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Chapter 11: Christmas Morning

Noah's POV

I woke up on Christmas morning feeling as if I had slept outside in the snow. My nose felt numb and my eyes were blurry. Sitting up, I saw why: My window was open, allowing the winter air into my bedroom. I quickly stepped into my slippers and ran over to shut the window. I paused, hearing a small sound from outside. I saw my neighbors walking out of their houses in a daze. Frowning, I put my shoes and winter jacket on. It didn't take long to realize why they had looked so dazed.

Everything was gone.

I followed everyone to the town square, where everyone looked at each other sadly and in confusion. Some Whos were crying as they looked around. Even the sky was gloomy and grey.

What happened?

A loud siren suddenly pierced the quietness and was followed by a very loud crash. We could hear the town policeman's car driving up the town square, but there was also a startled yell.

It didn't take long to see why.

The police car was pulling the Mayor's bed, with the Mayor still in it.

I honestly thought it was a bit hilarious. However, my humor died down when the policeman finally parked his car and gaped at the Mayor.

Multiple of us slowly approached the Mayor to see if he was okay. He caught a glimpse of Martha May and grabbed his bedsheets, covering himself.

"Well," he said loudly as he got up. "I wonder who could have done this."

He got up and his assistant helped him put on his robe.

"I tell you people one thing: Invite the Grinch, destroy Christmas," he said. Then, he turned and furiously began pounding his fists on his bed. "Invite the Grinch, destroy Christmas!"

"But did anyone listen to me?" the Mayor asked, this time in a scarily calm voice.

"I did," his assistant piped up.

"No," the Mayor said, ignoring him.

He began to laugh. "You chose to listen to a little, not-to-be-taken-seriously, girl. Who hasn't even grown into her nose yet."

The Mayor glared at Cindy Lou, who was standing just in front of me, before continuing. "Cindy, I hope you're very proud of what you've done."

Cindy Lou bit her lip sadly, trying her best to stand her ground. I scowled and slowly stepped to stand next to her.

He suddenly turned his gaze to me. "And you. Don't think I didn't notice you frolicking with that minion of his. I hope you're proud of yourself as well. You're just as big of a disappointment."

Before I could say a word, Cindy's father stepped up and stood in front of us.

"If they aren't, I am!" he said boldly. "I'm glad they took our presents."

"What?" the Mayor asked.

"I…" Lou hesitated. "Well, I-I'm glad."

"He's glad. You're glad. You're glad that everything is gone," the Mayor scoffed in disbelief as he walked up to Lou. "You're glad that the Grinch and that wretched girl wrecked Christmas. Is that what I'm hearing from you, Lou?"

Lou stood his ground. "You can't hurt Christmas, Mr. Mayor. Because it isn't about the gifts, or the contests, or the fancy lights."

He raised his voice. "That's what Cindy's been trying to tell everyone."

Cindy smiled up at her father.

"And me," Lou admitted. "She's been trying to tell me."

He glanced at me before continuing. "And Noah here is a fine young Who. And he's made mistakes and has been trying to mend them. He's got a great heart that knows how to find the good in people like he has with Lucy."

The other Whos smiled at the three of us.

"Thanks, Lou," I said.

The Mayor groaned. "What is wrong with you? They're children!"

Lou walked up to the Mayor. "Cindy is my child. And she happens to be right by the way."

He shakily poked the Mayor in the chest to prove his point.

"Now, I don't need anything more for Christmas, than this right here," Lou said, opening his arms to his family. "Merry Christmas everybody!"

Everyone began to hug and exchange "Merry Christmas" to their loved ones.

Almost everyone. I stood there and I looked at Martha May, who also stood alone.

There was a slight commotion as Cindy's mother suddenly said, "Merry Christmas, you hunk of burning Who!" before dipping her husband down as she kissed him. Cindy's brothers began to gag and stepped away from their parents.

I turned to the Mayor.

"And if I may, Mr. Mayor," I said. "Lucy is Martha May's sister. She's a part of her that you can't get rid of, no matter what. If you really love Martha, you'd accept her because she's the only family that Martha has left!"

The Mayor glared at me before muttering, "Oh, give me a break."

He turned away from the crowd.

I caught Martha May's eye and she gave me a brief nod, which I returned. Then, I noticed Cindy breaking away from the crowd. I followed her as she walked up to a garbage disposal hatch.

I ran and caught up with her as she began to lift the lid.

"I'm coming with you," I said.

She looked up at me, startled. "Huh?"

"You're going up there, right? To Mount Crumpet, to see Lucy and the Grinch," I said.

She nodded shyly.

"I'm going with you," I said. "We can't leave our friends alone on Christmas."

She smiled up at me and I picked her up and placed her in the chute. I climbed up and inside with her.

"Now just push the button," she said.

I looked down and saw a large button that read, "Dumpit to Crumpit" on it and slammed my hand on it.

A strong force pulled us into the tube and we slid down and up the tunnels to the top of Mount Crumpit.

We laughed and cheered until we finally landed and rolled down a heap of frozen discarded items and garbage.

"That was fun, but the landing could be a lot better," I groaned as I rolled off a bag full of glass bottles.

Cindy didn't reply and looked up, gazing at the building red sleigh that rested on the largely crooked mountaintop.

"Mr. Grinch?" she called.

There was no reply, just the soft howl of the snowy wind.

"Lucy?" I called up.

There was no response.

Lucy's POV

We sat at the edge of Mt. Crumpet, watching the sunrise.

"What do you think they're doing right now?" I asked.

"They'll be waking up now," Grinch replied.

He had just finished dancing around, singing "We did it, we did it!" and eventually sat down in exhaustion from the all-night activity that we had just done. Max was laying on his side, and I was lazily forming a snowball with my hands.

"What do you think they'll do?" I asked.

"All those Whos down in Whoville will all cry," Grinch said.

I peered down at the little town. I could see it, and almost hear it. I could see all the Whos coming out of their houses. All of them, even the children. I wondered which one was Cindy Lou, and which one was Martha May. And what they would think when they realize what we had done.

Would they know on the spot?

Would they forgive us?

What about Noah?

Would he forgive me?

Questions kept racing through my brain, almost making me dizzy. I inhaled sharply, breathing in the cold snowy air. Before, I didn't care what any of the Whos thought about me. I was angry that no one was brave enough to climb to the top of the mountain to find me. None of them cared enough to challenge the "monster", the Grinch, for my life.

So why do I suddenly care?

Noah was the reason why I was up here in the first place! He didn't even tell the truth and had bullied me horribly before the incident.

Cindy Lou was just a naive little girl. What did she know about us? Getting our stories for us doesn't make up for everything that has happened to Grinch and me. She's just a kid. A brave one, sure. But she got lucky.

And Martha May? Even worse. My sister didn't stand up for either of us, and she had the chance several times. When Grinch was getting bullied in their school days, and when I was getting bullied in mine. When the Whos spread rumors about the Grinch, calling him a monster and saying I was a ghost because they just believed that Grinch would finish off a little girl. And when we finally went down to Whoville for that stupid ceremony, only for the stupid Mayor to humiliate us.

So why am I the one who's always feeling numb?

They should be the ones numb with guilt, not me!

Their hearts are just as frozen as mine!

I closed my eyes, lifted my face, and allowed the snow to land on my face. It began to numb me on the outside, matching the way I felt on the inside.

Grinch was still jumping up and down in celebration. Max whined a little and looked up at us from where he was laying. The Grinch paused, and I opened my eyes to see what he was up to.

"Now, for the final note in my symphony of downright nasty not niceness," Grinch said.

He stepped closer to the sleight and opened his arms dramatically as he continued, "The crescendo of my odious opus!"

I stared at him as he cheered "Yes!" once more as he dived at the sleigh. I sidestepped out of his way as he grabbed onto it and began pushing.

The sleigh creaked but didn't budge. Grinch gave me a glare.

"Don't just stand there, help me push this!" he said, his voice strained.

Max gave a bark and I rolled my eyes. I leaned my body weight on the sleigh and began to push it with him. It slowly started to slide.

"Oh, the wailing and gnashing of teeth," he said as we pushed. "The bellowing of the bitterly bummed out! It'll be like music to my ears!"

Then, I heard a sound.

I stopped pushing and I listened. Grinch must have heard it too because he stopped straining to push the sleigh and he paused.

It was soft, almost like the winter breeze, and it steadily began to rise.

"Huh?" Grinch said, his face twisted in confusion.

"Huh?" I repeated, just as puzzled.

I realized it was coming from Whoville. It was voiced. But they didn't sound sad. It actually sounded merry. I stepped away from the sleigh and peered down the mountain.

"The Whos," I said out loud. "They're singing!"

Grinch frowned and yanked his Santa hat off of his head. He quickly jumped down the boulders and landed in front of our hideout door. Max and I followed.

"We haven't stopped Christmas from coming," I said. "Somehow or other, it came just the same."

Grinch gritted his teeth and Max nervously whined and backed away from my glowering brother.

I watched as he stood there, puzzling. "How could it be so? It came without ribbons! It came without tags!"

He looked at me. "It came without packages, boxes, or bags!"

I felt the exhaustion of last night wash over me and I plopped down on the snow. All that work had been for nothing.

Then, I heard the Grinch mutter something that I never thought that he would say.

"Maybe," he said. "Maybe Christmas doesn't come from a store."

I looked at him.

"Maybe Christmas," he said again. "Is a little bit more."

He looked at me and I stared right back at him.

Then he suddenly toppled over with a pained scream. He landed hard and cried, "Ow!"

"Grinch!" I said scrambling up. Max began to bark.

He was sobbing, something I had only seen maybe once or twice, and reached up towards me.

Grinch gasped and strained as he pulled himself to his feet. His legs trembled and wobbled, and they gave out.

"Lucy!" he yelled. "Help me! Max, help!"

He reached towards us and I ran over. Max approached, whining.

"What's wrong?" I asked. I was starting to panic and tears started flowing out of my eyes.

"I'm...feeling!"

"Huh?"

I stopped crying in confusion.

Max barked, sounding a bit unamused.

Grinch finally laid back and wheezed. I leaned over and heard a soft sound. We made eye contact and then we both slowly looked down at his heart.

There was a freakishly big pulse on his chest.

I could see his heart beating.

His heart had grown immensely.

I gaped as Grinch put his hand over his heart. He sat up with a gasp before he began to sob.

He wailed and he cried and he sobbed.

I felt tears slip from my eyes and I began to cry hard with him.

"What happening to us?" he asked.

"I think...Our emotions are coming out," I said. "We've been bottling everything up for so long."

A sudden warm light washed over us and we both stopped sobbing as we looked out at the horizon. The sun was breaking through the clouds and the light was hitting us.

"I'm all….toasty...inside," Grinch said.

I nodded. "I'm not numb anymore either."

Grinch raised his hand to his face and wiped his cheek. "And I'm...leaking."

"It's called crying, doofus," I said. "They're tears."

He dropped his hands and turned towards Max and me.

"Oh, Max," he said. "Lucy…"

We both stared at him.

Then he said, "I love you!"

I looked at him, dumbfounded. He had never said that to me before.

Ever.

He suddenly opened his arms and hugged me tightly. We lost our balance and landed on the snow. Max barked happily and bounded over to us and licked my brother's face.

He laughed. "All right, that's enough."

Max kept going, wagging his tail.

"Okay, knock it off!" he snapped. "Beat it! Now get out of here!"

He suddenly let go of me and pushed me off. "One step at a time," he grumbled.

I rolled my eyes. "You're the one who got all mushy in the first place."

He looked at me.

"What did you mean when you said you weren't numb anymore?" Grinch asked.

"That's all I felt," I said. "Just numb. Not really happy, but not sad. Just...nothing. Numb. Sometimes I'd feel stuff but it wouldn't last."

"Is that my fault?" Grinch asked.

I shook my head. "Not at all. If anything, you're the reason that I was able to feel anything in doses."

He grinned for a second before turning away and settling his face to its usual frown.

We suddenly heard a low creak as the wind blew and we looked up.

The sleigh was slowly rocking and being pushed by the wind off the top of the mountain.

"Oh, no," I said. "The sleigh!."

"The presents," Grinch said. "They'll be destroyed!"

"And we care!" I yelled.

"What is the deal?" Grinch yelled, looking up at the sky.

"Who are you yelling at?" I yelled.

"I don't know, you were yelling first!" he snapped.

Max barked and another creak stopped us from bickering any further.

Grinch got up and we both began to run up the mountain, Max following and whimpering behind us.

"This cannot happen!" Grinch yelled. "It shouldn't! It wouldn't!"

"Not now, not then, not ever again," I agreed.

We finally pulled ourselves up to the mountaintop, just as the sleigh began to slide off.

"Nooo!" Grinch yelled, and we both move forward.

We grabbed on tightly to the sleigh and tried to hold on, but it just pulled us both along. Grinch shoveled snow desperately underneath it and I even tried to ice it down but it kept on going. We eventually stopped straining.

"Oh well," Grinch said. "It's just toys, right?"

That's when a small voice piped up from the sleigh. "Hi, Mr. Grinch!"

We both looked up to see Cindy and Noah at the very top of the sleigh.

I gasped.

"Cindy Lou," Grinch called. "Lucy's boy toy. What are you two doing up there?"

"We came to see you," Cindy said. She and Noah peered down at us.

"I'll go grab them," I said. I got up and steadied myself before shooting ice straight into the ground. The force pushed me up into the air and I landed at the edge of the sleigh. Noah reached out. He caught my arm and pulled me onto the sleigh.

"Why?" I asked.

"No one should be alone on Christmas," he replied with a smile.

I felt myself blush and I saw Grinch looked touched.

"Okay, we can do this lovey stuff later," I said. "We need to get you guys off of this thing."

A loud rattling noise shook the sleigh. It was falling off the edge of Mount Crumpet with the three of us still on it.

Cindy whimpered and Noah gripped onto the Sleigh.

"Okay, time to go," I said.

I grabbed Cindy and tossed her down to Grinch. He caught her and she climbed off of him and onto the snow.

"You go first," Noah said.

"Don't tell me what to do," I replied, and I yanked him down. He stumbled and landed on the snow, right above the Grinch. Noah reached over to Cindy and made sure she stayed off the edge of the mountaintop.

I got ready to jump but was shaken by another large rattle and my ankle got caught on the cluster of Christmas lights that we used to tie everything down on the sleigh. The sleight shook harder and I yelped quietly, but Grinch still heard me.

"What's going on? Get down from there, stupid!" he yelled.

"I'm stuck," I said.

The sleigh rattled even harder again, and I let out a squeak.

I suddenly heard him growl and then I heard him strain.

The sleigh started to slide again, but this time it jostled back up and into the air.

"Whoa! What's going on?" I cried.

I heard Noah gasp loudly.

Peering down, I saw the Grinch holding the sleigh up and above his head.

"I've got you, Lucy!" he yelled.

"You did it!" Cindy cheered, jumping excitedly.

Noah let out a loud "Whoop!" and Max stood and jumped on his hind legs.

Grinch slowly and carefully rotated himself around and carefully walked to the sturdy part of the mountaintop.

I laughed. "I can't believe you did that!"

He laughed proudly and let out a "Whoo!" into the winter air. It rang loud and echoed off the mountain.

"You did it!" I yelled. "You saved Christmas!"