Grinch Night Surprises

Explaining Grinch Night

"Grinch, I'm home! Hello?" Martha called as she searched for her husband. She looked all over the cave, but there was no sign of the Grinch or Max anywhere. "Grinchy! Max! Are you here? Anyone? Hmm, I wonder where he is."

"Martha, are you home?" The Grinch's voice called.

"Grinchy?" Martha made her way to the front door and saw the Grinch and Max enter and close the door behind them.

"There you are! I have something to tell you." Grinch and Martha said at the same time. "You do? You go first. No, you. No, you! No, you!"

They paused before bursting out laughing.

"You first." Grinch said.

Martha paused. "No, no. Why don't you go first? I was wondering where you went."

"Oh, I was in town. While you were out, your aunt called and asked me to come to town hall. She said she wanted to talk to me about... Grinch Night."

Martha raised an eyebrow. "Grinch Night?"

"Oh, right. You probably don't know what that is. Come with me. I have a book that'll help explain it."

He took her hand and led her to the library with Max following close behind. When they got there, Grinch pulled out a thin brown leather book and he set it down on his desk. He opened it to the first page.

"It's all right here." He began; he pointed to a page titled 'The Sour Sweet Wind'. "You see, one special night every three years, a particularly cold wind blows from the west into Whoville; it's called the Sour Sweet Wind. When the Sour Sweet Wind starts howling, it wakes up the Gree-Grumps sleeping in their tree stumps and they all start growling." He turned the page to a picture of Punkers Pond with Gree-Grumps snarling at each other and the heads of Hakken-Krakks howling into the sky. "And their growling is enough to stir up Punkers Pond which disturbs the Hakken-Krakks and they start yowling." He turned the page again, only for Martha to see a creature similar to her husband. "And all of that noise annoys people like... well, like me. And once we Grinches start prowling, we go out and cause all sorts of trouble for Whoville. And that is why it's called Grinch Night."

"But where did the Sour Sweet Wind even come from?" Martha asked.

Grinch turned to another page. A creature similar to him dressed in rags is seen shouting angrily at the skies. "Legend says that roughly three hundred years ago, when Whoville was founded, this area in the mountains was thriving with Grinches. Life was good and happy... until the first settlers arrived. They claimed this mountain land and built the town we know today... and the elder Grinches didn't really like that. They saw the Who settlers as intruders, bent on ruining our way of life. So... the leader Grinch cast a spell, saying that one night every three years, the Grinches will cause havoc and fright for the helpless Whos of Whoville."

"Is the legend true?"

He closed the book. "No one really knows."

"But... what does the Sour Sweet Wind have to do with my aunt asking you to come to town hall?"

"That's just it. Sergeant Samuel S. McFerson has recently discovered that the Sour Sweet Wind is coming back this year. And to mark the occasion, the Mayor has asked me to... plan a party for Grinch Night, which also happens to be on Halloween night."

"Really?!"

"Yes! Your aunt wants me to plan a Grinch Night Ball for everyone in town to enjoy."

"Wow! Grinch, that's amazing!"

Martha grinned and hugged her husband tight before giving him a congratulatory kiss on the cheek.

"Wait... what do you mean 'everyone in town will enjoy'?" She asked, letting go.