“Santa said they were, you know that. When Santa says something, believe it. He is a friend of Jesus. And I'm pretty sure Jesus put him in charge of Christmas, “ said the Raggedy Boy.
“Yes, Christmas is when we celebrate Jesus birthday, but I think He really was born sometime way back in September.” The Black and White Tiger growled.
“So we all get presents on Jesus’ birthday. Isn’t that sort of weird. Most people get presents on their birthday, not someone else’s birthday,” The Red Guy that laughed a lot said in a whisper.
“I heard you, Red and the reason for that is …. Well, I actually don’t know the answer to that, but I do know that Jesus gave us his Saving Grace and all we have to do to get that gift is to say ‘thank you, Jesus, I accept your gift,”’ said Mr. Octopus.
“Yes, and that’s all well and good, and I do believe in Jesus. What I’m not so sure of is, are the kids coming, and if they are, will they still remember us, and will they take us with them,” all the bears sang out in harmony.
Orange Fish blubbered out, “Why do you think they’ll take us? They didn’t even name us!”
“Oh, stop crying Fish. The kids were really young when they got us, and then they went away for a long, long time. It will be okay this time around. Santa said so,” declared the Raggedy Boy.
The Stuffies and Friends had spent a long time in a large black bag out in the shed. When it got cold, they all huddled together to keep warm, and the second time the cold came, in came a family of mice.”
”Eeek, Eeek, Eeek,” yelled the biggest girl Mouse, Stuffie, as she pushed away from the brown creatures.
“ What are you yelling about? Are you scared of our relatives, “ asked the Boy Mouse?
“ Those, those creatures are our relatives? Are you sure? They’re so brown and fuzzy, not like us at all,” huffed the big girl Stuffie Mouse.
“Of course they are, just look at their faces. Same pointy nose, waggly tail, whiskers. Yes, they are our family. But it really doesn’t matter if they are related though. They need help. Look… The babies are shivering,” the boy Mouse said.
“Welcome!” All the Stuffies yelled, together, ashamed of not being friendly when the small family arrived at their bag. Their shout scared the family of mice and the small brown mice started to scatter.
“Hush,” said the Raggedy Boy to the Stuffies. “Please come back. Do not be afraid of us. We’ve been stuck in this corner of the shed and have not seen anyone except a Squirrel that needed some stuffing for her nest last time it was cold. I let her take some of my sleeve. You look as if you could use a bit of my sleeve too.”
Boy got the name Raggedy, after the time with Mrs. Squirrel. He was a bit of a hero to the rest of the crowd of Stuffies and Friends because he had been brave to let Mrs. Squirrel have a piece of his arm. Even the Vampire thought the Boy was brave.
Now, everyone considered themselves brave since they rode the rapids down a large white canyon that twisted round and round. After that, they were blown up, down and around through a dry, warm valley. Everyone was dizzy but nice and clean when done, needing to rest.
But, today they had a family in need, to tend. If they all worked together, they would accomplish all that had to be done before the children arrived.
The Raggedy Boy’s sister helped Mrs. Mouse wrap her babies in the blue shirt’s cloth and some of the cream cloth from the Ragged Boy’s arm. They had just finished getting the babies settled in when they heard a car stop and children laughing.
“I hear the kids coming. Now shush. All will be okay. Santa said so,” the Raggedy Boy declared.
And so it was, as each child greeted their old friends, having some ride home in the car, so they might catch up on all the news from The Stuffies and Friends. And to share with the Stuffies and Friends what they had been doing for the time they had been apart.