The Christmas Bug

There once was a little bug that slept almost the entire year. He would
only wake up when the weather started getting cold outside. When he would
wake up he would be very very hungry. The only thing that he would eat was
grumpiness. He loved to eat up all the grumpiness that he could find. When
he would find someone that was grumpy he would bite them and eat up all of
their grumpiness. After he ate all of their grumpiness they would be happy.
They wouldn't have any grumpiness left in them at all. He would travel
around all winter long looking for the grumps so he could eat them all up.
Whenever he would get done with a town everyone would be happy. They would
sing in the streets and buy presents for each other. Everyone would always
talk about being bitten by the Christmas bug, but none of them had ever
actually seen him. He was very little and very sneaky. Once he had gone
around the entire world he would be stuffed full of grumpiness. Then it was
time for him to hibernate. He would find a nice little place to sleep. He
would sleep almost the entire year. When he would wake up the grumps would
be back and it would be time to start eating again. Year after year
everyone counted on the Christmas bug to get rid of the grumps. Year after
year he did.

Told on Dec. 23, 2010