Knock knock knock

A window slid open and Mibbie hopped through into her best friend Stu’s bedroom. Mibbie and her family skipped seeing Bingley that whole week. The event was the talk of the town. One morning, Mibbie told her parents she was still shaken up and wondered if she could go spend time with her best friend. Which wasn’t a total lie. She was shaken up. Shaken up that the Grinch had actually killed her brother, that Bingley was actually innocent, and that the Grinch was still out there killing people or worse.

“Hey Stu!” Mibbie said with cheer in her voice.

“Hey Mibbie! I’m really sorry to hear about what happened to your brother. That sounds scary.”

“What? Yea it was, but listen. When I talked to my brother, he told me something.” Mibbie looked around the room to ensure nobody else was listening. “He said it actually was the Grinch and that the Grinch is still out there, and it’s up to us to catch him!”

Stu’s eyes widened with fear. “Mibbie, don’t you think he would say anything to escape?”

“But that’s just the thing. He hasn’t said anything to anyone in years now. They didn’t believe him before, but he hasn’t let it go in all these years. He’s just been waiting for someone that would actually believe him!”

“Or someone naive enough to believe him?”

Stu didn’t mean it as a jab, he was just trying to be a loving friend, but Mibbie definitely felt the burn on that one. She was always very gullible afterall.

She pretended to ignore the comment, “Look, how about this. Just help me do research. Does anyone you know even know much about the Grinch beyond stories around a campfire?”

“Well, no, but that’s cause he’s just a story. There are no real reports. He’s not even real.”

“Then let’s prove it!”

“How so?”

“I have a plan, just meet me at the hideout tonight after sundown!”

Stu didn’t look convinced.

“Stu, please. Do you remember that time I snuck out to help you collect enough apples from Mrs. Whilberman’s yard so you could win that contest at school?”

Stu nodded, “yea, what’s your point?”

“My point is, I didn’t do that because I wanted to. I didn’t do it because I was fearless. I was terrified of being caught the whole time. But I did it because you are my friend, and that’s what friends do.”

The room was silent as Stu thought about that for a while. Then, finally, breaking the silence, Stu nodded with excitement, “Let’s do it then! I’ll see you at sundown!”

Their secret hideout was not really a secret. The people of Whoville didn’t mind children building treehouses in public parks, town squares, or wherever enough trees were gathered to make it possible. The town was actually pretty full of these cool little “secret hideouts.” In fact, they became so popular, the mayor had to put in a special initiative for engineers to go out and make sure each one is secure and safe for the Who children.

Mibbie and Stu’s hideout was right near downtown, not a very long walk from either of their houses. But definitely made it sketchy to get in and out of the hideout. If either of them were caught out of the house alone at this hour, they would be in big trouble!

Whispering Mibbie spoke to Stu as he climbed up the ladder, “glad you made it. Any issues?”

“Not at all, Mibbie,” Stu whispered back. “So…what’s the plan?”

Mibbie walked over to a window and pointed out. Stu walked over to see what she was pointing at.

“The library? Couldn’t we have gone there during the day?”

“Not in the restricted section.”

Stu’s eyes widened again. The restricted section of the library was just that, restricted. Not even Who adults were allowed back there.

“But, I thought that it was filled with mainly old museum artifact type books.”

“It is. This week I overheard these older Whos talking about the Grinch. One of them mentioned that the Grinch was a tale as old as time. The other one disagreed. Said that she once read a story about the Grinch’s birth. That he was a Who like anyone else. The first lady scoffed and said it was ridiculous. But the other lady kept going, saying she read all about it in the library. Before they moved some of those records to the restricted section.”

“How do you know the records are still in there?”

“There’s only one way to find out!”

The two little Who children planned their entrance, grabbed their supplies, and headed out. It wasn’t their first time doing something like this. They would occasionally sneak out and climb up rooftops. Never for mischievous reasons; quite the opposite. Some of the rooftops in downtown had the best views of the beautiful Christmas tree lighting Whoville did every year. Although, they usually made those climbs with Stu’s parents. This was the first time they’d be doing a big climb alone.

They threw the rope around one of the lights hanging off the old library building. The building itself was maybe 5 stories tall, the light the rope hung off of was 2 stories up.

“After you, Stu,” Mibbie said holding her hands out for Stu to ascend up the rope first. He always was the stronger climber. He shimmied up the rope faster than a squirrel up a tree. Mibbie followed right behind him.

“Now we just need to climb up the window ledges the final 30 feet,” Stu said pointing up to the rooftop.

The first story went smoothly, placing arms and feet at the appropriate spots to create a spider like position to shimmy up the window like a Who child climbing a doorway. Only this time it was a 30 foot fall instead of 3 feet.

Once on the next ledge there was no turning back. Stu began to shimmy up the second window and made it up with ease. He reached his hand up to grab the ledge and pull himself up when a piece of the old building gaveway. His hand held tight, but the brick he held onto let go of the building. Stu started to fall. He felt the weightlessness of a freefall and almost enjoyed it for a split second before realizing what that meant.

“AHHH!” he screamed. Mibbie jumped into action as she saw her best friend fall past her.

“The Grinch won’t take anyone else from me,” Mibbie thought as she grabbed a rope and threw it around Stu like a lasso.

“GUHG!” was the noise that came out of Stu as his free fall abruptly ended and the rope around his waist pushed all the breath out of him.

Mibbie pulled Stu back up to the ledge and they both sat on the ledge catching their breaths.

After a few minutes, Stu looked over and said, “well, shall we?” They looked at each other and giggled over the craziness of the situation.

Thankfully, the rest of their climb went smoothly. The descent into the library was even easier. Once on top of the building, there was a door that was never locked that led them right down into the restricted section.

“Where do we start?” Stu asked as they both stared down dozens of rows full of books. Each row was farther than their eyes could see. Granted, it was dark, but it still felt to them like it could take days to scour all the books.

Mibbie breathed out, trying not to panic, “you start on the left, I’ll start on the right.”

Stu nodded and took off.

To their surprise, it only took about 30 minutes of searching before Mibbie yelled out, “I’ve got it!”

Stu ran over to see what she found, “What? Where?”

Mibbie showed him a book of Who records. It was in a row of multiple record books just like it. Births and deaths for every decade since the inception of Whoville almost 700 years ago.

“The Grinch was a Who.”

“Wait, what? He’s real?” Stu got closer to read the book himself. And sure enough, there was a birth record for Grinch Who 175 years ago.

“But that can’t be the same Grinch. Nobody can live that long. Plus, it doesn’t say anything about him being born a monster with claws and horns and stuff.”

Mibbie thought about it and realized her friend was probably right. A name is just a name. Maybe this Grinch started the legend of the monster and the name just stuck. Disappointment in her voice, “you are probably right.” She started to close the book when a loose page fell out.

“What’s that?” Stu asked.

They both bent down to grab the page. But it wasn’t a page from the book. It was a handwritten note that had been stuffed in the back. The title said, “Who is the Grinch”

The Grinch was my friend. My best friend to be exact. He was the smartest Who I knew. He was also the kindest and bravest Who I knew. Though, he wasn’t always that way. Growing up an orphan leaves a lot of pain and hurt. But we’ll leave that tale for another day. Today, I write this note because something terrible has happened. The Grinch lived up in his cave creating inventions and bringing them back down to Whoville. Such marvelous things he made for Whoville. Automatic machines to make some drink he called “coffee”, ladder shoes to water plants on window sills, cool machines to help decorate the town’s Christmas trees, ornament airbags in case a tree falls over, and so many wonderful toys for all the Who children. He would dress up in this ridiculous red suit every year and sneak into all the houses to drop off toys. He brought so much joy to Whoville.

But then…something happened.

I got sick. It broke his heart. He told me he would find a way to cure me. He said he’d do anything. And I’m afraid he did. He unlocked something to another world. I can’t say more or it might know. Find me on Mt. Crumpit.

  • CLW

“It just cuts off there?” Stu asked, wanting more information.

“It appears so,” Mibbie said, equally disappointed. “Unlocked something to another world? What does that mean? Why can’t she say more and who is CLW?”

“Who knows, Mibbie. This letter could be over 100 years old for all we know. CLW is probably long dead.”

Mibbie sat down against the bookshelf. This was their first real lead. It proved her brother was right, but was it enough to prove to everyone else? “Well, what do we do now?”

Stu reached his hand out to his friend and said, “come on, I think we have a mountain to climb.”

Mibbie was shocked. Mt. Crumpit? That was so close to the Grinch’s cave.

“For Bingley,” Stu added.

“For Bingley,” Mibbie grabbed his hand.

They took the next couple of days to gather supplies. Food, rope, climbing shoes, that sort of stuff. Then on a clear night, they did it. They made the trek over to the mountain, stared up at the long climb ahead. Although, this time they were a little more prepared than the library climb.

“Do you see anything at the top, Mibbie?”

“I don’t know, it’s so dark. There is only one way to find out.”

They both started climbing. Going up the backside of the mountain was a more treacherous route, but they also knew it would be the furthest from the Grinch’s cave.

The climb itself was about 500 feet up. It took them a little over an hour, with a couple stops for a snack along the way. As they reached up on the ledge to pull themselves up, they noticed it.

A cabin with a soft glow from a fire inside and smoke coming out a chimney.

“Woa,” Mibbie said. “Look at that, Stu.”

“Do you think your brother’s saw this cabin?”

“I think they went from the front of Mt. Crumpit closer to the cave. It would be impossible to see.”

The two Whos climbed up the ledge, legs shaking. They hoped something would be up here, but now that it was real they didn’t know what to do.

Stu looked at his best friend and saw fear in her eyes. He felt it too, but he knew how important this was to her. He reached his hand out and said, “come on, let’s walk up together.”

Knock, knock, knock

The green door to the cabin creaked open revealing an older Who woman. They didn’t recognize her. Which is odd because Whoville did annual celebrations of all the older Whos. They had festivals, parties, and everything. Everyone knew all the older Whos.

“Well, hello there,” the old lady said in a cheerful voice. More chipper than Mibbie and Stu expected from a Who her age. “What brings two little Who children all the way up here at this time of night.”

This time it was Mibbie’s turn to be brave. “Hi, ma’am, I’m Mibbie and this is my best friend Stu. We are trying to learn more about the Grinch. I think he killed my brother.”

With that, the expression on the old ladie’s face turned solemn, “well, yes, come on in then.”

Once they were in, the old lady told them to go sit by the fire to warm up while she made some hot cocoa.

After a few minutes, Mibbie and Stu were sitting cozy with two cups of delicious hot cocoa. They looked up at the old lady who sat in front of them.

“Well, shall we begin then? My name is Cindy-Lou Who.”