Santa & the Torch

Part 1: The Reindeer Roundup

Written by: S.T. Maverick

     “Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring not even a- - wait a minute who in the jingle bells hell are you?”

“Mr. Nick, I’m Klaus. Remember we met outside Sicarios Tacos, you got put out because you wanted ‘Taco Tuesday’ prices plus a ‘Saint Nick discount’, Klaus states reassuringly. 

     Mr. Nick, he’s been Santa for a few decades now, but it’s about time he’d be moving on to retirement. Mr. Nick has unintentionally made his way from the North Pole to a city near you. Problem is, he’s suffering from yule-heimers  disease and acute dementia, but he has to find his replacement. Klaus, just a guy trying to do right in a world with society on the decline, had no clue who he was actually helping, nor the journey in store.

“Where’s my nog flask? I know it was in one of these pockets. Holly! Holly, you seen my flask? Where you at girl, I ain’t got time for games!”

“Mr. Nick, who is Holly? It’s just you and me here. You sure you need that flask right now?” Klaus asked with genuine concern.

“She always brings me tacos on Tuesdays -Taco Tuesday!” Mr. Nick says with a sniffling tear, “It’s our favorite day. Holly! I want my taco!”

     Seeing Mr. Nick like this really tugged at Klaus’ heartstrings. Klaus, raised by his grandparents, has quite the soft spot for the elderly and the youth respectively. And that alone made him the perfect candidate for the gift of a lifetime. But the only thing Klaus wondered was, “Should I tell him it’s Thursday?” Upon assessment of Mr. Nick, Klaus was sure of four things; first, although he wore a fine suit, he appeared unkempt with stains and buttons undone. Jacket and slacks wrinkled and quite possibly dirty from the smell of things. Secondly, speaking of smells, this old guy Mr. Nick smelled like spiked eggnog, musty pinecones and gingerbread cookies. Also, his shoes were scuffed, creased and seriously worn down around the soles. Last but not least, Mr. Nick must be drunk, and or going through some things.

“Hey man, what you lookin’ at? I’m not with that funny stuff, don’t be eyeballing me slick cause I’ll pluck it,” the seemingly crotchety old man shook his fist with a suspicious eyebrow raised.

“Woah, hold up Mr. Nick, I'm not eyeballing you. I am trying to figure out a few things though, like where is your family? Your missus? I see you got a ring there,” Klaus observantly gestured to the left hand of Mr. Nick.

“Oh what, you must think you know jingle bells cause you can hear, huh? See, you all in the gift bag and don’t even know the holiday. Lookin’ like you smokin’ that wreath or whatever they call it. Why you analyzing me jack?” 

  Mr. Nick paused abruptly during his rant with a particularly perplexed expression and looked around the room…

“Wha- what is this? Where am I? I got a family, where is it? I’m married. I miss my missus, the reindeer did it! So I did what I had to do,” he said as he slapped his chest. “And that’s how the cookie crumbles,” he said with a shrug.

     This sent Klaus up the wall with curiosity, and brought him to tears all at once. Klaus, being familiar with elderly ailments, had a not-so-good feeling about what was happening in his living room. Just off sight alone it was clear Mr. Nick ate well enough, if I’m being honest, it may be safe to say he could give the warmest, coziest hugs.

“So what, you gon keep me hostage here or something? I got places to be and things to do!” Mr. Nick proclaimed as he tried to straighten up his mistletoe lapel pin.

“Alright, we’re getting somewhere, at what place do you need to be? Who’s assisting you with these things you gots to do? Maybe I can help you get where you need to be, or to whoever,” Klaus offered with sincere hopes.

Suddenly, in a brief lucid moment, Mr. Nick locks eyes with Klaus and with a weary voice sobs out “My wife gave me this mistletoe pin on my twentieth Christmas before I lost her!” He then bawled his eyes out. Between the sobs and tears Mr. Nick weakly cries, “She said as long as I wear it I’d never,” he sighs then yawns out “Never be far from home and her love.”

     After his bout with the pain, he located his nog flask and triumphantly grabbed it from the floor. He went for a swig, but only got a couple droplets of nog, not even a tongue’s plunge of flavor. Feeling down and defeated, he reaches into the inner pocket of his suit jacket, revealing an amazingly fresh uncrumbled gingerbread cookie. He bit it then placed it back in his pocket, laid his head back on the couch and went right to sleep.

     Meanwhile, back at headquarters, all types of hectic holiday hullabaloo is afoot, well many small ones to be exact. The elves were losing their minds! They were nearly on the brink of mutiny. The chaos pending, adorably barbaric. 

“Awh fudge nuggets, where’s the elfin’ mistletoe locator button? I know I left it in a drawer…or was it - -,” Holly thought aloud while searching high and low. Suddenly, the mischief alarm began blaring. WEE-WOO WHAANT WHAANT WHAANT!

“Ohh sugar cookies!” Holly exclaimed.

“Oh my jingle bells! They’ve gone mad! They’re gonna riot!” The signal elves screamed as they ran past Holly’s office and workshop door.

“I gotta straighten this out, the big guy won’t be happy if things get wonky,” she reached for the emergency phone and pressed the one button on it, several times. “Operator, patch me through to Elf Management.”

     Elf Management, these hard nose elves play no games. They demand order, work and the making of toys. And in that order.

“You’ve reached Elf Management, where we manage your elfing problems. Dial one if you’re calling to add someone to the naughty list. Dial two if you’re calling about requesting a - -.”

“The fudgin’ elves are gonna riot! Get to the workshop immediately!” Holly snapped.

     After making the call, Holly threw the phone on the receiver and darted towards the door. As she ran out the door of her office, it dawned on her, the mistletoe locator button was in her vest pocket the whole time. She’d never thought the time would come where she would have to use it to locate Nick. But now it was time to press the button. The mistletoe locator blinked on then off five times, then on the sixth time it stayed lit because it had located Mr. Nick. But before Holly could go track down Santa, “These fudgin’ elves!”

     Back in the city, nestled and cozy, Mr. Nick had been asleep for about twenty minutes, when the most surprising item lit and filled the room. Fluorescently festive colors shone bright through the whole level of the building that  Klaus lived in. The fourteenth floor to be exact. Bold reds. Blinding golds and bosky greens. Then followed a siren-like buzzer that ended with a jingle. 

WHAAANT! WHAANT! Jingle.

     The bright lights and noisy alarm pulled Klaus right out of his slumber, however groggy and disoriented. Upon entering the living room where the light shined brightest, Klaus discovered the source of the raucous alarm. The mistletoe lapel pin on Mr. Nick’s suit jacket was putting on a light show that rivaled a new year’s celebration. He inched closer, to get a better view of what kind of jewels could be responsible for such a spectacular and dazzling display. Another step closer, you know, to try to understand what he was witnessing. Now, reaching just a single finger, you know, to see if it would stay lit when he touched it. While slowly reaching, to keep from accidentally applying too much pressure, all the colors whispered a tune to him. The tune lulled him from his nerves. And just as his finger touched the jewels on the mistletoe pin, the once dazzling colors began swirling, twirling and gusting like a tamed yet vicious tornado. Then Mr. Nick unexpectedly grabbed a tight hold of Klaus’ wrist and uttered four words, “I hope you’re ready.”

     As the gusting winds settled and the sparks of magic combined with fluorescent colors faded, Santa’s four words rang in Klaus’ ears. He looked around to observe what and where he’d just happened upon. After he took a moment to let his eyes get focused and adjusted to the lights, he realized he was no longer in the confines of his home. 

     “Where am I,” Klaus wondered aloud, “Mr. Nick, where exactly have you taken me?!”

     “I’ll give you a hint,” Santa says with a hearty chuckle, “It begins with N, and ends with orthpole!”

     That bit of news hit Klaus like a ton of bricks, to the chest. But the straw that broke the camel’s back was all the-

    “Saint Nickontae Q. James, you beautiful brown man! You nearly gave me a fudging heart attack!” said a stern yet diminutive voice calling out, followed by jingle belled pitter-pattered footsteps. 

     It was Holly, Santa’s assistant elf in charge. The fiery little elf ran to Mr. Nick then  jumped into his arms for a much needed embrace, then quickly got down noticing their unexpected guest. She abruptly invaded Klaus’ personal space, giving a thorough inspection of the subject. She buzzed around him, quite literally like a bee would a flower, with an occasional sniff or a “hmph”. 

     After her brief, yet thorough examination, Holly gathers her opinion and turns to Santa with a face of concern.

“So, uh, big guy, you think this guy’s gonna be able to win the trials? I dunno he doesn’t look like much, looks like he’s never seen the dark side of a reindeer’s tushie.”

     Santa simply chuckles and says, “I might’ve had some strong nog in my flask but I know a good heart when I hear its beat and rhythm.”

     Thoroughly and utterly puzzled, Klaus had one question to confirm to himself what he needed to know for his mind’s sake. “Santa, Mr. Nick, or whoever you are, y’all have the wrong guy. Can I just wake up now because whatever is happening here couldn’t possibly involve me, right?

     “Okay, so check this out,” Mr. Nick said as he breathed a sharp breath knowing that Klaus needed some clarity, “I understand your concern but at this very moment that’s not what is most important. What’s more important currently is that you are here because of your heart and beyond that, this is part of the selection process set by the Grand Elves Tribunal.”

     Hearing that kind of soothed Klaus’ angst but set him on his next tangent of curiosity. Thinking about all kinds of things, “Santa Claus”, “Grand Elves Tribunal” and “Reindeer tushie.” Two things had become abundantly clear to Klaus. First, he was clearly beyond his wits, and secondly this was surely not a dream. 

     Then there was a sudden uproar. Raucous fans and supporters cheered as horns trumpeted and the drums sounded like a roll of thunder. Klaus’ heart began to pound heavy in his chest. 

Then, blared the voice of an announcer on the PA system of Holi-Dome. 

“I hope you’re ready, because it’s time to see if this candidate has the bells it takes to be crowned as Santa!”

     Elfonso Jollytime, one half of the reporting team and the biggest voice in the booth, basically lived for this occasion, “The Santa Trials”! This event doesn’t come around often, especially seeing as the typical Santa term is at least a decade. Mr. Nick, or Saint Nick as they call him up north, had just finished his third term and was then tasked to find his replacement. However, the only catch is, if Klaus fails the three events of the trials he’d be forced to live as an elf and Mr. Nick wouldn’t be able to pass the torch until next season. That might suck worse than a lump of coal as a gift. Not to mention, the fact that Mr. Nick isn’t guaranteed to make it through the offseason due to his current stage of yule-heimers.

     Klaus stood deathly still, stupefied in awe at the masses of elves in the seats of the Holi-Dome. Stunned and in amazement of the freakishly festively decorated stadium, the buzz from the roar of the crowd resonated through Klaus’ body and made his nerves tingle. All of a sudden, the platform they were standing on began to rise to the playing field, revealing to Klaus that he was set for one bell of a time. Knowing that it was showtime, Mr. Nick gave Klaus one last pep talk. 

“This ho-ho-holiday is counting on you, all you gotta do is go out there and wrangle your reindeers. The judges allow you fifteen minutes to do so and the goal is nine. Also, keep in mind some will choose you.” And with a jingling twinkle, POOF, and they were gone.

     Now on the field and just about ready for the contest to begin, Klaus did a few limbering stretches. Then from the sideline comes the voice of the field announcer, and other half of the reporting team, Elfeena Jollytime. Pumped, primed and ready for the action, Elfeena began to hype the crowd up more.

“Are you fudgin’ ready?! Us elves up here at the pole never know when it’s coming, but we frickin love the Santa Trials! Our contestant, Klaus Wallace, will have to show just how big his bells are in ‘The Reindeer Roundup’.” Elfeena roars with dramatic intensity.

     Now, back at Santa’s workshop, Elf Management have their little elf hands full with the rioting elves. But Mr. Nick and Holly arrived at the perfect time to tend to the rapscallions. All types of chicanery was amidst, the toy tinkering elves weren’t tinkering on a single toy. The toy testing elves weren’t testing toys, instead they were playing some kind of mix between musical chairs and duck duck goose. For candy canes sake, the peppermint elves were eating peanut brittle! But, despite the several obvious workshop infractions, it took Santa no time to bring them to an immediate halt. He and Holly had appeared amongst all the hullabaloo with a thunderous poof of magic and holiday sparkle. Saint Nick barked four stern words, “Who’s goin’ on ice?” And instantly every bit of tomfoolery and mischief ended.

The Holi-Dome speakers began blaring, “Aaand here we go ladies and gentle-elves, this is the moment we’ve all been waiting for,” with a excited and triumphant tone, Elfonso announced to the restless crowd, “It’s time for the Reindeer Roundup!”

     When Elfonso finished speaking Klaus took his mark in the starting circle. The contest field was pretty big and greatly resembled a soccer field, especially from the center circle where Klaus awaited the start of the match. The starting buzzer went off three times, followed by brightly flashed green light, and from the gates sprang twenty agilely prancing reindeer. Just as fast as the reindeer were leaping, Klaus was chasing after them, every time he would zag the reindeers zigged, then he tripped, lost his footing and went tumbling to the ground, quite awkwardly.

     As Klaus looked up from the plush grass field of the stadium when the dust settled, a proud, strong reindeer stood right in the clearing. The reindeer, being massive in size compared to Klaus, lowered his head as if to offer a helping hand, or antler in this case. Klaus reached out his hand to touch the head of the reindeer, and almost instantly he felt a sort of metaphysical connection. At that very moment he heard a voice saying “You can do this, get up. Let’s make some holiday history!”

     Aware of the moment, Klaus stood to his feet quite empowered and determined. Then before climbing aboard the reindeer, he muttered to himself, “Let’s bucking do this. Cause my chestnuts are roasting in this frickin Santa suit!” Just as the reindeer chuckled, Klaus realized he was hearing his voice echoing back to him. Over all the speakers in the stadium, the microphone they placed on his Santa suit had exposed his labored indiscretions. Followed by a collective gasp from the masses of elves in the stadium. Then just as quick, the crowd, announcers included, broke out in hysterical laughter and applause.

“I dunno about you guys but that was a jam good Santa jingler if I ever heard one. That was hilarious, we elves appreciate good puns, and clean worded humor.” Elfeena announced, as the elves in attendance laughed and slapped each other’s knees. 

     The crazed laughter had spread through the Holi-Dome stadium like wildfire. Knee slapping laughter everywhere, as far as the eye could see. With such a great Santa jingler, the Grand Elves Tribunal were impressed, enough to where Klaus unknowingly earned a bonus point. That would come to serve Klaus well sooner than he knew. But he, at the moment, had his hands full because it was five minutes into the contest and he’d only connected with the one reindeer. However, with Captain Duke being the reindeer that chose Klaus, due to allegiance came two other stags, Lil’ Rudy and Bazzle. Having Captain Duke’s assistance helped Klaus significantly. After tying Bazzle and Lil’ Rudy to the hitching post it was back to the roundup.

     Securely straddling Captain Duke, reins in one hand and rope in the other, Klaus took a deep breath and commanded C.D. with a “YAHH!” And they took off. Galloping strong and with determined purpose, bonded mentally since their first touch, they began their attack in the field of play. Hooves pounding the ground, elf fans cheering, horns blowing, everything in the atmosphere caused a buzzing sensation. Klaus felt that very sensation and it brought him to life, like the first toy on Christmas morning getting fresh batteries. But the Grand Elves Tribunal took notice and decided to make things more interesting.

     Klaus, completely in tune with C.D., spotted a trio running off to their right flank and decided on their mark. They began their assault with a slight tug on the reins, a downshift in speed and slight veer. Then, a snap of the reins and a strong galloping hop had Klaus and C.D. now running alongside the trio. Quickly, Klaus lassoed the reindeer furthest to their right. Just as Klaus gathered himself to jump from C.D. to the closest target, the Grand Elves Tribunal waved their hands in unison, and in unison the reindeer took off in flight. Klaus quickly braved his nerves and stood up on C.D. mid-gallop, as he stood up all the elves in attendance stood in amazement, he then took a deep breath and leapt off as far right as possible.

“Trust me, Xander is ready to break formation, I’ve seen him fly a bajillion times. When he does, you’ll know what to do. Trust your instincts, Santa.”

     No sooner than he received the message, the moment was there. Even if it was only a few fleeting seconds, Klaus felt as if he was flying. Gasps of excitement and awe filled the stadium. The determination and passion endeared Klaus to the elves in attendance and those supposedly manning the workshop. “Now!” Klaus heard alertly and in one swift motion spotted Xander’s descent, reached out his hand grabbing the harness and then saddle to climb up and straddle. As soon as Klaus was mounted well, he did a hard tug pulling Xander to the right, while also wrangling the other two into descent and submission.

“Well, I’ll be a reindeer’s uncle!” Elfonso Jollytime declared in amazement at the spectacular feat. “Did you see that play? Did you fudgin’ see that?! Times like these make me glad we have instant replay! Klaus definitely has some Kringle in his jingle,” he proclaimed through the stadium speakers as he toonishly lost his elfing mind in the booth.

“He was in his bag for sure, Elfonso, let’s just hope he has a deep bag because that was something special,” Elfeena cheerfully stated in response to Elfonso. “Now with six reindeer under his command ‘Big Bells’ Klaus is in great position to roundup the final three with time to spare. But first, a word from our sponsors here at the Holi-Dome,” Elfeena announced cueing a brief intermission in the event, and with that came the buzzer.

     Back at the hitching post taking a quick breather, Klaus took a walk and looked over the six reindeer. There’s Captain Duke (C.D.), Lil’ Rudy, Bazzle, Xander, then Iggy and Izzy, the twins. While he intently pet and stroked each of his new companions, their bond grew fervent and strong. Then something happened that Klaus never imagined, “This is so exciting!” “I mean, really. You hear about the trials but to actually be rounded up by the new Santa, AMAZING!” 

“Guys chill! You’re gonna freak him out, I’ve barely spoken to him,” Captain Duke tells the twins as they try to contain their excitement. “You good there boss? You look like you saw the ghost of Christmas yet to come.”

“Am I good?” Stunned, baffled and now certain he’d gone off the deep end, Klaus’ knees buckled a bit. “We’re communicating. But how? Can I speak reindeer? Or can y’all speak English?”

“Minor details, but it’s Elfanese we’re speaking,” C.D. responded, and with that Klaus began to faint. But before he could hit the ground, Xander caught and propped Klaus up with his cradle shaped antlers.

“Elfanese? I never even knew it existed, how could I be speaking it?” Klaus inquired as he regained the strength in his legs and appreciatively pats Xander.

“With everything you’ve seen to this point, you’re questioning this?” Captain Duke curiously shook his head and chuckled. 

     With that being said, Klaus realized that he had one of two options: choice A, deal with the craziness of all this after the trials. And choice B, let the moment be bigger than him. The obvious choice, deal with the craziness after the trials. What he did know for sure, this was a challenge unlike any before and he had to put his best foot forward. The next thought, “I gotta get three more reindeer, five minutes left, there has got to be some kinda way to lure in at least three.” 

“Mannn, I don’t know about you guys,” Lil’ Rudy says as he licks his chops, “But I sure would enjoy something sweet.”

“Yeaaah, a jumbo candy cane would give me liiiife!” Izzy adds on with a nicker.

“I wouldn’t be mad at some chocolate right about now, my sugar is getting low,” Xander snorts dramatically, then adds with a suggestive brow raise, “You got any of that Santa magic?” 

     With such witty reindeer under his command Klaus is all but capable of figuring out something, after all, time is ticking on this intermission breather. Up on the score it read 1:15 until play resumed. 

     Back at the workshop, Mr. Nick and Holly, having dealt with the elf riot, were having a breather of their own. Obviously feeling more at home now, things were becoming less and less foggy for our current Santa’s yule-heimers and acute dementia. And with that, something quite fortuitous occurred while watching the TV presentation of “The Santa Trials”, Mr. Nick began to remember some tricks of the trade. 

“Awh dangblanget! The hat!” 

     As the current Claus Mr. Nick sat back, he remembered something he hadn’t told Klaus. So he hopped up from his cozy recliner in his office at the workshop and began looking for a pen and paper. Once he located the items he wrote a quick note. After he finished the note Mr. Nick radioed to Holly. 

“ClausMan to HollyDaze. Come in. Over.”

“Go for HollyDaze. Over.” Holly responded, ready for what was to come.

“Bring me the messenger hat, over.” he replied with a voice of serious intent.

“HollyDaze to ClausMan. Copy that, the messenger hat is en route. Over.”

     Just as quick as she released the talkie on her walkie, she took off running as fast as her little jingle-belled feet could. She had to retrieve the messenger hat from her workshop office because there were a few issues with the drimwick casted over the hat that she had to fix. Hastily Holly hurried her way to the glass case holding the messenger hat. Upon reaching the case she grabbed the small mallet hanging nearby, she wound up a great swing and smashed the glass. Holly then quickly grabbed the messenger hat and returned to Santa.

     Back in the Holi-Dome stadium, the Reindeer Roundup was set to resume. With five minutes left to play Klaus took a second before he headed to the starting circle. Then out of nowhere the jingle-belled pompom ball began to jingle. JINGLE JINGLE. JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE. The jingling dang near scared the Kringle out of Klaus’ jingle, especially with the jingling ever so slightly moving the hat.

   The startling jingling discovery made Klaus immediately suspicious, so he took off the hat for inspection. Once he  removed the hat he looked inside. The most alluring ombré of reds, greens and golds captivated his eyes. As he gazed momentarily an Elfanese tune repeated three times saying, “Looky Loo. Minisage Toppie. Looky Loo. Minisage Toppie.” Which loosely translates as “Check It Out. Messenger Hat”. Klaus gingerly reached in and pulled out the note from Mr. Nick.

“The hat, there’s magic within, just as there is within you. You just gotta reach in and pull it out. -S.C.”

     Immediately after reading the note Klaus began thinking outside of the box and inside the hat. With doing that, he happened upon a stroke of genius and reached into the hat with purpose. When his hand emerged from the magical ombré of colors he revealed a six pack of jumbo candy canes. The hitched reindeer lost their collective cools and began prancing in place, but when he raised one in their direction they stood stern at attention, ready for some sweets. Klaus tossed Xander, Bazzle, Iggy, Izzy and Lil’ Rudy each a candy cane, and they all caught them quite fetch-like. He then climbed aboard Captain Duke and fed him the sixth jumbo candy cane as they trotted to the starting circle.

“There goes the checkered flag, the Reindeer Roundup has resumed,” Elfeena announced as the reindeer did a stretch lap around the field of play.

     As the seconds began to tick and the remaining reindeer started picking up speed, something unexpected happened, snowmen arose from beneath the turf of plush grass as obstacles for all intents and purposes. The snowmen appearing caused the prancing reindeer to implement aerial maneuvers taking off from the field. It was then that Klaus realized that it was time to take the figurative gloves off, and dig into his “bag”. The “bag” at the moment, his jingling Santa hat. Klaus grabbed his list and checked it twice, in order to see which reindeer remaining were naughty or nice. At the top of the nice list, three names are highlighted; Laci, Everette and Rosalee.

     Next to the highlighted names were notes about each one respectively, and of course the common point with each, the dire love of sweets and a good pour of warm licoriced syrup. The recurring dislike amongst the herd of reindeer , snowmen. With that, Klaus quickly formulated his next plan of attack, whilst masterfully maneuvering through the sturdily stationed snowmen obstacles.

     Klaus, confidently commanded his four-legged compadre, then he closed his eyes, removed his jingling Santa hat and reached inside. After a couple seconds of thought he pulled out a heavy duty super sized heatwave blow dryer. And to say the least, the snowmen began to sweat. He cranked the heat to MAX and began to make puddles of the once disruptive obstacles. After another dip in the jingling Santa hat, Klaus pulled out a string-knapsack with all kinds of candy and sweets inside, which made for the perfect reindeer boobytrap.

     Meanwhile, back at the workshop, Holly and Mr. Nick watched the games from the edge of their seats.

“I may have spoken a little too rashly on your pick for replacement, it’s looking like he may be the right guy for this heavy job,” Holly reluctantly admitted. 

“Ho-ho-hold on!” Mr. Nick chuckled with a roll of laughter and a knee slap. “ Now you wanna get on the winning side? What happened to all that doubt, huh? You shoulda known, I got the eye.” Santa pointed a finger to his eye, then with a smug chuckle and hearty “ho ho ho” he redirected his attention back to the giganTV.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Holly, a bit flustered with Saint Nickontae, “let’s just finish watching your prized pick perform practically passably.”

“Hello and welcome back to The Santa Trials at the illustrious Holi-Dome! I’m Elfonso Jollytime and this is the TV premier of The Santa Trials, where one lucky soul is tested in games of leadership, compassion and innovation. This year’s contestant, ‘Big Bells’ Klaus has definitely given a great show of skill and shown a deep bag,” taking a quick breath, Elfonso looked at his stat sheet and cue cards. “Check out the jumbotron for the highlights and instant replays. For those just tuning in, there’s one minute left and he’s down to his last bundle of reindeer to roundup, and what’s this? It appears he’s set a foolproof reindeer baited boobytrap, and he’s already handled the meddlesome snowmen obstacles, let’s just say that was a heated discussion.”

     ‘Big Bells’, now comfortably in the groove of the games, is putting his fingertips all over this competition. As he masterfully glides on the back of Captain Duke he spots the expected trio nearing the knapsack boobytrap. Laci, Everette, and Rosalee, having a timely hankering for sweets and candy, began easing up to the sweet boobytrap and didn’t notice Klaus circling above them. He gathered the rope and gave a few twirls and launched an attempt, hooking one target then swiftly went for the roundup drop-thru. On his dismount and drop-thru Everette felt his presence and dipped out of the supposed trap, only allowing capture of the other two. Noticing and knowing the stakes and ruling, Everette surrendered fealty by bowing.

BRAAAANT!! The Reindeer Roundup buzzer sounds off, calling an end to this round of competition.

“Elfeena Jollytime here in the field where the action is happnin’! I do believe this contest has been more entertaining than the time I pranked Elfonso by switching his chocolate kisses for reindeer droppings,” she then breaks out in hysterical laughter but then quickly gathers herself. “Sorry bro, it’s all love. Alright now fans, with the Reindeer Roundup having come to an end, ‘Big Bells’ Klaus has, in quite spectacular fashion, rounded up the following reindeer: Everette, Rosalee, Laci, Xander, Bazzle, Iggy, Izzy and Lil’ Rudy. Oh, and of course Captain Duke. With Everette actually conceding to Klaus’ command in order to join his sister Rosalee and wife Laci.” 

Quite peeved, Elfonso, now seen on the jumbotron, face went through a barrage of colors; yellow, green, blue, gray but settled at red. “Are you serious?!” He shouted so loud the speakers screeched. “No wonder I thought they were chocolate covered mints! Reindeer love eating mint leaves!” He doubled over and away from his post.

“Alright folks, it appears my brother is experiencing some intestinal difficulties currently, so I’ll be getting you great fans and spectators onto the next event ‘The Cookie Crumble Rumble’! Our contestant ‘Big Bells’ Klaus has made these games look like light work to a feather. But you all know, great things can crumble in the end. This chocolate chip chow down has chewed up and spit out many supposedly substantial Santa suitors.”

Hey, thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed Part 1 as much as I enjoyed bringing it to you. Please like, comment, share the link. I greatly appreciate the support. Come back for Part 2.