Tiny Tiger in: Gulliver's (Christmas) Travels

Tiny Tiger, seeking a change of life, bought a ticket on a long ocean voyage. Suddenly, the ship was beset by storms. The ship was pounded by the wind and the waves, and then tossed upon the rocks - everyone else aboard was lost! Tiny Tiger struggled to shore and collapsed into the sand.

He awoke after the shipwreck to find himself bound by chains! He could not move! He felt several sets of eyes upon him. The tiny villagers had the Tiger surrounded! They watched him struggle against his chains with both awe and great fear. . . .

Or so they would have you believe . . .   ;-) Now, what ACTUALLY transpired?

Well, my husband and I were watching movies when we heard a tiny thud in another room. What could it be? Burglars? At Christmas? How Grinchy, indeed!

We leapt to our feet to investigate, and this was the scene that met our eyes: Tiny Tiger, lying on the ground, all tangled up in Christmas lights, and the Crittergators looking on with great concern!

It seems Tiny Tiger was feeling quite holiday-ish, and so he wanted to decorate a little holiday tree for himself and the little fellas. He even borrowed the brand new string of blue LED lights. But this was the sad outcome indeed!

What could we do to remedy the situation? Well, first we untangled the tiger. And let me tell you, it probably sounds much easier than it was! For Tigers, I must warn you (even TINY ones), get a bit feisty when they are feeling trapped.

So let's amend things: first we CALMED the Tiger, and THEN we untangled him from the string of blue lights. He was in poor spirits by then, so we offered him and his tiny friends some hot cocoa with teenie marshmallows and peppermint sticks.

By then, everyone was feeling quite festive again, and we sang a few verses of favorite holiday songs, and went on our merry way. :-) Hooray! And a happy Christmas to all!

The songs . . . well, there are TWO to accompany this whimsical tale. When I found Tiny Tiger with the lights, this is the song that came straight to mind, so I'll share it first:  The 12 Pains of Christmas (a parody of The 12 Days of Christmas, of course). But here's an add-on. And how often do I get the excuse to use THIS song? How about NEVER!? So here it is, and I think it describes the scenario perfectly: Bob Dylan, with Tangled Up in Blue.

Now let us introduce the cast of players:
Gulliver - played by Tiny Tiger
Lilliputians - played by the Crittergators
Now, everybody take a bow!
*and everybody does*

May your holidays be silly and merry and bright.
Happy Christmas from all of us!