It's finally Chinese New Year, peoples!

(February 16th, 2018)

This day is really important for us Chinese people. The adults get their longest vacay--two whole weeks! And then there's the kids and the teens, who just chill and stuff their faces with food. Yum, yum.

Sadly, the U.S. doesn't give us this day off . . . but it's all cool, because this year, we somehow get it off, hehe. *insert the evil laugh here, please*

Each year, the dates are different, as Chinese New Year is based off of the lunar calendar. Basically, it's the first day of the lunar calendar, but most Chinese people don't even use the lunar calendar; I don't know why they have that, hehe. They should honestly just celebrate the "normal" holidays that we all celebrate or something. . . .

Ooooh! Btw, it's the year of the dog! Last year was the chicken, and the year before was the monkey. I won't tell you my Chinese zodiac sign, because you'll figure out how old I am.

Hee hee hee.

*cue the evil cackles*

Soooo . . . lemme give you guys some history with a story!**

**THIS IS NOT MY IMAGINATION!!! IT'S JUST THIS TRADITIONAL STORY THINGY YADDA YADDA THAT WAS PASSED DOWN! AND THIS IS MY CRAPPY VERSION OF IT. I'M SORRY IF I GET SOME STUFF WRONG; I HAVEN'T BEEN BACK TO CHINA FOR THE LONGEST OF TIMES!**

Now, if you don't have any objections, then let us begin! :)

Once upon a time . . .

•❦•

Once upon a time, there was a mouse and a cat who lived peacefully together on a mountain. The sky emperor thingy (I don't know what he's called, so bear with me. Let's just call him the Sky Emperor, 'cause he's an important character; we'll be mentioning him a couple of times in a little bit. Btw, he's just the legendary guy who supposedly "lives up in the clouds" and "watches over humanity", but sorry, I don't believe in that, because I'm a Christian! Hope I broke another typical Asian stereotype by saying that I don't believe in those types of things ^~^) was hosting a race for all the animals in the kingdom later that day, and the duo were really excited for it.

The cat, who was best friends with the mouse, slurred to his friend in a tired voice, "I'm just gonna sleep for a little bit, 'kay? Wake me up when it's time for the race."

The mouse gladly accepted.

But that's when an evil thought hit him. Hard.

What if he somehow won the race? He, indeed, was fast. But the cat, his friend, was faster, for the cat had longer and much stronger legs. What if he never woke his friend up? What if that was the key to his victory?

The mouse cackled in delight as he rubbed his hands together sneakily. He was going to be the winner.

And he had the perfect plan for it.

The afternoon came, and the Sky Emperor's voice boomed out from the sky, saying, "Animals, your race is about to begin. Come to the--"

But before the Sky Emperor could finish speaking, the mouse was already on his way without his confidant.

When he arrived at the scene, he saw the pig (boar, whatever!), the chicken (or rooster--idk), the monkey, the ox, the tiger, the dragon, the snake, the dog, the rabbit, the horse, and the sheep waiting there on the shore to a river, tapping their feet impatiently.

They waited for a little while longer until the Sky Emperor could see no more animals coming.

"Well, well, well," said the Sky Emperor in his sonorous voice, "in order to win the race, just cross the river and reach the shore. Since there are no more animals coming, let the race be--"

However, the animals were charging forward like--well, like wild animals.

The mouse immediately saw the ox speeding off and clung onto his leg clandestinely, for he was the fastest one. And the ox didn't notice, which was a good thing, because if he had . . . then say bye-bye to our dear mouse!

Reaching safely to shore, the mouse jumped off of the ox's leg and shouted with glee as he claimed first place. The ox cheered for the mouse, though he didn't have a single clue of how it was possible for the mouse to get first place. (I honestly feel bad for you, ox, because you're kinda dumb.)

The tiger stumbled on shore and claimed his third place, growling and complaining about how hard it was to cross the raging waters.

Then came a little white rabbit hopping to shore, exhausted. She explained that she had almost been carried away by the river, but managed to reach the shore by skipping on stones and grabbing onto a floating log.

The Sky Emperor clapped in delight, but was a bit confused about the dragon claiming fifth in the race.

"Ah, your Majesty," said the dragon breathlessly, "I had to make rain to help the people and blow a little gust of air to help our dear rabbit here get to shore."

The rabbit, hearing how gallant the dragon had been, blushed profusely and thanked him for his good deed.

A whinny was heard, and the creatures turned to find a frightened horse screaming his head off as a sneaky snake slithered from the river, purposely giving the horse quite a good scare and getting in front of him. Of course, being the dumb and stupid person that he was, the Sky Emperor didn't notice what had just happened and gave the snake sixth, while a horse stomping his feet begrudgingly claimed his seventh place.

The sheep, monkey, and rooster came bouncing on shore, carrying a small raft.

The rooster squeaked, "Sky Emperor, I found this raft on the river, and the three of us used teamwork to row to shore."

The monkey and sheep were smiling and nodding throughout the rooster's explanation.

Stroking his long beard, the Sky Emperor named the sheep eighth, the monkey ninth, and the rooster tenth. (Well, that wasn't very fair, was it?)

Flapping his paws lazily to shore, the dog did a victory dance as he was named eleventh place. He explained that he stopped by to bathe in the river, as the fresh water was so tempting.

And the last place was claimed by the infamous Mr. Pig.

He rubbed his tummy as he burped. "That feast was good."

Now that everyone had their place, it was time to go home. The mouse didn't want to, as he could hear the cat's irate screeches for not waking him up.

And that's also the reason why cats and mice don't get along nowadays.

(Not really, but that's what the legend says!)

•❦•

And that is the story of the Chinese zodiac :)

The order for the Chinese zodiac is the rat (mouse), the ox, the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the sheep, the monkey, the rooster, the dog, and the pig.

Honestly, I didn't even know the order before this. I had to do some research •o•

*ashamed*

cri

Well, personally, I don't believe in these types of things (zodiac stuff and horoscopes). But you're free to if you'd like; I won't judge!

Have a great year, my friends, and we'll see you next time ❤

Saranghae (I love you), dear readers~

Toodles!