[blparent] a christmas story to put you in the spirit

[Veronica Smith]

> Here's the story
> A Christmas Story
> One bright Christmas Eve, Santa Claus awoke looking forward to taking to 
> the
> night sky on his sleigh. He got out of bed, pulled on his hat and big red
> coat and opened the outside door to go and visit his trusty reindeer. It 
> was
> snowing and very cold. As Santa approached the stables, he smiled at the
> thought that he would soon see Rudolph's red nose shining through the
> blizzard.
> But, oh no, wait a minute; as he turned the corner, Santa saw not one but
> nine shiny red noses! Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, 
> Donner,
> Blitzen and Rudolph were all looking miserable. "Oh dear," said Santa,
> "what's up with you all?" Comet, the reindeer union rep, stepped forward.
> "I'm very sorry, but none of my reindeer will be able to do a full night's
> present delivery shift," said Comet, looking sad. "This is the first time
> we've ever wimped out on you, but we're all feeling lousy this year Santa
> and, well, we feel you'd be better off with some other helpers just this
> once." "Comet, this is disastrous news!" Santa held his head in his hands.
> "I'm not sure I can get all the presents out to all the little boys and
> girls without help from my reindeer."
> At this, Blitzen and Prancer stepped forward. "To be honest Santa, we had
> always worried something like this might happen," said Blitzen, sounding
> very bunged up. "With this in mind, some years ago Prancer decided to
> approach another group of magical creatures with special powers who might 
> be
> able to stand in during an emergency."
> "Well, Prancer," Santa turned to the other reindeer whose eyes were
> streaming, "Do tell me. What is your idea? Which other creatures of the
> world have magical powers that can match those of my nine wonderful
> reindeer, of whom so many songs are sung and tales are told?" "Why... 
> Guide
> Dogs, of course!" smiled the reindeer. He turned towards the snowy white
> plains of Greenland, tapped the ground three times with his hoof, bowed 
> his
> head and antlers, then majestically reared up making a very loud calling
> sound that echoed round the four corners of the planet.
> Within the space of thirty seconds, a shadow appeared far on the horizon. 
> As
> it got bigger, Santa could just make out nine glowing Labradors, picked 
> out
> in the arctic moonlight as they flew towards him. "This year," continued
> Prancer, "your helpers will be: Danson, Goldie, Honey, Sheba, Chimo, 
> Nanuk,
> Yukon, Woody and Nelson." Santa and his deer stood and stared up at the
> approaching dogs, who they could now hear barking. When the dogs landed 
> they
> became silent; the only noise was the north wind howling. Santa, awed by 
> the
> sight, was about to speak when the leading dog, Danson, led a single note
> chorus of howls as a salute to the reindeer whom they would replace this
> year. Happy, all the reindeers saluted back and in unison returned to 
> their
> stables.
> "Greetings to you, Father Christmas," said Danson. "Instead of being with
> our blind owners this year, we want to bring smiles to the faces of all 
> the
> world's children. We're ready when you are."
> Santa smiled and beckoned the creatures. He led them to his workshop. 
> Parked
> outside was a huge sleigh, loaded with presents of all shapes and sizes. A
> small green-clad elf was just putting the last present on the top; when it
> was balanced correctly, he slid down and pushed himself off the side and
> scampered back into the warmth. Sheba, Chimo and Honey had already
> positioned themselves at the front of the sleigh and barked at the other
> dogs to join them. As they lifted the sleigh's harness Santa said: "Aren't
> you going to take your own little white harnesses off first?" "Oh no," 
> spoke
> up Woody, the smallest of the dogs, "these are our identity. Guiding is 
> what
> we do and tonight Santa, we will guide you!"
> With the dogs all in place, Santa climbed onto the front of the sleigh, 
> took
> the reins in his hands and boomed merrily at the top of his voice: "Go
> Danson... go Goldie... go Honey!" The dogs pulled and the sleigh took off
> into the now clear dark blue sky. "Moosh Sheba, gee up Chimo, away 
> Nanuk...
> away!"
> Woody turned and winked at Nelson. They were both wondering how their 
> Owners
> were getting on. They hoped to be back and curled up at the foot of their
> beds before they awoke, and chuckled at what their masters would think if
> they knew they were flying around the world helping to deliver
> presents.
> "Woody, Nelson, noses forward!" Santa's voice startled them into action.
> "Yukon, stop trying to eat the falling snow," he continued, before 
> breaking
> into a very loud and satisfied: "Ho ho ho! Keep flying, my little guides.
> This year," winked Father Christmas, "your dogs will find out what busy
> really means."
> As the sleigh, the jolly old man and the nine magical guiding dogs reached
> the horizon and flew towards the first of several billion houses on the
> list, Santa knew that the guide dogs had saved the day and everything 
> would
> be all right. "Merry Christmas, one and all!"
> 

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