santa claus and his claws clause

chapter one a random raffle

the next day, cloi came home from *scool even happier, n said, "papa i won the raffle prize!" Her daddy dan answered, "not now sweety!".  cloi claus was a young girl age 7. on monday, yesterday, she had written her name on the small slip of paper. Like all the other kids in her class, she had put it in the giant glass salad bowl. 

after all the names were gatherd, principle perry picked three names. he said he would publish the names on the board, so *evryone can see in the morning. cloi n clair came home very excited. cloi hoped  that she had won the raffle. first prize was a gift certificate for a toy store. 2nd prize was a gift certificate for a pet store.

the loser prize was a big round penny on a cotton band like a necklace, in addition to the trophy everyone would get, so nobody would be left out. cloi was so sure she would win the pet she had already started celebrating. clair was a senior in 12 grade and her story and use of magic is in a past story here. cloi was her young sister.

they got adopted by dan dawson because their father, santa claus, was too busy with his elvs. clair refused to call dan dad so she calld him dan. cloi called him papa to distinguish from her real daddy. tuesday morning, they rushed in to scool and saw the paper with the three names of winners: 1, andi amawo, 2, clair claus and 3, cloi claus.

now cloi was happy that she would get the pet! in the morning, people were complaining how did two sisters win. when they saw clair, some started accusing her of cheating using magic to win. clair was too shocked to speak and ran away. cloi was devastated too! she had really felt like she would win the pet shop. 

now, she would get a useless medal. and the trophy was meaningless... because everyone got it. andi, a trans in cloi's 2nd grade class, found cloi, in the crowd. as usual she made a big fuss about his change... saying "cloi! i need to trade my prize with you, now that i am a boy." cloi was too sad to think clearly n just blinkd.

cloi tryd to clear her thouts... it still was not the pet but it was better than a medal... also it was too good to be true. "really?" asked cloi suspiciously. "zinger!" teased andi, when handing her a colord card. andi announced, "i won first prize! i can invite a friend! dont you wish you were nicer to me until now?" a bully took the bait...

he said, "congratulations andrea! or are you andrew?" nobody lafd as he had hoped. more kids came to see the list. cloi opend the card and read the girly circular script writing: "dear chloee, you were the only one in the class that was my frend from when i was a tomboy until i changed to a boy. i want you to be my guest at the restaurant..." 

cloi was confused again. the prize was for a toy shop not food! also the letter i in the word in was dotted with a small heart! cloi continued reading, starting to worry this was a date! "after we eat we will go to the toy store together and pick a toy for each of us. my prize will pay for yours too." she did not realy want to date a boy...

...and as a frend she accepted andi as a boy now, but that just made her feel more confused about hanging out. cloi decided if she traded her medal it would be okay to use the toy prize and that was no sacrifice! cloi pulld out her cheap phone and used some message ap to write, "tnx andi, from chloee, we can trade my bronz medal for part of your prize." 

before she could put the phone back in her rolling pack her phone dinged! "my pleasure dear. and sorry my mom misspelled your name. she did not believe me you like cloi." this time the word dear did not bother her. 

chapter 2 the prize ceremony

cloi went to class as usual. when she went to the mess hall for lunch clair found her n said, "i need your medal! will you trade it for the pet prize?" clair paused. cloi felt confused again. she wanted the pet very much but had planned to give her medal to andi! when cloi hesitated clair added, "you dont expect me to take care of a rabbit do you? please trade with me."

the lov for a pet won so she agreed. mrs. mak announced, "now we will give the prizes to the winners. everyone at that table, line up to get your trophies while i  call the winners." the kids at the table nearest her, left their food and lined in a neat strait line by the big carton. perry peterson the principle stood giving out the small metal gilded trophies.

mrs. mak continued, "first prize of the random raffle is: "andrea amawo! let's hear hands for her" a few teachers clapped lamely but only for a moment because no kid was clapping. one brat whispered loudly "random?" andi walked from the second grade table towards the teacher mrs. mak who said "not you, sweety, andrea won." 

a few kids giggled very nervously. andi was wearing dark denim jeans and a black t-shirt with some band written on it in red and orange flaming letters. his sneakers were worn out from much running and climbing trees. his very short black hair was almost completely covered by the sports cap with the team *she had loved since age 3: mets.

she went to a baseball game, mets versus red sox, for her first time in new york, before moving to santa anna california, where most kids, including cloi, liked the san francisco team. mrs. mak was starting to panic, "andrea? where are you? i guess we will go to the second place winner." finally andi reached mak and said "please may i see the name on the paper?" 

mak handed it to him. andi spelled, "a-n-d-i is written here. not andrea." mak was suddenly pale! she looked at perry who pointed at andi so she gave him the gift certificate for the toy shop. "thank you missus mak!" andi said in a very fake hi pitched girly voice. laughter exploded. that was a good one! he swished his baseball cap n bowed to mak.

perry saw mak was still dizzy so she, oops he, announced, "second prize..." and chanted, "...i-i-i-is". he paused and stared at mak. maria mak, who was a first grade teacher as i hinted above! hence her interpretation of andrea and her expectation for the winner as she remembered andrea... read the next name:

she exclaimd "clairey klows!" in an excited tone. clair and cloi stood at the same time as planned. they both funneled in toward the path between the two rows of lunch tables. many students led by charli chelsea started a long boo-oo-oo-oo! they bood. her brother, in clair's class shouted "cheaters!" more kids joined the booing! 

together the pair came to mak. mak stammered again trying to say "ssss" like sorry dear not you... but the second surprise of 2 kids and the booing piled on the first shock, was just too much! clair had planned to say she was trading with her sister, but seeing poor mak in shock, she extended her hand for the pet shop certificate. 

mak smiled very weakly n handed it to clair. cloi simply said, "i am cloee". mak looked at the name. She lifted the medallion and handed it to cloi. but to cloi's horror, clair grabd it! cloi felt confused again because she remembered writing to andi that she would give the medal like a trade. mak also protested, "hey! dont bully your sister! you got the certificate!" 

clair handed the paper to cloi and reminded cloi, "this is what you told me, you prefer." cloi recovered and jumpd and shouted, "yay i can get a gerbil now!" this is why that day cloi came home even happier.

chapter 3 a fortunate event

as soon as they came home mom moxin was waiting on the sofa ready to take cloi to the pet shop, as she had read in the text message ap. clair n cloi put their rolling packs in their shared room in the home. clair jumped to lay on her bed and switched on the huge widescreen flat screen qled 85 inch tv! cloi ran to the home door.

mom was already there ready. "which pet do you want, dear?" asked moxin. cloi answered, "i want a gerbil, and gerbil food and a runner wheel and a water bottle and..." cloi paused to open the door of the  hybrid car. she felt in her jeans pocket that the thik paper card was still there. mom walkd around the car and opened the driver side.

"i am plugged in" announced the car. mom came to the wall in the garage and unplugged the charger. next she carried the cord to the car and pressed the button. like a vaccuum cleaner cord it sucked in the cord and rolled it. when mom sat in the driver seat, the voice continued, "i am charged 78% you can drive 94 miles out and back."

"that does not help me!" moaned mom. as if in reply the car continued, "please enter your destination." cloi was ready with her card and read the address to patty pets on virgin street. mom entered the number and street name so the map showed the list of similar streets only virgin and surgeion were options. mom tapd virgin. 

the map showed the destination quickly calculated the possible driving paths and which was preferd at this time and situation. then the map flashed several crooked lines from the destination to the home... like the boat in the james bond film! just to be cool and show it was thinking. finally it selected a recommended route.

cloi tapd the remote control that opened the garage door. it clacked up. mom slowly and carefully backed out of the home parking garage.  she continued rolling down the tar driveway almost to the sidewalk. as the car beeped a warning. the gps map showed a kid on a bike on the sidewalk nearing the driveway.

mom let it pass. she looked at the screen and looked out the back and continued over the pavement to the street. the car announced in 17 seconds back up. mom watched on the screen as cars wizd by in both directions. she complained, "when will we hav thos eflying cars that i can just float up and spin and see?" 

"never" replied cloi realisticly. as the timer reached 3... 2... 1... mom looked at the space between the moving cars and looked behind her out the glass windows. "go" suggested the car. mom reversed n swung out back, car rear first, into the near lane going south. she stopd and changed to drive as the steer spun strait.

as a car neared behind her the car urged "go." so she pressed the pedal and shot southward. the car announced "recalculating". it had assumed the driver would go to the far lane and go north! but mom was worried about the approaching cars and chose the nearer lane! this almost caused a crash because the south bound car was near!

chapter 4 the computers compensated for human errors

the computer had calculated she would back beyond the near lane before turning, only being the in the near lane for a moment with more time until the north bound car came near! it was a crismas miracle coupled with the smart car that was driving south that had sensed the hybrid backing in to the lane and slowing, as programmed.

even before the driver realized he needed to press the brake pedal, it had computed the distance to the danger and to the car behind it, the follower, and calculated a slowing, while shining the brake lyt to the follower. the driver saw the car backing into the south lane, and felt the slowing so slammed the brakes. the computer ignored this due to the following vehicle.

this prevented a "3 car pile up". in the 1990s 3 cars would have crashed due to these human errors and at that speed 25 miles per hour, or worse... if humans chose the speed, at least 3 deaths! luckily the computer bridged, meaning compromising the will of the driver with accurate distances and rates of speed even disobeying the panicked humans.

the follower lacked a smart computer but seeing the brake lights in time and obeying the distance rule allowed him a chance to slow too! mom obeyed the computer where to turn and the car automaticly controled the speed based on the limits of each street and the cars nearby. "go faster" urged cloi. mom saw the safe speed and pressed the pedal. 

the car compromised adding to the speed until the limit but then ignoring the pedal. dam cussed mom, who was used to speeding a bit more than the limit in her previous car. after following the turns and ways they came to the patty pet shop. operated by mr. and mrs... mcpattrik. the parking lot was just a wide driveway.

rows of cars had already parked along both sides. mom told the car park here. the computer took over. it slid very near a car  on the ryt side... mom winced as she looked across and over cloi. but cloi said "3 inches" to calm her mom. then it backed into the spot in precision parallel parking as if the steer had turned at the ryt moment!

cloi opend the door and she was at the curb just one inch away a precision almost no human could park. the pair enterd the pet shop. moxin askd the clerk, "where do you keep gerbils?" alas! the clrek answerd "sorry we sold out of gerbils last month. we did not order any because people prefer rabbits and dogs." cloi was already looking at the various pets.

the glass terrariums with snakes, that were knocking their heads sideways repeatedly on the glass at the hamsters between them. the terrified hamsters were squeezed in the center away from their water bottle that was sadly completely full. how unfortunate for them! cloi gleefully shouted "gerbils!" mrs. patty said, "nope."

"we will take one of those and a glass cage", mom said. mrs. patty explained, "are you sure you want hamsters?' cloi nodded and blurted out "two of those!" mom corrected her, "just one" then to patty, "how much for the glass case and one gerbil?" the clerk who was their son pete mcpatrik said "a glass case is 75$"

when mom's eyebrows shot up, he added, "a wire cage is 55$ one gerbil is free with the cage the second is 10$. a clear plastic case is 45$ not including the gerbil for 15$ each". cloi looked sadly at the gift certificate for 50$ it would pay for most but how much was mom willing to add? and what about the run wheel and the water bottle?

so unfortunate.

chapter 5 claws claus

cloi handed the card to moxin and asked "how much are you willing to add?" mom blurted out the question "ADD?" an awkward silence stretched... only the clock ticking tap tap... but the sales clerk did not miss a beat! "cats do not need a cage you know." mom looked at cloi almost begging. cloi felt very confused again.

she had wanted gerbils! call them hamsters that did not matter! just those cutees! the ones there! then all her hopes had shattered when she won the stupid bronz medal. then she had hope when clair offerd to trade and now just when the gerbils were in reach and she had the card and saw the gerbils the price was too much!

so unfortunate. cloi was speechless. the slick salesman offerd, "come look at the cats". finally cloi woke up and said, "yes i want to see an orange cat but sir?" she paused. pete said, "what?" cloi suggested, "please move the snakes near each other so these poor gerbils can take a drink" she begged.

for the first time pete and his mom noticed the gerbils squeezed in the center. they had not learned that the glass kept the snake away. or had, but the snakes had not learnt!  pete slid the glass case by the wall outward and lifted it. mrs. mc slid the gerbil cage to the wall. finally pete put the snake case between the cages.

now the snake was where the gerbil cage had sat. the snake inside turned to the other side and continued tapping its head on the glass diving at the gerbils... who fled to the wall where the water was and finally could drink. one hamster got there first and started gluggin the water the other tried to climb to the water too! on its room mate!

mrs. mc reached in and lifted the first hamster. and scolded it "you drank some but you need to share with your room mate too!" the other hamster drank some for the first time since the gerbils by the wall were sold yesterday! then the snake case took its place! satisfied they walked across to to the rows of cages with dogs and cats.

mom offerd, "you can hav a little kitten if you want." cloi argued, "i dont want a baby one." luckily they found a fluffy cat with hair that was brownish orange. the sign by it said "cats only 25$ one week left until sleep." the cage beside it with two black cats had a sign "cats 35$". cloi said "i want the orange one!" always the slick salesman now he said...

"the carrying case is 15$" in chorus cloi and moxin shouted "sold"! the total was 40$. moxin added "and ten dollars worth of cat food." mr. mc now got involved, "do you want wood slivers or crystals for the litter box?" mom looked sad. "honey, we will save up and get you gerbils in a few months." mr. mc wanted the sale.

he could not wait because in one week they would put the old cats to sleep to make room for the new strays. the city only gave one month budget for food for each stray. he offered. "how about 20$ for the cat, 15$ for the carry case and one litter box with a bag of wood slivers for 15$" the girls chorused "sold!"

and that is how cloi claus got her cat who she named "claws claus". the surprise was... this orange cat had belonged to a magical dwarf and could speak and knew magic just like santa claus! and clair claus and cloi claus too! so they would have some fun adventures in the following chapters!

chapter 6 andi and  cloi

just then in the pet shop, clois cell phone rang. it was andi calling!

andi said that her older bro would drive to clois home to go to the toy shop first before eating. conveniently the pet shop was in the same mall as that toy shop! so changing the order meant that cloi already was in the destination. andi askd, what will you do while you wait?" cloi answerd "i will do a claus pause!" 

andi giggled gently but ma said "those lame puns are just like sant a and his claus flaws."

 T.B.C.