|
Santa's Sleigh Lights
Copyright 2010 List of Illustrations Cathy and Janice watch their Mom The girls see lights in the snow
The Story About Santa's Sleigh Lights One Christmas Eve nine-year-old Cathy and her four-year-old sister Janice found their mom adding water to the family Christmas tree and checking the lights upon the tree. Janice tugged at her big sister Cathy's dress and whispered, "Let's get mommy to tell us the story of Santa's shay lights.Cathy smirked down at Janice and corrected her: Sleigh. Santa's Sleigh Lights. "Yeah," replied Janice. "Shay lights, like I said." Excited by the twinkle of the lights they asked their mom to tell them the story of Santa's Sleigh Lights.
As they cuddle beside the tree, mom said, "On Santa's sleigh, there are four special lights. Each one of those lights serves a purpose: one for every direction: North, South, East and West directions. If and only if all four of those lights are on Santa's sleigh will he be able to fly through the dark, snowy Christmas Eve night to deliver presents to all good girls and boys. If just one bell is gone or misplaced then there would be a great dilemma, there could be no Christmas."
The girls cheered, quite amused with their mothers story. All Christmas Eve the girls chanted the story over and over, even as they snuggled under their blankets in the bedroom they shared. What a wondrous sight it must be to see the sleigh's four colorful lights draped across the front of his sleigh and reindeer!
Later that Night That night after the family was all in bed and sound asleep there came a clang from outside the girls' bedroom window. From across the room Cathy heard her sister ask, "Did you hear that, Cathy?" Being curious Cathy snuck from under her covers and peeked out her window. Everything looked so wonderful because there laid a blanket of snow covered her family's back yard. It glistened under a dark and snowy sky. But what made that clanging noise? Janice joined her at the window. The girls looked all around. Snow was falling heavily, and Cathy thought, "Surely this is the kind of Christmas Eve when Santa needs his sleigh lights!" Then they noticed two small glimmers of light hidden in the snow just below their bedroom window. “Oh, my, Cathy!” Janice panicked. “Look in the snow. There’s a monster down there. I see red and green monster eyes.” Cathy shoved at her sister's small shoulder. "Silly, baby,"she scolded. "Monsters do not have different colored eyes."Janice thought to ask her older and wiser sister, why not? When suddenly like a blast of breath on the cold windowpane an even more frightening and dreadful thought popped into both their minds all at once. Janice turned to her big sister and cried, "This is a dealamar!"Even in the drama of the moment, Cathy corrected her. "A dilemma.' And Janice replied, "Yeah, that's what it is, a great dealamar!" Worried what the lights may be, Cathy with her little sister in tow dashed from their room, down the stairs, out the front door and onto the porch. Peering from the porch, they spotted the lights. Cathy jumped from the porch and into the snow filled back yard. She wrapped her arms around herself because the cold night made her feel like she stood inside a big ice cube. Cathy looked around. She cried back to her sister to remain on the porch so as not to catch her death of a cold. At first Cathy did not see anything through the snow and darkness, but then a shiny glimmer caught the corner of her eye. At the same time from the porch Janice screamed out and pointed at the glimmer, "There, Cathy! Look there. There they are!" Cathy jumped to the spot then bent down and pulled two shiny light bulbs from the snow. She held them in her hand, amazed. Strangely, while she was holding the lights she felt warm, she was not cold anymore. She smiled because she had found the lights when a thought struck her. "Oh no!"Cathy said aloud with a worried look in her eyes, "This is one of Santa's sleigh lights! That means there can be no Christmas without these!"Cathy decided to wave the light bulbs high in the air over her head and call out to Santa. She cried at the top of her lungs in hopes that Santa would hear her through the wind and snow. Janice too began calling out, pleading with tears in her eyes. "This is a terrible, Christmas dealamar!" And Cathy added, "Yes, it is!" Together the sisters took hold of the red and
green sleigh lights. With all their might they flung them high
above their heads. So very high the lights flew through the
falling snow. They fell back into Cathy's hands. The girls
felt troubled. Then Cathy waved the bulbs four times, one time
for each direction Santa needed to guide his way across the
world. Suddenly, with some magic sparks, they disappeared and
the girls were once again cold. Cathy ran back onto the porch. "Did you see that, Jan?"The girls marveled over their Christmas Eve adventure. Could those lights really be Santa"s? Did he get them back? Will Christmas come? But the sisters shivered with cold and felt tired so they returned to their beds and drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, everyone opened all of the presents, and everyone was happy. Little Cathy looked under the tree and found one last present with a card attached, addressed to both Cathy and Janice from Santa. Excited, the two girls opened the present together. Inside the wrapping, atop a snow-white colored box, laid a card that read: “Thanks! But I always carry a spare. Merry Christmas, Santa.” Cathy and Janice laughed and cheered. Together, they looked in the box and pulled out a red and a green sleigh light.
The End
Return to Cathy
& Janice
Click here to meet the CHARACTERSClick here for Favorite MomentsThe Orbegon 4 comic Strip
|
