For Mistletoe by @narratives.
"Yay, yay, yay, yay, yay!" The little girl of about six years old and of red hair bounced up and down. She watched carefully as her dad brought in a small cage and sat it on her dresser.
"Make sure he doesn't get loose," her father warned.
"I won't!" Ellen promised. He left with a smile.
"You're going to love it here," the girl told her hamster. "Hmm...What shall I call you?" She put her chin in her hand and leaned forward to look at him. The hamster was currently burrowing under the shredded newspaper at the bottom of his cage.
"Hmm…"
"I know! Hammy! Because you're a hamster, and you came just in time for Christmas."
She stuck a finger through the wire of the cage and stroked Hammy's fur.
"Oh, you'll love Christmas. Every twenty-fifth of December, everyone gets together with their family and eats yummy things like ham, and best of all, we get presents!"
The hamster unburried his face and walking around his cage, he twitched his nose.
"There's this big man in a red suit, and he has a beard. We call him Santa Claus. He brings us the things we wished for - if we're good. I'm always good," Ellen held her head proudly. "But if you're bad," she whispered, "You get coal. So don't be bad."
"It's not just Christmas day that's fun," she continued. "The whole month is fun and Christmas-y. We sing carols in church, decorate our house, and do Christmas crafts in school."
Hammy walked over to his water dispenser and took a long drink.
"My momma makes cookies every week! And I get to decorate them! Maybe I'll bring you one, if she'll let me."
The girl opened the cage and picked up her hamster. He let out a feeble squeak, but was captured in her hands. She held him against her face with a smile.
"You'll love Christmas, Hammy. I'm sure of it."
