A CHRISTMAS MISTERY

I starred at Pookie, looking for inspiration and told her I had to write something funny and that it's not easy to be funny when you are not in the mood.

Pookie looking at me, jumped on Father Christmas and knocked him down.

She did her work ! She is a very good assistant !

Years ago, besides one cat, we also had a dog. Her name was Bianca, as she were completely white and white in Italian means Bianca. She was a very intelligent little dog and we all loved her very much. She lived for 9 years and died in 1988. But never ever we would forget her.

One Christmas as usual my parents arrived with an overloaded car full of gifts. My father getting out of the car looked around to be sure that somebody were watching and slowly unloaded the car. He wanted that everybody saw how generous he were with his daughter. Yes, that was my father always thinking what other people could think of him.

We had put up a big Christmas tree as every year and underneath the tree, were standing the huge crip Mr. Gattino had got when he was two years old. In Italy at that time, nobody knew about Christmas trees, but Crips were very important and each family wanted to have the most beautiful. The Crip was handmade and consisted of a big stable with Josep, Maria and little Jesus in a crip. On the top of the stable an angel with a trompet were standing and farm houses and handmade ceramic people were standing around them. there was also a fountain and little trees and bushes. Sheeps,cows, chickens and even an Elephant completed the peaceful viallage scene. The whole thing was made up on a green grass carpet and if you would have put everything correctly it would have taken the size of a one person's bed ! So we squeezed the whole stuff a little but the whole room under the tree was filled with this Crip.

This year my mother found the little ceramic Jesus not nice enough and had bought beautiful once in marzipan. She had bought six of them in case somebody wanted to eat a little Jesus. She put one in the Crip and next day the crip were found empty. Of course she suspected me (as if I would steal little Jesus during the night) and then Mr. Gattino who affirmed that he was innocent too. Of course she never suspected her beloved grandson. So with a sigh, she filled up the crip with a new Jesus and everything was OK. But the next morning Baby Jesus had disappeard again !

Now she asked little boy, but he didn't like marzipan and whould never eat a little Jesus and he was very offended. The whole thing repeated itself for 3 days. My mother was afraid of running out of marzipan Jesus. I found this whole thing rather stupid and especially the mess she made out of it, but said nothing. After the last marzipan Jesus had disappeared, she reluctantly put the ceramic one back in the crip. And then we saw it all in the evening. Doggy Bianca, made herself a way through houses, cows, sheeps and chickens and snuffled at the crip. Then, disappointed turned around and looked at us with big disappointed eyes. Her little treats were gone. And we all had a good laugh, even my mother.

Bianca