Santa Had No Idea The Pets Were Sad

Santa was not happy today. He had sent a message to three of his elves that he was going to need a lot of help getting toys ready for the good little boys and girls for next Christmas. He had sent each one of them a message, but got no response. Well not from the elves, but he did get a message from Grayson, the elf that was in charge of the children's playroom on a cruise line. What in the world? I don't believe that they decided to go on vacation without my permission? Those elves sure can be a handful sometimes. I guess I will take my sergeant elf at arms with me to gather those little mischief makers up and get them back to the workshop before they do any more damage. For the first time in a long long time, Santa had a very unhappy face

Santa remembered his younger years. Oh how he loved this ship. He had brought his little dog with him. In fact he had brought him along this trip too. He noticed that his little dog loved the ship so much that he had had special rooms built in just for folks' pets.  His little dog just loved the ride in the elevator. Santa had gotten in through the chimney, of course. Then took the elevator to the floor where the  children's day care room was."I may have brought a little cold air with me. Hope the folks don't mind. I need to see what those little whippersnappers are doing. Grayson sounded really upset.

 He had quickly sent a message back to Grayson. He said that he would be coming down the chimney in the lounge of the cruise line secretly. He was not going to let anyone know. After all, he was the owner of this ship, he could come and go anytime he wanted to.
The first thing that Santa did was to drop off his little furry friend in the pet suite. There were cats and dogs either napping or getting ready for breakfast. He patted his little friend and went on down to the childcare room. On his way he started thinking about the pets. They seemed awfully quiet. Most were napping. "Hmm, I wonder what's going on in there? Oh well, I'm sure everything is alright. I'm probably just imagining things."

Mouse and Charlie were two very unhappy cats. "Look where I have to sleep, Charlie. This is the most despicable quarters I have ever had to endure. My lady paid a fortune for a deluxe suite for me to sleep and eat in. Look at this. I never have been so upset." Mouse said, "Well, la de dah! Aren't you just the spoiled thing? Look at me. No one is here to feed me. My lady paid to have my special food flown in by helicopter. I am used to my special crystal dishes. Here? Nothing to eat. Nothing. Not even an old can of tuna fish. And no one is here when I wake up to pet and pamper me. I get no exercise whatsoever. Look at how I have to lay down; on my back. Oh, my muscles are going to just shrivel up, I tell you. What a horrible cruise."

Chataa said that the dogs were completely satisfied with their accommodations. Chataa loved her warm goat milk and her special eggs and delicious special bacon and biscuits.  "You cats just complain way too much. Look at all of us. We are completely happy here. "Not me, said Lucky. I want to go home. I love it out there in the country. All kinds of room to run and chase squirrels. I wonder where my humans got this lame brain idea? I feel kind of sick. I may have to puke, but there is no one here to help me and tell me everything is going to be alright." Lucky let out a soft sad howl and hid behind a curtain. He was so sad.

Josie said, "My humans go on cruises all the time. I usually have all kinds of toys and attention. Here I only have my stuffed duck. My favorite toys are gone. Where is my lady human? She and her kids love me. I just don't understand why I am here with all of you groaners. I want to play. I know! Why don't we play and just forget about where we are and make the best of it?" Well that was not the popular opinion of the other dogs and cats so Josie curled up and went to sleep; a sad little puppy.

There were two small cats that joined in the fray; Sadie and Sybil. "Our lady is froze to death. There is no heat in here. We were told this was a five star cruise line. It was supposed to be the best on the water. Our lady has to cover up with blankets and then we still have to cuddle up to keep her warm. Poor lady. This is sure no vacation for us."

All of a sudden all of the animals stopped talking. They could hear a terrible commotion coming from the childcare room where Santa was just about to open the door!