Evening was approaching at the Browns’ house, and the little siblings, Sarah and her older brother Jake, were sitting in their room, plotting a secret plan.

“Listen, Jake,” Sarah whispered, her eyes sparkling with bright gleams. “What if we leave the milk and cookies out tonight? If Santa flies by and sees such a treat, maybe he’ll stop, and we’ll get presents twice! Once tonight, and once on Christmas Eve!”

Jake loved the idea instantly. “After all, who wouldn’t want presents twice?” he thought to himself. It was a perfect Christmas trick 🤭.

Quietly, they tiptoed into the kitchen. On a small white plate, they arranged the most fragrant chocolate and cinnamon cookies, and poured fresh, cold milk right up to the brim of a glass cup. They cleaned up the kitchen beautifully so their parents wouldn’t notice anything in the morning, and tiptoed into the living room. They placed the whole treat right by the fireplace and, with sly smiles, tiptoed past their parents’ bedroom straight back to their own room. They went to bed, feeling deeply satisfied with how wonderfully they had outsmarted Santa.

However, their entire plan was being watched from a warm armchair by two big green eyes. They belonged to their family pet – a cat named Moly 🐈‍⬛. Moly waited until everything in the house grew perfectly still. She jumped down from the large grey armchair and walked over to the glass of milk. The scent of the fresh milk was so powerful that she simply couldn’t resist.

“I’ll just have a tiny little taste,” she thought to herself. But the milk was so delicious that Moly licked and licked until the glass was completely empty. Only one single drop of milk remained on her whiskers. When she licked her whiskers and looked at the empty glass, panic washed over her.

“Oh no! If the children see an empty glass in the morning, they’ll think Santa actually came but left them absolutely no presents! They’ll be terribly sad, and Mommy will be angry about who drank it!” 😱

Moly knew she couldn’t get into the fridge by herself. “I must get more milk from somewhere else!” she thought. She racked her brain, wondering where else milk could be. And suddenly, it hit her: “Of course, the pantry! There is always at least some milk there.”

Quietly, she scurried into the kitchen and leaped onto the countertop. Right next to the edge of the counter were the pantry doors. She reached for the handle with her paw, but she just couldn’t manage to open the door. “I have to be more forceful, it won’t work like this,” she thought, and jumped with all her weight onto the handle. In that exact moment, the door swung open, and Moly could calmly step inside.

In the corner, she spotted the last bottle of milk. “I am saved!” she cheered in her mind. Gently, she knocked the plastic bottle down to the floor and rolled it into the living room with her paw. “Just a little further,” Moly kept telling herself as she nudged the bottle across the living room. Once she reached the fireplace with the bottle, she began to wonder how she – a cat – could possibly pour the milk into the glass.

She pondered and pondered until her eyes began to cross. After all, it was very late, and her tummy was completely full of delicious milk. She said to herself: “I’ll just close my eyes for a tiny little moment.” Her eyes drifted shut, and Moly fell fast asleep right next to the empty glass and the bottle of milk.

In the morning, footsteps echoed on the stairs. Sarah and Jake rushed to the fireplace. Moly was only just opening her eyes, completely clueless. She had slept so soundly that she thought everything about the milk had been just a dream. But then, the children gasped in surprise, and Moly instantly realized it wasn’t a dream at all. Startled from her peaceful slumber, she leaped straight to her feet.

“Moly, you ruined our plan!” Sarah cried out.

Just then, Mommy walked into the living room. “What is going on here?” she asked. And so, Sarah and Jake had to confess that they had prepared milk and cookies for Santa early last night, thinking they would get presents twice.

Mommy didn’t scold them; instead, she laughed out loud from the bottom of her heart. She sat down in the grey armchair, called the children over, snuggled both of them onto her lap, and explained that Santa brings presents only on one special night of the year. Because only that one single night holds the true, magical Christmas enchantment.