The Missing Reindeer

(This Christmas story is sent by Nora, 9, from the USA. Her sister, Natasha, 13, has contributed the art.)

Art: Natasha, 13, USA

  

It was the night before Christmas. As the boss of the Christmas factory, I was very busy and had many things to do. I went around encouraging the elves, happy ones and grumpy ones.

“Good evening, Jolly! How are you doing?” 

“You can finish wrapping those presents, Jingle! Just do it!” 

After I helped the elves, I went to my office and sat down in my favorite chair to read some of my letters. While I was reading, I realized I needed to check on the reindeer. When I got out of my seat and went outside, I was surprised that they were all gone.

I checked every single reindeer stall, but every single one had vanished! 

I called my favorite elf, “Holly! The reindeer vanished!” Holly rushed over immediately. “We have to find the reindeer!” she exclaimed.

We went off into the forest to see what had happened to the reindeer.

                “Wait a minute… I think we put special collars on the reindeer so that we can track them down!” I reminded. 

Holly had already left to get the tracking device. All of a sudden, she appeared with the other elves. 

“Whoever took the reindeer broke our tracking device. The reindeer must be at the South Pole, which is the last place anyone would think we would look, because we live way up in the North Pole.”

                “The South Pole? How will we get there?” I groaned. 

Jingle spoke up. “Once I had made a flying potion,” he said, “I still have some with me in my pocket!”

I had to admit, that was a brilliant idea!

His friend Jolly spoke too. “Maybe if we pour the potion on our sleigh, it will fly.” 

“Great idea!” I exclaimed, very proud of my elves.

 Jingle gave me the potion, and I poured it on the sleigh.

Hopping into the sleigh, I called out, “Come on in!” to my trusty assistants. We all piled inside my sleigh. It was crowded, and we all barely fit in there.

                “Wait a minute… if the reindeer aren’t here, then who’s steering the sleigh?” Holly asked. We all looked at each other. 

“Not me,” we all said at the same time. 

The elves turned around and looked at me. “Okay, I’ll do it…,” I groaned. I guess I had to. After all, it’s my sleigh! 

                “To the South Pole!” Jingle exclaimed. Holly looked confused. She suggested, “We need a South Pole map.” 

The rest of us decided that we would just try our best to find the missing reindeer. 

Getting extremely bored on the journey, Jingle began trying to fix the tracking device.

After a VERY long time, we finally arrived at the South Pole!

                “Let’s go!” I jumped out of the sleigh. 

Swift, another elf, asked a very good question.

                “Where could reindeer be in the South Pole?”  

We looked at each other. Suddenly, everyone (including me) had the same question on their minds: Why was the snow starting to get deeper and deeper?

                “Uh… Santa?” one of the elves said.

I looked over and realized we were falling under the snow! 

“We’re finally on the ground!” Jolly exclaimed happily.

Something seemed very odd, for some reason, though.

                “This must be a special place, after all, it’s under the snow,” Holly observed. 

How was the snow floating above our heads? I realized it was because Jingle used his flying potion on it.

                “Dasher? Dancer? Prancer? Vixen? Comet? Cupid? Donner? Blixen? Rudolph? Are you here?” I called. I heard a familiar noise. It sounded like click-clip-clip. 

“The reindeer!” the elves exclaimed at the exact same time. 

The reindeer rushed over. All of them were there; Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blixen, and Rudolph! 

“You’re safe!” I exclaimed. All of them looked perfectly fine.

                Jingle exclaimed, “I fixed the tracking device!” 

I looked at the tracker. We were in the North Pole, where we had started! We were there the whole time, and we never made it to the South Pole!

                “We’ve been going in circles,” I explained to everyone. 

“The reindeer were safe the whole time! I’ll fix the locks on their stalls. I normally lock them in because the snow gets too deep for them.”

I looked around and saw the Christmas factory again. I was happy that the reindeer were there and the presents could be delivered to all the children. 

On Christmas, you’re sure to find a present for you that says, “From Santa,” and you can have fun with the safe and happy reindeer if you are lucky enough to spot them flying over your home on Christmas Eve. 

Merry Christmas!


(An original story by Nora. Protected by Copyright, December 2016.)