THE HOLIDAYS
SAVE CHRISTMAS
It was mayhem and madness in the Great Hall. Every Holiday in Rainbow Kingdom had been summoned even the groundhogs and their shadows, and they never came to anything.
“What’s the big emergency?” Jack Lantern whispered to Uncle Sam.
”Yeah what’s going on,” gobbled a Thanksgiving Turkey perched on top of a black cat’s back.
“Well whatever it is, I hope it has nothing to do with my holiday,” a Halloween witch cackled. “Or they’ll be toads hopping out of this hall.”
“Quiet!” the Forth of July sparklers sputtered as the doors to Great Hall were thrown open. “The Calendar King’s arrived!”
The Hall fell silent as a tall man with a long white beard and flowing rainbow colored robes walked into the room carrying a golden scepter with a snow globe at the top.
“Oh this can’t be good,” Jack O’Lantern groaned as the Calendar King sat down on a throne of sugar snow and candy ice with a worried look on his face.
“He looks like he swallowed a sour sugar plum,” the Dreidels twittered nervously.
“Two sugar plums,” the black cat licked his whiskers.
“Holidays!” the Calendar King said solemnly. “As you know, Christmas is only a few days away. Santa and his elves have been working round the clock trying to get everything done,” he said holding up the snow globe on this scepter so the Holidays could see for themselves. “That’s the good news…the bad news is that the Christmas Reindeers have all come down with a bad case of Gnu flu.”
“Oh no!” cried a Mother’s Day Card. “That’s awful!”
“Bad luck if you ask me,” shrugged Lucky the Leprechaun. “But what’s that got to do with us?”
“Yeah what’s it got to do with us?” chirped an Easter chick. “It’s not like we can pull Santa’s sleigh.”
“I’m afraid you have no choice,” the Calendar King replied. “Santa needs us.”
It took a moment for the Holidays to realize what the Calendar King was asking, and then it was madness and mayhem. Confetti flew from the room, and the Dreidels spun after them, while the Fourth of July firecrackers sputtered and sparked, and the groundhogs tried to burrow a hole through the floor.
“Sit down!” the Calendar King roared sending a shower of rainbow colored hearts into the air.
“I hate it when he does that,” a Scarecrow sighed as a purple heart landed on his nose.
“That’s better,” the Calendar King said as the Holidays returned to their seats. “Now then we have nine reindeers, so we’ll need nine volunteers,” he said looking eagerly around the Hall.
Not a single Holiday raised a hand, tail or broomstick.
“If you don’t volunteer, Christmas will have to be canceled,” said the Calendar King. “And if Christmas is canceled, the holiday spirit will be lost…and you know what that means.”
“No more holidays!” gasped a Halloween ghost vanishing on the spot.
“Exactly!” the Calendar King replied.
Every hand in the room shot up into the air.
“I’ll do it!” waved a Fourth of July flag.
“Thank you Flag, but I’m afraid you’re too light to pull a sleigh,” the King replied.
“Count me in!” Jack O’Lantern grumbled.
“Me too,” Easter Bunny and Uncle Sam called out together.
“This is going to knock the stuffing from me,” groaned a Scarecrow.
“That’s the holiday spirit!” said the Calendar King as Lucky the Leprechaun threw his hat into the ring, and a Halloween Witch her broom. Within minutes there were nine volunteers, including a rather plump Valentine and a Thanksgiving Turkey named Phil.
“So what now?” Lucky asked.
“This!” cried the Calendar King, and with a wave of his scepter turned each of the Holidays into a Christmas reindeer.
They were the oddest-looking reindeer the Calendar King had ever seen. Easter Bunny had long floppy ears, Jack O’Lantern was orange, while Uncle Sam was covered in stripes and Phil the Turkey had feathers growing from his tail. Still they were reindeer, and that was all that mattered.
“Now what?” asked Scarecrow, pulling straw from his ears so he could hear.
“Flight school!” the Calendar King announced. “If you’re going to pull Santa’s sleigh, you need to learn how to fly. To the North Pole!” he cried, and with a wave of his scepter the Holiday reindeers vanished.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Claus was busy taking care of Santa’s reindeers in the North Pole’s infirmary.
“You brought this on yourselves,” she scolded the line of reindeer lying in beds with spots on their faces and thermometers stuck in their mouths. “Ice hockey with a herd of Ague Gnus! And Christmas only two days away,” she said, handing Donner and Blixen a box of candy cane tissues. “It’ll take a week of sugar cookies to get you on your hooves again.”
“We don’t have a week,” Dancer and Prancer sneezed together. “Christmas is in two days!”
“The Calendar King will take care of everything,” Mrs. Claus promised as the Calendar King walked into the room.
“Nasty business Ague Gnu flu,” he said as Comet and Cupid blew gobs of purple goop from their snouts. “But this should cheer you up. The Holidays have agreed to help.”
“How?” Rudolph coughed.
“They’ve agreed to pull Santa’s sleigh,” the Calendar King replied, taking a step back as the reindeer’s nose began to glow a fiery red color.
“That’s not possible!” Dasher wheezed. “Only a Christmas reindeer can pull Santa’s sleigh.
“And we have nine Christmas reindeers!” the Calendar King said holding up the snow globe on the end of his scepter.
“Oh dear,” gasped Mrs. Claus. “They’re rather odd looking. Can they fly?”
“Of course they can!” the Calendar King cried. “With a bit of practice.”
“A lot of practice,” Santa grumbled, his jolly face red with worry as he watched the Holidays at their flight lessons. It was a disaster! Valentine closed her eyes every time she jumped, Easter Bunny couldn’t stop hopping, Jack O’Lantern was too round to get off the ground, and the Halloween Witch kept turning into a toad.
“Teamwork is what we need,” Santa said encouragingly. “You need to work together.”
“I’m afraid it’s going to take more than teamwork Santa,” the Calendar King sighed as Scarecrow landed in a pile of straw at his feet. “It’s going to take Christmas magic. Bells! Christmas reindeers can’t fly without them,” he said winking at Santa.
“Of course!” Santa cried. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of it,” he said, pulling bells from a tiny red velvet bag hanging from his belt.
“Me neither,” Uncle Sam groaned rubbing his head. “I think I broke an antler.”
“I’m out of tail feathers,” Phil the Turkey gobbled.
“So how does it work?” Lucky asked as Santa placed bells around their necks. “Do we make a wish? Turn around three times with a shoe on our head because that usually works for me.”
“We’re not wearing shoes,” Jack O’Lantern reminded him.
“Shoes would be nice though,” Valentine whined. “My hooves are cold.”
“You just need to believe,” the Calendar King assured them. “That’s how magic works!”
“Now line up!” Santa cried. “Phil you’re first, and then Easter…Halloween Witch you’ll be next. On second thought Witch is second,” Santa croaked as he was turned into a giant toad.
“Here goes nothing,” Tom gobbled nervously. He jumped into the air, and for a second it looked as if he would fall, and then he began to fly. A second later all the other Holidays had joined him.
“Christmas magic never fails,” Santa gave out a hearty chuckle
“Never!” the Calendar King agreed. “But, they need to work on the landing,” he said as Scarecrow landed head down in a pile of snow.
The Holiday reindeers practiced, and practiced…and practiced. Finally it was Christmas Eve! All the presents were wrapped, and Santa’s sleigh polished with stardust until it glowed. And, then it was time! All the Holidays came to watch as the Holiday reindeers paraded out to the flying field with bells around their necks, and Christmas stockings on their hooves.
“Go to it Jack!” a Halloween Cauldron shouted. “You got this buddy! Just don’t look down, or it’s pumpkin pie for you.”
“Holidays!” the Calendar King called out as Santa climbed into the sleigh. “I can’t thank you enough. You’ve shown true Holiday spirit!”
“Wait!” cried Rudolph still sneezing as he stepped forward. “You’ll need this!” he said holding up tiny red glowball he glued to Phil the Turkey’s nose. “That’s better!”
“Goggles on!” Santa shouted as he gathered the reins in his hands. “Holiday reindeers…start your bells!”
One by one, the bells started ringing, and then with one giant leap, the Holiday Reindeers jumped into the air!
“We did it!” Valentine cried as the sleigh lifted from the ground.
“Of course! We’re Holidays!” Scarecrow said proudly.
“Merry Christmas everyone!” Santa shouted tossing a shower of candy canes and sugarplums into air. “On Jack O’Lantern, Halloween Witch, Scarecrow and Lucky, Ground Hog, Uncle Sam, Valentine, Easter Bunny…and Phil!” he cried. “Now dash away, dash away…dash away all.”
“Merry Christmas,” the Holidays cheered as the sled vanished from sight. “Merry Christmas to all…and too all a good night.”
THE END