It’s crunch time at the North Pole. Only four weeks until Christmas, that means the elves have roughly 672 hours to have all of the toys ready for the GRB, Gigantic Red Bag on the back of Santa’s sleigh. You thought you have stress as a last-minute shopper, try being a last-minute toy maker with tiny elf hands and a Jolly Old Fat Man breathing down your neck making sure you don’t make a mistake. Talk about elfen stress!
Yet, somehow, they seem to make the deadline every year. The toys get their last coat of paint, the sleigh is checked out in the mechanic shop, and the GRB is filled to overflow. Christmas Eve delivery goes on without a hitch. Fantastic. Wait. We are forgetting one thing, nine, actually. Remember, the elves are important, Mrs. Claus is important, Santa of course is important, but none of this could happen if it weren’t for the loyal, always respectful, and constantly ready, Super Nine! The Avengers of the North Pole, the famous Santa’s Reindeer Crew! Okay, so where are they? “Dasher! Where are you?” Santa yelled out into the heavy falling snow. No answer. Then as if out of nowhere, a huge, strong and definitely fast reindeer was at Santa’s side. “You called?” he whispered. “Get everyone here, now!” Santa insisted.
Within 5 minutes all nine were gathered to Santa. “Ladies and gentlemen, we have a problem. It seems that one of you is not happy being a reindeer anymore, and you want to sit this year out. Now you know that I started this gig a billion years ago with just one reindeer, and a rickety old sled. Then, if you wanted to, we could rotate years among you, but we do not have that luxury today. The world is much bigger, people have been having kids at alarming rates, and it takes all nine of you to pull this lead sled around the world in less than 24 hours. So, you need to really step it up a notch this year, because one of your ranks has decided to lay back. Comet will not be joining us in 2024, she has a mental thing going on and can’t seem to break free from it. We have called in the deer shrink, and he is baffled. No that is not the name of Comet’s replacement. There is going to be a hole in the crew this year, but we can do this, and in record time people. So, when I say we go, we saddle up, and get at it, as a team. But we need to practice. An empty spot on the crew could mean disaster if we don’t know how to maneuver through the dark.”
The deer looked at each other as if starring into a car’s headlights. Practice? They never practiced before. Santa climbed into his sleigh, he cracked the whip, and yelled out, “Dasher! Dancer, Prancer, and Vixen!” It was quit a sight. The four heard perfectly, but they sauntered and swayed, seemingly making their way to the sleigh. “Yes sir?” Dasher said calmly as they approached the sleigh. “Get the others, we have to make at least one practice run per night to get the flight details down.” Santa said. “Yeah, well we’ve been thinking about that, and we decided that this year there may not be any flight. We decided that…” Dasher was interrupted. “What are you talking about Dasher?” “Well, the way we see it is, that if Comet can just take the night off for no apparent reason, so can we. In other words, we ain’t pulling your sleigh this year. It’s too dangerous with only eight of us, and Vixen here, pointing to the deer, told her husband, Cupid that he better not go or the barn is going to be mighty cold this winter,” Dasher said. “Yeah, my sister Prancer and me, we are not going to do what Comet won’t do either. What makes her so special anyway?” Dancer said meekly. “So, you’ve come to this conclusion as the answer as to how we get this zillion pound sleigh off the ground and around the world in less than 24 hours! What do Donner and Blitzen say about your plan?” Santa raged. “Mom and dad think it’s a plan, maybe not the best, but a point maker,” Dasher said. Santa kicked at the ground, and looked at Dasher in the eyes. “Rudolph? What’s he say about it?” Dasher moved aside, “Heck, he’s so far into you that when his nose lights up, your eyeballs are glowing. He thinks we’re wrong.” Dasher said. Santa sat on the edge of the sleigh and took off his hat. “What do you want?” he asked. “Pretty simple, really. Make Comet do her job. We’ll do ours. It’s either that, or you teach your little elves to fly. It’s in your court now, Santa Baby,” Dasher said. After just a short while, Santa came walking out of Comet’s barn with Comet in tow, and ready to fly. A true Christmas disaster has been averted!
Disaster Averted
