Are you ready to meditate with Kari?
To lay down and be still and super,
Super quiet?
To listen to this special story?
Try not to whittle all over or bounce on your bed?
Just be still,
Still as a statue.
On a very special day,
On a very cold,
Wintery day,
Eleanor and her little sister Margaret were going to see Santa.
It was the bestest,
Most favourite time of the year.
There was snow outside.
Everything looked white and wintery and fresh and clean.
The streets were covered in snow,
The trees were covered in snow and it was getting so it felt really,
Really Christmasy.
Eleanor super excited.
It was her most favourite,
Favourite holiday.
Christmas.
Who doesn't love Christmas?
With Santa and the reindeers and the elves and the helpers and all of that wonderful stuff.
It was just going to be a really good day.
The girls were going to go see Santa at the mall.
Of course they knew it wasn't the real Santa.
But still it was going to be a lot of fun.
The real Santa was obviously far too busy to be at the mall all over the country,
Sitting with kids.
He had toys to make,
He had things to do,
He had lists to check.
When they got to the mall there was a long line.
But it didn't matter.
They were ready to wait,
To take their turn,
To go and tell Santa exactly what they wanted for the holidays.
They had both been good,
Obviously,
Because both Eleanor and Margaret were very sweet little girls.
So they knew that something nice was going to happen,
Something good was going to happen for Christmas.
When they got to the front of the line Eleanor noticed that Santa didn't quite look the same.
Yes,
He had a white beard and he had his red outfit on and his hat and his big old belt and his black boots.
But this Santa had whiskers.
Yes,
Whiskers popping over the front of his beard.
And now because they were at the front of the line they could actually hear Santa.
Eleanor looked at her little sister Margaret and said,
Do you hear what I hear?
Margaret looked up at her sister and went,
Yeah.
OMG,
OMG,
Come on,
Come and sit with me,
Come and sit on Santa's knee and tell me all about what you want for the holidays.
Eleanor said to Margaret,
That sounds like Cherry.
You know,
Heidi,
Cherry and Vea from Corrie's Heidi,
Cherry and Vea stories.
What is she doing at our mall pretending to be Santa?
And then Margaret pointed to what looked like one of Santa's helpers but really it was Vea dressed as an elf with a tiara,
A princess elf.
Me would like to help said Vea.
Me would like to let you know that if you've been good then you will get everything that you want for Christmas and if you've been bad,
Well,
That's okay too because sometimes everyone's a little bit naughty.
Heidi was stood on the opposite side of Santa saying,
Ho,
Ho,
Ho to all the children that walked up to sit with Santa.
Ho,
Ho,
Ho,
Merry Christmas.
Heidi,
Cherry and Vea,
Heidi,
Cherry and Vea were Santa and Santa's helpers.
How awesome was this?
Thought Margaret and Eleanor.
What on earth are they doing at our wonderland in our mall?
It got to the time where Heidi motioned with one of her paws for Margaret and Eleanor to come forward.
It was their turn.
When they got there,
They stood in front of the three cats.
Welcome said Heidi.
Vea said,
Me would like to say Merry Christmas.
Cherry said,
Ho,
Ho,
Ho,
OMG,
Ho,
Ho,
Ho.
And then she started to talk more like Cherry.
Alright girls,
So as you know,
It's Christmas and I bet,
I bet,
I bet that you girls are being really,
Really,
Really good,
Aren't you?
Both Eleanor and Margaret stood there in a little bit of a daze with their mouths open,
Just nodding their head at Cherry.
Yeah,
Said Cherry,
I thought so.
I thought you'd probably been really,
Really,
Really good because you look so sweet.
Now,
Tell Santa,
Well,
Cherry.
Both the girls started laughing.
Yes,
We know it's you,
Said Eleanor.
I recognize your voice.
What are you doing dressed as Santa?
Cherry said,
Shh,
Not everyone knows.
Santa called us and said he was really,
Really busy and that because we're really good friends with Santa,
He asked us if one of us could be Santa and the others could be the helpers and could we go and like go to some of the malls and be Santa to help the children because it's a very,
Very special time of year and we really like kids.
We really,
Really like them,
Don't we?
She looked at Heidi and Vea and both of the other cats nodded.
We like kids a lot and we thought it'd be really nice for us to do something nice for Santa and then,
You know,
You know what'll happen?
Because we've been nice,
We'll probably get really awesome gifts too at Christmas because we've been nice and I really want,
You know what I,
Oh no,
Wait a minute,
I'm supposed to be asking you what you want.
Oh,
Ho,
Ho,
What's your names?
Eleanor and Margaret laughed and giggled at Cherry trying to pretend that she was Santa.
Eleanor said,
My name's Eleanor and Margaret said,
My name's Margaret.
Then Cherry said to the girls,
Okie dokie,
Well,
Alright,
Well,
Since you know it's me,
Don't tell anyone but tell me what you want for Christmas.
What do you want?
What is it that you'd like this year?
Now,
You know,
Sometimes Santa doesn't bring you everything that you want because sometimes he doesn't have enough time to make everything.
You know,
That's a lot of toys and a lot of clothes and a lot of,
You know,
IPhones and things.
So he has to make all that stuff.
Well,
As you know,
His Elfs,
His helpers make all that stuff and it's really,
Really busy at the North Pole.
It's really busy at this time of year and it's so cold and no,
Yeah,
You know,
Well,
Anyway,
Tell me,
Tell me what you want.
Do you know what you want?
The girls didn't really know what they wanted.
They just really wanted to come and see Santa because it made them feel like Christmas was really,
Really close.
And this year the Santa went to Wonderland at the mall and it was super nice.
It had got a giant sleigh that had lots of pillows and blankets and pretend reindeers at the front.
There was Christmas trees and giant parcels all wrapped up in bright,
Shiny paper.
The Christmas music was playing.
There was even part of the display that had fake snow falling down over a Christmas tree.
There was twinkle,
Twinkle lights.
It was really,
Really pretty and it felt really Christmasy.
It was making the girls feel super,
Super festive.
They couldn't wait for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and all the yummy food and the celebrations and being with the family.
It was just really nice to be there visiting Santa.
And now that they knew it was Cherry,
It was even more special.
Cherry said,
I have a really good idea.
You know what we could do?
You know,
If you guys want to wait,
If it's all right with your parents,
If you want to wait until everyone's gone,
It won't take very long now because we're almost closing.
And since you know,
Since you know that it's me and it's Heidi and it's fair,
Shh,
Don't tell anyone,
Then you could probably stay.
And what we'll do,
Well,
When everybody's gone and the lights have gone down in the mall,
We can pretend,
We can pretend that we're actually in the real wonderland at the North Pole.
And what we'll do is we'll get in that sleigh over there and,
And we'll get Heidi to read us a story.
Do you want to do that?
Do you think that'd be fun?
The girls both nodded.
Yeah.
They said,
Okay,
Said Cherry,
Go and ask your parents,
Make sure it's all right.
And we'll see you in just a little minute.
The girls waited until all of the line went and the mall started to shut down.
Luckily,
Heidi,
Cherry and Vea knew everyone and they were friends with people that worked at the mall and they were okay with them staying behind to listen to a story.
When it was time,
The girls climbed up into the big Christmas sled.
The big red velvety pillars were super soft and comfy and they wrapped themselves in a white fluffy blanket that looked just like snow.
Heidi said,
Is everybody ready?
She started to read a story.
The girls and Cherry and Vea were all snuggled up together.
Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house.
Vea said,
Oh,
Me likes this one.
This is,
This is one of my favorite stories.
Oh,
I'm so glad you're reading this one,
Heidi.
Heidi started to read the night before Christmas.
It was one of the cat's favorite books and Eleanor and Margaret also liked it.
They all snuggled up together as Heidi used her best reading voice.
It was soft and gentle and slow and it started to lull everyone into a very nice relaxed state.
She read page after page.
The girls started to get quite sleepy.
Vea had already fallen asleep.
Cherry was still there with her eyes open listening.
Margaret was sleepy.
Her eyes were batting open and closed,
Open and closed,
Just a little bit more closed,
A little bit more closed until eventually Margaret couldn't keep her eyes open and she fell asleep.
That was just Eleanor and Cherry that were awake,
Still listening to the story.
They were warm and snuggly and very,
Very comfortable and Eleanor was very happy that she was snuggling with the cats.
How cool is that?
She thought.
This is the bestest holiday ever.
Eventually,
Heidi and her super reading voice got to them.
They both closed their eyes,
Relaxed their shoulders.
Their arms got super,
Super sleepy and tired.
The legs,
The toes,
Everything was so warm and cozy and snuggly.
Christmas music was playing in the background.
Jingling bells and the sounds of Christmas.
It was just perfect.
Everything was so perfect that eventually everyone was asleep.
They had the bestest,
Bestest dreams.
Christmas music playing in the background.
Christmas music playing in the background.
Christmas music playing in the background.
Christmas music playing in the background.
Christmas music playing in the background.
Christmas music playing in the background.
Christmas music playing in the background.
Christmas music playing in the background.
Christmas music playing in the background.
Christmas music playing in the background.
Christmas music playing in the background.
Christmas music playing in the background.
Christmas music playing in the background.
Christmas music playing in the background.
Christmas music playing in the background.
Christmas music playing in the background.
Christmas music playing in the background.
Christmas music playing in the background.
Christmas music playing in the background.
Christmas music playing in the background.
Christmas music playing in the background.
Christmas music playing in the background.
Christmas music playing in the background.
Christmas music playing in the background.
Christmas music playing in the background.
Christmas music playing in the background.
Christmas music playing in the background.
