexican children receive their presents from the three kings.”
“Presents? What are presents?”
“Presents are my favourite,” she replied with a sly
grin. “You’ll see.”
Oh no, I don’t like it when a cat gives me a sneaky
smile. I am pretty sure it means something bad for me, like another visit to
the cat-doctor.
Maybe I should just hide outside in the bushes on
Christmas Day.
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