There was a seven-year-old girl named Rosa in one family. She was as delicate as this
lovely flower, but at the same time just as prickly. Her parents worked for an airline; her
father was a pilot, and her mother was a flight attendant. Since Rosa’s parents were
rarely at home, her grandmother always stayed with the girl. The quarrelsome Rosa
often hurt the old woman, causing her considerable anxiety. Her grandmother’s habit of
carefully wiping the almost invisible dust from the photograph of a stern, white-bearded
old man standing on the mantelpiece. Every morning only added fuel to the fire of the
girl’s nitpicking. The wise grandmother, despite all her granddaughter’s antics, was kind
and affectionate to her. When Rosa was particularly naughty, her grandmother would
point to the photograph and say, ‘Don’t be so naughty, darling, or your grandfather will
get angry!’ However these words did not particularly bother the girl, and she just quietly
laughed to herself at her silly grandmother, because despite all his severity, the old
man’s gaze in the photo was so kind and gentle that she could not believe that he could
ever be upset or angry in any way.

Rosa had always had a dream – she really wanted a kitten. And not just any kitten, but
one that was definitely the best and most expensive breed, one that was perfectly white
without a single spot, and one that would always play only with her. Also, as Christmas
was approaching, the girl desperately did not want to spend it with her grandmother
again. She jus wanted her mum and dad to be with her instead. So Rosa asked Father
Christmas for all of this in her letter.

The holidays had not yet arrived, but one of her wishes had already come true – on the
day before Christmas Eve, her grandmother became very ill and was taken to hospital.
When the ambulance came for her, Rosa went to see the old woman off at the door. The
girl was very reserved, but when her grandmother was going out of the door, Rosa
approached her and quietly, so that the paramedics would not see, handed her
favourite doll in a beautiful red dress. The astonished grandmother stroked her
granddaughter’s head and tried to hug her, but the prickly little girl immediately pulled
away. The old woman smiled gently, shook her head and as the door closed. She took a
last look at the girl and noticed a treacherous tear glistening in her eyes.
Without her grandmother, the house was completely empty. Nevertheless, Rosa
insisted to herself that, on the contrary, it was even better this way – now she could do
whatever she wanted without asking anyone’s permission. The girl spent the whole day
watching television, eating sweets and playing computer games. When the doorbell
rang in the evening, she rushed to open it, expecting even more pleasant surprises. It
was indeed another surprise – a large parcel!

Rosa was delighted. She opened the parcel and found a huge stuffed cat and a letter
inside. She was a clever little girl, so she immediately began to read the letter. She
wished she hadn’t! In the letter, her parents said that they would not be able to come
this year – again! – and that this huge stuffed cat was her present. The girl couldn’t hold
back her sobs. Another holiday without her parents, and instead of a real fluffy pet, she
got this huge scarecrow! Plus, her grandmother had abandoned her at such an
inopportune moment – she would never forgive her for that!

At night, Rosa was still crying, wiping her tears with the plush tail of her hated toy. Her
stomach hurt from eating too many sweets, so she couldn’t fall asleep. Trying to fall
asleep, the girl turned off the light, but it didn’t help, and she just lay in bed, staring at
the ceiling. Suddenly, a shadow crept across the ceiling, then something rustled quietly
on the mantelpiece. Firstly she wondered if it was Santa Claus. Rosa listened fearfully.
The rustling repeated itself and the shadow moved again, now very close. She realised it
wasn’t Santa. The girl shuddered – she recognized the silhouette of the old man from
the photograph. The floor creaked, an icy chill blew from the fireplace, and Rosa,
clutching her stuffed cat, sat up in bed, full of suspense and tension. She no longer
wanted freedom, sweets, or entertainment…

The cold intensified, the shadow grew larger and began to loom menacingly over the
girl. With a trembling hand, Rosa found the torch and, turning it on, froze in place -the
beam suddenly illuminated the photograph frame on the mantelpiece – it was empty!
The torch fell from the girl’s hands and unexpectedly illuminated the approaching shape
behind her. Rosa was stunned -it was her deceased grandfather himself! There was no
trace of his kind gaze now! On the contrary, his eyes now burned with a bright, eerie fire.
Enlarged to colossal proportions, the old man loomed over the girl and proclaimed
menacingly: “I came to take your grandmother, but you behaved so badly that I will take
you first!” The little girl froze in horror. Against the backdrop of the huge, menacing
figure, the tiny girl looked like a defenseless feather in the dragon’s claws. But at that
moment, she remembered the image of her beloved grandmother, and, in that moment
of tension, Rosa clung to the fat cat and, holding it like a shield, jumped out of bed and,
standing on tiptoe, looked the old man straight in the eye and cried desperately: ‘Take
me if you want, but I will never give you my lovely grandmother!’ Exhausted, she fell
back onto the bed.

There was complete silence, and then something incredible happened – the cold
dissipated, the shadow receded and disappeared.
Lying on her bed, exhausted, Rosa couldn’t hold back her sobs, but sleep took over and,
as she fell asleep, the girl whispered quietly: “Grandma, forgive me… I want you to
come back… I want so much to spend Christmas with you…”

In the morning, the doorbell rang. Opening the door, the girl couldn’t believe her eyes -it
was her parents with a huge pile of presents! It turned out that they had been given
leave at the very last minute due to the snow. Rosa rushed to hug them, and only then
noticed that her grandmother was standing behind them! The girl ran up to her joyfully
and, looking into her eyes, sincerely apologised, and her grandmother, smiling gently,
held out a basket with a fluffy white lump moving inside it to Rosa. The girl smiled,
kissed her grandmother, then took the gift and, with tears in her eyes, solemnly said,
“We’ll all play with it together!”
In the evening, the whole family gathered around the festive table. A contented Rose sat
on her father’s lap, gently cuddling a cute but simple little white kitten with lovely black
ears. Grandmother, looking genially at the happy girl, said kindly, “You see,
granddaughter, how unexpectedly Father Christmas sometimes fulfils our wishes!”