Jingle Bells Rock

The high temperature today is going to be twenty seven degrees, but this cold front will bring it down to fifteen in the afternoon, said the lion on the television. Bundle up for overnight, it s gonna drop down to seven. !t ll get back up to eighteen at noon tomorrow, and that s going to be as warm as it gets for the rest of this entire week, so bring your parkas with you. Back to you, "ddie. Thanks, Jack, said the fo# with a broad smile as he looked to the camera. $nd now for something completely different. %e take you to award winning reporter $nnette &ora, who s covering something unusual. 'o giants, no deaths, (ust something pretty wonderful. $nn) Tell us what you ve got. The picture on the television shifted from the studio staffed by several furs to show one female cat standing on a sidewalk by the street. Thank you, "ddie, she said as she lifted a hand to the building behind her. !t turns out that the *hristmas %olf has struck again. The video panned backwards to show an old, worn down building. The paint was shabby and peeling, but all of the windows were intact. This is +arkin ,ome, an orphanage down in "lgin. !t houses over eighty souls. Their budget typically re-uires that they spend no more than seven dollars per child per day for food. But now, the children have a little something e#tra. The video shifted to a young raccoon inside a building. The caption at the bottom read, *harles .owers. ! had to go to the bathroom, he said. ! went down the hall and looked over, and the *hristmas %olf was in the &$ room. %hat did he look like) asked $nn, shifting the microphone in her hand back and forth. ,e was big. Really, really big, and his fur was all white, said the coon. ,e looked at me and held his finger to his lips, so ! shut up. ,e trailed off, uncertain what to say ne#t. $nd then what happened) asked the cat. ,e shooed me away, so ! went away. ! used the bathroom, then ! played one of the games in the dinner hall. ! looked again and he was gone. $nd what did you find there) asked $nn. ,e was gone, said the raccoon again. The stockings over the fireplace looked weird. They were full of money. The video shifted back to the feline and /oomed back a bit, showing her with her arm around the raccoon. This is *harlie .owers, age seven. ,e s the only witness that we have. Twelve different orphanages around the state e#perienced the same thing. The video panned back more as $nn hugged the child with her free arm, then walked away from the camera. 0he went over to the fireplace in the very large room, where there were maybe twenty different socks nailed to the mantlepiece. $nn walked up to them and nudged one. The stocking shifted a bit, heavy with something.

Two silver pieces of various si/es, but none of them less than eight ounces in weight, announced the feline. This is the second year in a row where this has happened. +ast year we didn t have any witnesses at all. This year, we have *harlie. $nd the orphanages all have several thousand dollars worth of silver to spend on *hristmas. %ait, the fo# at the studio inter(ected. 0o there s no witnesses other than him) $t all) The video shifted back to $nn. "ighteen orphanages over the last two years, and only one witness. That s incredible, said the fo#. ,e hesitated for a moment before asking, 0o... how much money is this) The average amount is right about two hundred dollars per child, the feline replied. The case workers are working with them as to manage it. %ell, said the fo# at the studio, ! hope we see more of them. 0o do !, "ddie, came the response. Then she looked directly at the camera. This is $nn &ora, *at s "ye 'ews, reporting.