[nagdu] Fw: A Christmas story

[Deb and Cori]

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 black and yellow
 labradors,  picked out in the arctic moonlight as they flew towards him.

 "This year," continued Prancer, "your helpers will be: Buttons,
 Goldie, Honey, Sam, Ben, Max, Anton, Lucy and Lassie."

 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 - Buttons - 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 Buttons. "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 scarpered back into the warmth. Sam, Ben 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 harnesses off first?"

 "Oh no," spoke up Lucy, 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 reigns in his hands and boomed merrily at the top of his voice:

 "Go Buttons ... go Goldie ... go Honey!"

 The dogs pulled and the sleigh took off into the now clear dark blue
 sky.

 "Moosh Sam, gee up Ben, away Max ... away!"

 Lucy turned and winked at Lassie. 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.

 "Lucy, Lassie, noses forward!" Santa's voice startled them into
 action.
 "Anton, 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, "you 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!"