© 2005 Maggie the Kitten

Maggie sat on her bed and stared out the window. She searched for the biggest star she could find because the older girls told her that was the Christmas Star. If there was any chance at all of her Christmas wish coming true, she had to find the Christmas Star on Christmas Eve and then wish with all her heart.

Her wish wasn't for a new dolly or a pretty Christmas dress or even a pony. It wasn't for something you'd buy in a store or would normally find in the bottom of Santa's big red bag. Actually, it was really a simple wish and one that most kids wouldn't need to wish for, yet it was the very same wish that every other girl in her dormitory was wishing for that night. She wished for someone to want her enough and love her enough to take her home and let her be part of a family.

Maggie, like all the other kids, in all the other dormitories in the big house was a child without parents, or a family, or a true home. Some kids ended up there when their parents had died and there was no other family willing to take them in. Some kids had parents, but they weren't very nice ones and they had done really bad things to their kids, like hurting them really bad when they punished them, and not giving them food to eat, and sometimes touching them in very bad places. Then there were kids whose parent's just didn't want them anymore and left them someplace and never come back. Lots of times those kids had something wrong with them and that's why their parents didn't want them any more. Usually those kids were too sick all the time or missing pieces, or maybe not pretty enough.

The kids at the orphanage called those kids, "Scratch 'n' Dent" kids because they were kind of like damaged goods. Maggie was a "Scratch 'n' Dent kid.

If you looked at Maggie, you'd never really know that she was a Scratch 'n' Dent kid. She wasn't as pretty as some of the other girls who looked just like real live baby dolls, but all the ladies who watched over her said she was cute, and cute was really good for a little girl. She had auburn hair that was really thick and grew in wild curls a brush could barely tame. She had big green eyes that were usually wide with excitement. She had a smile almost bigger than her face and tiny freckles sprinkled on her nose and cheeks like colored sugar on a cookie.

She could also run and play as well as any little five-year-old girl there could. Now she wasn't the smartest kid her age, but she could count all ten of her fingers and a few of her toes on a good day. She loved to color. and would spend hours making pretty pictures with her crayons. She wasn't always so good at staying within the lines, but she said the pictures in her head didn't fit inside lines very good, so she didn't worry about dumb old lines.

The only thing Maggie loved doing more than coloring was talking, and oh, could she talk! Now she couldn't always say the right words or the words the right way, and there were lots of times she didn't understand the words very good, but NO kid in all the dormitory could talk more or longer than Maggie.

And the only thing Maggie loved more than talking was pouncing on people and hugging them. She loved to sit in laps and snuggle until she fell asleep. She became so famous for her pouncing into laps that everyone started calling her Kitten. It was the "purrrfect" name for the playful and pouncing child.

So … if Maggie was almost pretty, and not too sick, why was this little kitten girl a Scratch 'n' Dent kid? Was she missing pieces? No … but sadly, she had too many pieces, and in Maggie's case that was just as bad. Maggie had been born with two different private parts: one for a boy and one for a girl. Maggie's parent's must not have wanted a kid with extra parts, or maybe they couldn't tell if she was supposed to be a girl or a boy, and didn't want to wait around to find out, because just a few days after she had been born they left her on the steps of the orphanage.

The ladies at the orphanage didn't know if Maggie was a girl or boy either, but they kept her anyway and waited to see if Maggie knew which one she was. Well, that didn't take very long at all, because even before Maggie could really talk, she told them she was a girl. She wiggled out of every bit of boy's clothes they put on her and cried for any girl's clothes she saw. She crawled to any dolly she could reach, and slept curled up with her stuffed babies. She was definitely a girl, all right, and when she turned three she was "officially" named Maggie, but they didn't get rid of that boy part she had. That would take surgery and surgery takes lots of dollars,+ and dollars is one thing the orphanage never had enough of, so Maggie was stuck with her extra part and therefore became a Scratch 'n' Dent kid.

Being a Scratch 'n' Dent kid is not a very good thing when parents come to the orphanage looking for a kid to love and take home with them. They are usually the last ones to get picked; because most people don't really want a kid who is broke very much. Sometimes nobody wants Scratch 'n' Dent kids at all, and they stay there until they are all grown up and then they have to go away and be all alone. Maggie had heard stories about that from the bigger kids and she was so afraid she would end up all alone.

A few weeks ago, she thought she wasn't going to have to wait until Christmas for her wish to come true. There was a lady, a pretty lady with real long hair like a fairy tale princess and big beautiful eyes that sparkled when she smiled and a soft sweet voice that sounded like what Angel's must sound like Maggie thought.

She had walked through the play area looking at kids and talking to them and everyone was trying so hard to be extra good just like they always do when they are trying to get picked. Maggie had almost missed her chance as she was sitting on the floor with her stuffed baby and lost in her coloring. Suddenly she saw two feet in pretty shoes standing in front of her and when she looked up she saw a pretty lady smiling at her. The sun was shining in the window and to Maggie it almost gave her a halo and when the lady talked with her sweet soft voice Maggie was sure she was an Angel.

The pretty lady in her pretty dress sat right down on the floor with Maggie and asked her what she was coloring. Maggie started telling her about the picture and then just kept on talking about anything and everything the little girl could find words for. The lady smiled a lot and even laughed a few times while Maggie talked, and after a bit she picked up Maggie and sat her in her lap and gave her lots of hugs and cuddles and started brushing Maggie's hair. Even Maggie's curls liked this lady, as they behaved better for her than they ever had for anyone else. By the time she had gotten done brushing them, they were pretty and tangle free and Maggie was nearly asleep. When the lady finally left, she gave Maggie a big kiss and smiled bigger than ever. Big kisses and smiles are a really good sign. It means that they are thinking really hard about picking you.

Maggie watched the pretty lady walk over to one of the ladies who worked at the orphanage. She could see the ladies talking and she was sure they were talking about her, because a couple of times both ladies looked right at her. When they finally left, Maggie got up and ran to her room and started packing things in her little backpack. She just knew this lady would come back and get her and when the other girls came in she told them so. Most of the kids, especially the older ones listened to her, but then frowned and shook their heads. They said the lady would find out Maggie was a Scratch 'n' Dent kid, and she probably wouldn't come back.

Maggie got mad and told them they was all wrong ,and that she knew the lady would come back for her.

For almost a week, Maggie kept her backpack ready, and looked and looked for that pretty lady to come back for her, but the lady never came, and finally Maggie unpacked her backpack and lay on her bed and cried and cried for a very long time. She had been so sure that lady was the one, and as Christmas approached she wondered if anyone would ever want her.

The little girl stared out the window at the Christmas Star and made her wish. She said she would be happy with anyone that could love he,r even if she was a Scratch 'n' Dent, but she really wished that pretty lady who looked like an angel and held her for so long would love her and come back to take her home. She promised to be extra good and never cry or get sick or make her parent's mad. She would eat anything they gave her, even liver and brussels sprouts.

Before she ended her wish, she asked one favor if she could. She hoped that whoever took her home had other kids already, because Maggie didn't really like playing alone. She talked all the time, even when there was nobody there but her stuffed babies, but it was still lots more fun when a real person was there to listen. Most of all, she hoped she could have sisters ,and hopefully, big sisters, cause she always wanted a big sister to follow around and learn things from and take her places and crawl into bed with if she got scared at night.

Maggie finally finished her wish by asking that, if there was nobody out there who could love a Scratch 'n' Dent kid like her, then could the angels please just come down and take her to the place up in heaven for kids nobody wants, because she didn't want to grow up and be all alone someday.

At the same time Maggie was making her wish to the Christmas Star, another girl was staring out her window and making one of her own. Misty was a pretty girl, with long blond hair like her mother's and big azure blue eyes. She was also a very lucky one, as she lived in a wonderful home with a mother and four sisters who loved her very much. She had lots and lots of pretty clothes to wear and big beautiful room with everything in it she could ever want but one thing: a little sister for the second bed in her room.

Misty was the little princess, the youngest of her mother's five daughters, and she received all the privileges that went with the position. All her big sister's looked after her, especially, whenever she was sick. They taught her lots and lots of things, and took her places and, when she was really little, they had read her stories and let her sleep with them whenever she was scared. She had really enjoyed being the little sister, and still did, but more than anything else she wished she could have a little sister of her own so she could get to do big sister things. The extra bed in her room was usually covered in stuffed animals but it was really waiting for Misty's little sister to take her place there.

Misty's mother had wanted to give Misty a little sister just as much as Misty had wanted to have one, but she was a single parent now, and that meant it was going to be pretty tough for her to have another baby. If Misty were going to get her little sister, her mother would have to go out and find one for her that maybe no one else wanted. Misty's mother had told Misty about places where kids go that have no parents or family or none that wanted them. Misty couldn't imagine what it would be like to not have her mother or her sisters, and couldn't understand how a parent or a family wouldn't want to keep a kid. Misty's mother told her that most of the time she couldn't understand either, but hopefully these unwanted kids would find someone who did want them and take them home.

Misty's mother had been searching lots and lots of places trying hard to find that special girl to bring home as her daughter and Misty's little sister.

That night as Misty wished upon the Christmas Star she asked that her mother find that special little girl to bring home. She promised to be very good to her and love her with all her heart. She would watch over her and not let her get hurt and she would teach her everything she knew. She would take her places with her and read to her and come give hugs whenever she was sad or crying. She promised to never really get mad at her, even if she did some of things that had made Misty's big sisters mad at her. She would tuck her in at bedtime, and if her little sister got scared at night, she could crawl right in next to her and snuggle up close. She finished her wish by adding that she would be happy with any little sister that her mother brought home, because she would be HER little sister and that would make her the best little sister in the whole world.

Misty then crawled into bed and snuggled under her covers and waited for her mother to come in and kiss her good night. She didn't have to wait long, as the lovely lady walked in with a smile and knelt down by her bedside. When she tucked Misty in, she asked her if she was ready for Christmas. Misty smiled and nodded, saying she hoped that Santa had a little sister for her in his big red bag. The loving mother kissed her daughter's forehead and promised Misty that Santa was doing all he could to make her Christmas wish come true. Misty drifted off to sleep, hoping her little sister would be waiting for her at the tree come the next morning.

The next morning came early at Misty's house and when the little princess woke she found that her mother and big sisters were already awake and looking to see what Santa had left. Misty scrambled out of bed and ran down the hallway, nearly flying down the stairs that led to the living room. When she finally caught up to her big sisters and her mother she found that Santa had indeed been there and he had been very generous to them. The huge tree was surrounded with colorful packages, some very small, and some very big, but sadly, no little sister was standing there waiting to greet Misty.

Misty's sisters and her mother wished her Merry Christmas, and gave her hugs and kisses before handing her presents to open. For almost an hour gifts were exchanged, pictures were taken and everyone enjoyed the wonderful Christmas morning. When the last gift was finally opened, Misty's sisters began the task of collecting all the boxes and paper and bows that were scattered about. Misty thanked everyone for the gifts she received and then started to help her sisters when her mother told them all to stop because there was still one gift yet to be opened.

Misty, as did her other four sisters, looked around at the war zone that was the aftermath of their Christmas, and couldn't find a single unopened box. Misty's mother then told them to wait patiently as this gift hadn't been placed under the tree with all the others and she had to go fetch it. The girls talked among themselves wondering what Santa's elf had up the sleeve of her robe and then gasped as she returned, pushing a rolling cart with a good sized box sitting atop.

The girls immediately crowded around their mother to see who was the lucky recipient of the pretty package. While there was no gift tag on the outside there was a large pink envelope. It was addressed: "From Santa Claus to the family, but especially, Misty."

Misty smiled big wondering what could be in this box that was almost as big as she was and why had Santa said this gift was for all of them but especially for her. Misty's sister stepped back along with her mother as Misty opened the pink envelope. Inside was a letter on pink stationary and addressed as the letter had been. Misty trembled excitedly as she read it.

Misty put down the note and then looked at her mother and sisters, anxiously waiting for their permission. They quickly gave it and Misty carefully removed the top of the bow-covered box. When she dropped the lid by the side, a sea of soft pink paper met her.

Misty reached toward the paper and started pushing it back. She let out a squeal when she saw a red curl among the pink. Suddenly paper went flying everywhere as up from the pink ocean Misty's little sister came, squealing as happily as her big sister.

The freckled-face cutie leapt out of the box and pounced onto her big sister Misty. The little one caught Misty off balance and the two girls hit the floor landing in a giggle.

Misty smiled up at the kitten sister straddling her. "Hi, I'm your big sister, Misty!"

The green-eyed imp smiled back and said, "Hi, I'm your little sister Maggie."

Misty then remembering Santa's instructions on the special care her little sister required, pulled Maggie into a cuddle and gave her lots of love and hugs. Soon the whole family joined in to make it a group hug and they all lived happily ever after.

 
Merry Christmas Everyone, from your Scratch and Dent Kitten, Maggie