December 28 – “Something’s Not Right With Blitzen”

Well, here it is.  Enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Something’s Not Right with Blitzen

A Christmas Story

By Kelley Vaughan

Forward

Before I begin this tale, I have to acknowledge its roots.  See, something like this has to have an inspiration, or at least a nudge from somewhere.  My nudge sounded like this.

We apparently had some more of those strange, elusive visitors in the house yesterday.  The kind that you know must be there, but you never actually see them.  The kind that make life, well … interesting.

I was hard at work at my desk.  The Christmas Eve service loomed over my preparation time, as did my usual preparation for the next Sunday’s teaching.  I had agreed to officiate two weddings as well, both simple affairs, but each having its own unique spin for preparation, and for time.  

Our almost-six year old granddaughter Cailyn was over as well.  She was out of school for a few weeks, but not so for Mom and Dad.  For some reason they were keeping the operating room and the fire stations staffed over the Christmas holidays.

So … moving on to the mysterious visitors.  From my location, safely perched at my desk and trying desperately to focus on the task at hand, I began to hear the voices, eerily similar, yet … could I be really sure?  I recognized Cailyn and on occasion my lovely wife, Chris.  Oh, and there was the new stuffed reindeer friend named Elsa.  Elsa Sevela Vaughan, as I was summarily informed when I suggested she add Fred as a middle name.  So those were solid.  I could continue working with that in the background.  It was the others that began to give me creeps. 

Suddenly there was a Clareese (or however you would spell it).  Never heard that one before.  After a few minutes of pondering I decided it must be an imaginary friend … of the reindeer.  Strange, right?  Now I’m all for imaginary friends.  I have housed several over the years, the most significant, of course being “Boy,” who played often with Kel, disappeared for four or five years, and then miraculously showed back up, none the worse for wear, to spend time with Josh.  And we had never mentioned his prior appearances to Josh, either.  Gotta wonder …  So now there were four.  But then came the distinct call for Abby to “pay attention.”  Wait.  Abby is the name of Cailyn’s boxer, and I knew she wasn’t part of the babysitting deal.  We had another imaginary friend.  Didn’t sound like Abby was playing well with her fellow students, either.  See, another character rose up, calling herself “Teacher.”  And Teacher didn’t take any misbehavior lightly.  I guess it got so bad that Teacher had to call home, because even though the voice I heard sounded like Chris, the obvious personage was someone called “Mom.”  And that’s where it got really confusing.  The narrator (who sounded a lot like Cailyn) for some reason stopped all the action every so often to explain what was going on, and who was who.  That was quite helpful.  Except that sometimes she identified herself as Cailyn.  Sometimes she was Mom.  Sometimes she was Teacher.  And somewhere in there was an elusive “Sarah.”  Guess she must have been the quiet one of the class, because she never said much. 

Now that you have all the players straight (OK.  I don’t have them straight, either, but work with me here), there was an elaborate scenario that was being created.  Sadly I couldn’t hear all of it.  Something about a reindeer school and a trial run flight and helping Santa deliver toys.  Beyond that I missed the details.  But … I think I feel a story coming on …

Kelley Vaughan, 12-24-2014

 

Something’s Not Right with Blitzen

A Christmas Story

 Even though it was Christmas Eve, it was just another day as usual at the SSRT (Santa’s School for Reindeer Training).  A brand new young reindeer was being introduced to the class.  And a small class it was this year, by the way.  Only three students, now that this new one had arrived.  Her name was Clareese.  Now Clareese had no idea how to control her powers.  Why, she had only just begun to realize that she could fly.  Her best friend Elsa, however, had started the class a few weeks earlier, so she was feeling pretty proud of her abilities.  Perhaps a bit too proud, if you know what I mean.  And the third student was Quiet Sarah.  No one knew much about her.

This particular day Santa’s elves, Cailyn and Abby and Chris, had been assigned Reindeer School duty, not exactly the most exciting place for an elf to be on Christmas Eve.  Who could concentrate on holding an out of control young reindeer in check when there were toys to be made, and a sleigh to be loaded?  The elves wondered aloud to each other, “Are we being punished?”  “How many cookies did you eat last night after supper?”  “I just had my usual seven.  Or maybe it was eight.  Ooh.  I knew I should have counted more carefully.”  But nothing they came up with seemed worthy of such a terrible job placement on this, the most important day of the year.

Now the Teacher of reindeer school was a taskmaster.  She allowed no mooseplay in her classroom.  Moose were known for being quite disruptive and had in fact been barred from helping Santa with his sleigh after that “grand experiment” incident a few hundred years ago.  Santa wanted to see if a moose could be a part of the sleigh-pulling team.  Now, I heard they were just having some fun, but it resulted in disaster when their horns became entangled with the tinsel and pulled over Teacher’s favorite snow globe.  She became so flustered that she had to call in the parents of all the students.  Moose Mom understood the situation, though, and agreed that it would be best for all concerned if her children found a less tinsel-y position around the North Pole.  (That’s how all the coal hauling became the responsibility of the moose.  But that’s another story).  Nevertheless, Teacher remained stern.  And her stringent classroom requirements held for her elf assistants as well.  All business.  No fun.  Hence the sadness in Cailyn and Abby’s hearts on hearing of their assignment.

There seemed to be a stronger sense of urgency in the classroom that week.  A “do it one more time just to make sure” kind of thoroughness.  For the three elves, that meant one more time of hanging on for “deer life” as their charges took off and landed over and over.  Practice flights pulling a sled were arranged.  Now it wasn’t so hard for Chris.  She and Elsa had worked together for quite some time, so they were beginning to really click.  And it looked pretty good for Abby as well.  She had been entrusted with the strong young reindeer named Sarah.  Sarah was quiet, but paid close attention to everything Teacher said.  And she was quite good at practical application as well.  (That means she could do what Teacher explained.  Really well).  Cailyn, on the other hand, had to deal with the newest reindeer of them all, Clareese.  Clareese was excited about her newfound ability to bounce higher and leap farther than she ever thought she could.  She could hardly keep her feet on the ground long enough to hear things like, “Take off involves a process.  You must follow the process.  No exceptions.  Everything must be just so or the sleigh will tip and toys will spill and Santa will be … well, you don’t want to know how he will react.”  Now, come on, how many youngsters do you know who can stand at attention for that long?  They have to move.  They have to fidget.  They have to fly!

And so Cailyn struggled and Clareese tugged.  Cailyn tried whispering through clenched teeth, “You have to be quiet.  This part is really important.”  It didn’t work.  Cailyn tried her angry voice, “Clareese, you better do this, right now!” No effect.  Why she even got down on her hands and knees and went through the motions herself, thinking maybe that would inspire the young one.  Nothing.  Clareese was just being so … so … mooselike.  If this kept up, she would end up on the moose line, towing the coal, and then back for more.  And if that happened, Cailyn would be the laughing stock of all elfdom.  Well, at least of all the elves at the North Pole.  What could she do?  How could she make sure that Clareese was getting the lessons? 

Meanwhile, Christmas was approaching.  Rapidly.  Toys were flying into boxes.  Wrapper Elves with tiny little bandages on their fingers were busily sticking on the finishing strips of tape so the Bow Elves could whip their ribbon around and around and then produce the most amazing bows you have ever seen.  Only the best.  After all, it was Christmas!  Santa was doing his stretching exercises.  He has to be as nimble as he can.  Even with his Christmas magic, there is still a bit of twisting and turning involved in some of those tiny little chimneys.  And the reindeer were warming up as well.  Practice jumps and landings.  Final tugs on their harnesses.  Business as usual, right?  Well, that’s when it happened.  But more about that in a moment.  First …

Back over at the SSRT (Santa’s School for Reindeer Training, in case you forgot), things were getting more and more tense and intense.  Elsa was mysteriously called away and never returned.  More and more, Teacher’s attention was drawn to Sarah, and soon she, too, disappeared from the practice field.  And that left only Clareese … and Cailyn.  The weary elf was embarrassed.  And frustrated.  Ok, and she was a little bit angry as well.  “Why me?” she wondered.  “Why did I have to be assigned to this little reindeer who doesn’t want to do anything but play around?”  Doesn’t she understand what could eventually be at stake here?  Doesn’t she see that pulling Santa’s sleigh is one of the most important honors any reindeer could ever hope to achieve?  Doesn’t she …” 

Now wait a minute.  Right in the middle of her complaining and lamenting, something caught Cailyn’s eye just over that snow drift, kind of to the right a little.  No, over there, in the direction of the workshop.  There was a movement of some kind.  She was sure of it.  And for some reason Teacher had stopped in mid-sentence.  Now that never happened.  Puzzled, Cailyn tightened her grip on Clareese’s reins and stared toward the North.  Was that?  Could it be?  But why?  What?

Now Cailyn was not just seeing things.  Sure enough, over the snow at a very slow and unsteady pace, came … Santa’s sleigh!  It was not flying, and that confused Cailyn, for one thing.  And as it drew closer a few other things confused her as well. 

Now let me return to that part of the story I left out.  Do you remember where that was?  Here. I’ll help you.  It was going something like this:

“And the reindeer were warming up as well.  Practice jumps and landings.  Final tugs on their harnesses.  Business as usual, right?  Well, that’s when it happened.” 

Now do you remember?  Well, here’s what happened next.  Comet and Blitzen were going through their usual routine of flips and skips, when suddenly (No one knows for sure the reason why), Prancer reared on her hind legs in a stretch that placed her just high enough to be in the flight path of the performance-focused Comet and Blitzen.  They never saw her.  She never saw them.  The result was a horrifying crash of epic proportions.  Elves came scurrying from the workshop.  Santa, himself, and even Mrs. Claus rushed to the scene, concern etched on their faces.  Prancer attempted to rise first.  But she was in obvious pain.  Her right front paw was already swelling.  It turned out to be a really bad sprain.  No break.  Comet had a similar problem with his left front paw.  Now you have to understand.  A reindeer without the full use of both front paws is … well, useless on the sleigh line.  There is so much pressure with all the takeoffs and landings on rooftops that both feet have to be able to stop on a dime.  Two key reindeer were definitely out for this run.  Not a good thing.  Not a good thing at all.

As their attention turned to Blitzen however, Santa was a bit more hopeful.  All four paws checked out A-OK.  No obvious bruises.  Antlers all intact.  Tail still standing.  He looked good.  And that was a good thing, too.  See, replacing two reindeer would be difficult, but the replacements could be strapped into position behind more experienced ones, and all would be well.  But if a third one went down, all sense of stability would be at risk.  So it was very important for Blitzen to check out normal here. 

Elf doctors were called in immediately.  The injured flyers were carted off to the infirmary to be cared for there.  Blitzen was cleared for duty at first.  But then.  Well, then he started acting a bit strangely.  He pranced a few steps toward his position on the sleigh.  And then stumbled backwards and nearly fell.  Shaking his head and grunting loudly, he squared his shoulders and moved forward, not in a prance this time, however.  This time he cocked his head to the side, put on his most determined face, and began to walk.  One firm step at a time.  Right into the storage shed.  Now wait a minute.  Something was going on here.  Something’s not right with Blitzen. 

Oh, he tried several more times, and with help from several of the elves, he was even strapped into place on the sleigh.  But the other reindeer knew.  The elves knew.  Santa knew.  Something was not right with Blitzen.  Oh, he seemed cordial enough.  Almost too cordial, though.  He gave his line partner a lick when he was being strapped in.  Not that unusual.  But then he licked the two elves adjusting his reins (and everyone knows elves hate to be licked).  Something was not right with Blitzen. 

But it was Christmas Eve, and time was growing short.  The two new reindeer (who we know now were Elsa and Sarah) were strapped in behind Dasher and Dancer, and were nervous, but eager to go.  Santa decided to give it a trial run and see what happened.  Without the load of toys Santa climbed into his seat.  He looked ahead at his dear friends and the two new recruits.  He made eye contact with Rudolph up at the front of the team.  Both slowly shook their heads side to side.  Slowly, cautiously, Santa took a deep breath.  And as he exhaled he whistled the “Go” command.  Rudolph instantly strained at his bindings, as did his other charges.  The two new ones were a bit slower on their response, but in but a moment they, too, were at full awareness, tugging with all their might.  Memories of Teacher and her commands came back to them, and they smiled.  They were ready.  They were on the team.  They were pulling Santa’s sleigh.

And then there was Blitzen.  Oh, he pulled the sleigh all right.  Always one of the strongest of the reindeer, he pulled … first, to the right just a hair.  Then he tried to compensate, but went too far to the left.  None of the others could keep their bearing, much less their balance.  They did the best they could, but they just were not able to get the sleigh off the ground.  It careened first one way then the other, narrowly missing a group of elves who were drinking a hot chocolate and enjoying a cookie.  Oh, this was not good.  Something was not right, no, something was dreadfully wrong with Blitzen.

As they cleared the top of the snowbank near the SSRT (Santa’s School for Reindeer Training.  I know.  Those letters are hard to remember), Santa tugged and pulled at the reins, but to no avail.  They just could not get enough bounce, enough lift to get airbound.  What would Santa do?

That’s when Santa looked over at the practice field.  And guess who he saw?  That’s right!  There was young Clareese, leaping and prancing excitedly at the sight of the sleigh, and Santa himself.  And as she frolicked, she dragged her poor elf Cailyn through the snow, right toward the sleigh and the frazzled team of reindeer.  Just before she crashed into the middle of them, Cailyn managed to spit enough snow out of her mouth to holler a very loud, “Clareese!”  Now I’m not sure what it was about that particular command.  Was it just a bit louder, just a bit more urgent than ever before?  But whatever it was … it worked.  Clareese heard it and instantly stuck a perfect four-point landing right in front of the sleigh … and Santa. 

To say that Santa was impressed would be putting it lightly.  His eyes widened as he gazed at the young reindeer and her snow-covered elf.  A grin spread across his face.  And suddenly, in that booming voice that only Santa can produce … he laughed.  Not a cute little chuckle, “ho.  ho.  ho.”  Oh, no.  This was a Santa quality, “HO!  HO!  HO!” 

I bet you can guess what happened next.  The elf sleigh team came running up about that time, out of breath from following the grounded sleigh.  They quickly untethered poor Blitzen and led him off to the infirmary to be cared for.  With Cailyn’s help, Clareese was tethered into his place.  Proudly, Cailyn stepped back and beamed as her charge shuffled and tugged excitedly.  This was it.  The moment of truth.  Could she pull her part?  Would she be in tandem with the rest of the team?  Would Santa make his deliveries on time?

Well, of course you know the answer to that one, don’t you?  Clareese did a fantastic job that night.  Well, not that she did anything spectacular like Rudolph did on his special night so long ago.  No, Clareese did nothing that humans would consider outstanding.  But she did what she could do.  She held her place in line.  With her added prance and youthful leaps, the team’s task was successful.  The toys were delivered.  Christmas was saved.

Oh, and did I forget to mention?  As a special reward for her hard work with Clareese, Cailyn was presented with the most special reward ever for one of Santa’s elves.  She was invited to ride with Santa on his delivery run.  It just doesn’t get any better than that. 

Unless of course you are Teacher.  Santa remembered her, too, and when she checked her stocking that next morning, there was a brand new snow globe.  Oh, and I heard that he was considering giving the moose another chance at pulling the sleigh. 

Do you think he should?

Romans 5:6-8 says, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Father, thank you for loving us in spite of ourselves.  Help us to do what we can do.  Amen.