The Christmas Grinch

We just happened to live next door to the meanest man in town. He would never put up a colored light or any kind of Christmas decoration. He’d call the cops if carolers came onto his property. He’d even threaten me if one of my toys ended up in his yard.

His house was neat and clean, but it was also stark and bare. He was an older man and rarely came outside other than to cut the grass or shovel snow from his walk. He didn’t plant flowers or erect a bird house. Most people avoided his yard. Even the postman’s visits were infrequent. It was as though the house was a black hole for happiness.

He’d chased girl scouts off with a broom when they plied their cookies. My mom tried to be a good neighbor by taking baked goods to him, but soon quit when he didn’t return the plates and she had to buy new dishes.

Behind his back, people began to call him the Grinch. One night someone sneaked onto his lawn and leaned a sign against the side of the porch that read, “The Grinch lives here.” The porch was high enough that the sign couldn’t be seen from inside and because the Grinch rarely came outside, the sign remained. He had no idea that the whole town was smiling at his expense.

Early in December when colored lights began to appear elsewhere around the neighborhood, the Grinch’s house remained unadorned except for the sign.

One day a stray dog wandered onto his porch. It refused to leave even though the Grinch would douse it with water or swing a broom at it. Each morning the dog would be curled up at his front door and each morning the dog would run partway down the walkway and stop. The dog would turn, sit, and cock its head to one side to stare at the old man on the porch. Eventually the Grinch would tire and go back inside. The dog would trot off only to return at night and curl up at the door.

After several days things began to change… slightly. Oh, the Grinch would still come out and chase the dog. The dog would go to the bottom of the steps before it would loll its tongue, wag its tail, and the Grinch would stand longer to fuss at the dog. Soon the Grinch began to sit on the top step of the porch and talk to the dog. From his seat on the stairs, there was no way he could have missed seeing the sign, but it stayed.

One day I heard the Grinch in his shed sawing, sanding, and hammering. Then it was quiet. I was outside playing when I saw the Grinch leave his house only to return later with a can of paint and supplies in a bag from the local hardware store. He disappeared into his shed.

He came out in the morning and tossed the dog something. The dog caught it and lay down, then began to gnaw a bone. The Grinch came outside a bit later. I watched as he stuck a spotlight in his yard running its electric cord into his basement. He had the whole town talking. No one had ever seen that much activity at his house before. The question on everyone’s mind, “What was going on?”

At dusk, he carried an object out of his shed and placed it beside the sign. When he turned on the spotlight, I could see he’d made a wooden six foot high Grinch to stand by the sign. It was his turn to laugh at the town’s people and surprised them by turning their joke into his.