Hectic.

*Phoebe stumbles into her room and closes the door. She looks absolutely exhausted.*

Phoebe) Hope, never again am I going to a Crittermas party. Never.

Hope) Er... wanna chocolate?

*Suddenly there is a loud crash and the door is pulled off it's hinges!*

 Phoebe) It's a push door, dumbo.

*She Phases just encase and turns to see who has been stupid enough to pull a push door.*

*Just to say that for a while the 'Rodent translator version 5x' is going to be on...*

Phoebe) Slick.

*Thank you! Anyways...*

 *In the doorway are 3 humans in the sort of suits government agents wear, who've pulled the door off it's hinges. Each have a rodent sitting on their shoulders: A squirrel, a guinea pig and a rat. The squirrel looks at Phoebe the gerbil.*

Squirrel) GET HER!!!!

*Chaos.*

*The agents try to grab Phoebe but she slips under the bed. They pull the bed out of the way (this takes some time as it is a platform) by which time Phoebe has slipped away and is posing as a toy. This doesn't work so she slides though the men's legs and out the door frame, with Hope, Glory and Italics following her.*

Guinea pig) Darn!

Squirrel) Shoot!

Rat) Fu-- hey, look who's here...

*What?! *Gulps**

Rat) You'd better be coming with us mister...

*Aaaagh! Phoebe! Help MEEEEEE...*

Christmas is a coming in...

Glory) Whoo! It's nearly Christmas! I love Christmas! Or Crittermas, as we animals call it.

Phoebe) What were you saying about Crittermas, Glory?

Glory) Crittermas is an animal's equivalent of Christmas. Hope can tell you more.

Hope) Ah yes, Crittermas! It marks the day when a group of animals (rodents I think) got together and decided that animals needed a special winter festival. Weather this happened before or after the human Christmas celebration is unclear, but what happened was that these animals got together a load of gifts and started giving them out to other animals. Now, these gifts were mostly nuts, which weren't so desirable to meat eaters, so the animals went in search of other things to give. They came across cans of paint, which they used to paint patterns on the meat eaters, so that's why they have such colorful coats. That last bit is probably made up.

Phoebe) You're telling me.

Glory) Yes, but the rest is true. And that's why I love Crittermas, 'cause rodents invented it!!

Hope) Well, it's possible, though I expect if you asked a cat they'd say they invented it.

Glory) Eek! CATS!!

*Runs and hides under the table cloth.*

Hope) Every year on Crittermas Eve there's a celebration, which consists mainly of a public gathering. At Crittermas all animals are neutral so even foxes and such come. It's quite cool.

Phoebe) Hope, if I Phase into a gerbil, do you think that I could come?

Hope) Sure!! Pets and all sorts come, so you won't be out of place. I even think S.U.E.A.C and P.A.W.S come to help keep the peace.

Phoebe) Keep the peace?

Hope) Well, y'know, lots of animals in one place, carnivores and herbivores all in the same burrow, things can get a bit... tense. best to be on the alert.

Phoebe) Ah! I understand. Well, I think I'll go. I never sleep well on Christmas Eve anyway.

Italics) Ooh! I wish I could go, but there's a Christmas party at The Italicing Council.

Glory) Wait a sec, it's SNOWING!!

Hope) Whoo!

*Every one runs outside. Bye people!*