Merry Christmas Eve!

The Night Before Christmas

‘Twas the night before Christmas at House With a Heart,

The pups had created their Christmas nose art,

The house was quite twinkly with bright lights aglow,

To make sure that Santa knew the right way to go.

Mama Sher slept and nestled among all the dogs,

They were dreaming of cookies and crackling Yule logs,

When suddenly Daphne awoke with a bark,

“Intruder alert! On the roof! Mama, hark!”

Little Daphne was right, for the next things Sher heard,

Were sleigh bells and footsteps and even some words.

“Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas!” she heard someone shout,

“If you would be so kind as to please come on out.”

It was Santa! And with him eight droopy reindeer,

Santa said, “We are running quite late now, I fear.”

Sher said, “I observe that your reindeer are napping.

How can we help you? And Happy, stop yapping!”

 

“I’ve got a wee problem; see, my reindeer aren’t hardy,

They had way too much fun at the elf Christmas party.

They could use a quick break and a graze to be fit,

Can your little dogs help pull the sleigh for a bit?”

“Please say we can, Mom!” The pups made their request,

Except for Miss GinGin who just growled from her nest.

 

“All righty,” said Mom Sher, “Be good girls and boys,

No piddling on floors and no chewing on toys.”

Santa shouted, “Hurrah! Let’s make haste to the sleigh,

We’ll get you all in it, then up and away!

No time for flight training, we’ve got to be quick,

These magical dog treats should soon do the trick.”

“Come Marzi, come Petey, come Tobi and Tammy,

 

Now Peanut, now Sugar, now Sally and Sammy!

We need someone special to be first one up,

How ‘bout you, Monroe, the miracle pup?”

“We may need some extra; you are all itty bitty,

Come Spirit, come Joie, come Gianni the kitty,

On Logan, on Jennie, on Maggie and Max,

All others can hop in the sleigh and relax.”

Said Santa, “I promise, we won’t be too late.”

“No worries,” said Sher, “Just please close the gate!”

Across the night sky sped the re-energized sleigh,

With goodies galore for the new Christmas day.

As dawn broke, Santa landed the sleigh with great flair,

The HWAH gang proved lighter than air.

With relief in her voice, Sher said, “Thank goodness you’re back!

The reindeer were starting to eat Vickie’s snacks.”

“Ho, ho, ho,” Santa chuckled, “Those reindeer are naughty,

I’ll lure them back north with some homemade biscotti.

Now lest I forget, I have gifts for you all—

Squeaky toys, catnip, and cool tennis balls.”

“And just one more thing, before we depart,

We’ll always be thankful for House With a Heart.”

 Susan Long