stewwauchop@optusnet.com.au

Santa's Christmas Quest

by Stewart R Wauchop

It was two weeks before Christmas. Santa was very sad. The North and South Poles were melting because the world was warming, and his magical ice castle was melting too.

He had tried and tried to think of something he could do to save his world - but he had not been able to. Even the Elves had all but given up and now part of the roof of his workshop had collapsed and all the Christmas toys had been lost.

Santa sat in front of his castle in the moonlight - it did not look as bad in the moonlight as it did in the day. He gazed up at the stars and watched a shooting star - a meteor flashed through the sky trailing its bright white fiery tail. 'What a wonderful sight,' he thought, and wondered where the meteor travelled from - how far it came before reaching Earth. 'A long, long way', he thought. Then as he gazed into the starry night sky, he wondered about the other things, whizzing through space, things like ... asteroids and ... comets.

'Now, comets', he mused, 'they are made of ice - if only we could get one to visit Earth, then we could freeze the poles again'.

Fidbertle, an Elf friend, came along and sat next to Santa. 'Penny for your thoughts?' he said quietly, not wanting to disturb his friend too much.

'Eh?' replied Santa, startled. 'Oh I was just thinking about ... about all the things whizzing about out there'. He said pointing at the stars.

' Like what?' asked Fidbertle.

'Well ... Like comets for instance. You know they are made of ice - well some of them.'

'Oh yes.' Mumbled the elf - he was used to Santa and his occasional wobbly thinking.

'Well, if one came close to us, here on Earth, we could, maybe, grab the ice.'

'Of course.' Fidbertle smirked.

Santa continued, '... And freeze up the poles ... get the temperature of earth back on track.'

'Most unlikely.' Fidbertle replied. 'Maybe you could go to a comet and bring the ice back!'

'No there's an idea', exclaimed Santa, getting excited, 'you know, maybe I could.'

'And how would you propose doing this amazing feat?' asked the elf, sarcastically.

'I don't know ... yet ... but I'm going to think about it. Yes I'm going to think about it very seriously.'

'Halley's comet is quite close at the moment.' Joked Fidbertle. 'Maybe you should go there ... take the sleigh.'

Santa's face lit up, smiled broadly, 'What a wonderful idea. Yes of course, take the sleigh and,' putting a chubby finger to his lips, thoughtfully, 'and my Santa sack. Instead of toys, I'll fill it with ice ... loads and loads of ice.' Of course Santa's special sack could expand to any size he needed - to fit in any number of toys.

'Oh Santa, dream on!' The elf whispered.

'No, no, you've given me a great idea. Thank you my friend, thank you.' And Santa got up and sloshed excitedly back to the castle. Fidbertle just shook his head.

#

Santa sat at his desk, he scribbled madly on his notepad, tearing pages out as he went, throwing some on the floor and others into a tray beside him. From time to time he stopped scribbling to scratch his head, thoughtfully, then return to his frantic work.

As the sun seeped into his office and climbed the wall opposite the window, Santa sat back, exhausted, but a smile crept over his face. 'It can be done,' He whispered, 'and just in time for Christmas'.

The door creaked open. Mrs Claus peeped through the half open door, 'what on Earth are you doing Santa. You've been in here all night. Are you alright?'

'Never better my dear,' bubbled Santa, leaping up from his desk and bounding over to his beloved wife, sweeping her off her feet and swinging her around joyfully.

'You've gone mad.' She said barely squeezing the words out from his hug, 'what is it Santa? What's gotten into you?'

'The answer, the answer, that's what's gotten into me.' He replied.

'The answer to what? What was the question?' Mrs Claus asked giggling - she hadn't seen Santa so happy for ages and ages.

'The question, my dear, my darling, my precious, was how to save our world. And now I know.'

'You have gone mad, completely bonkers.'

'No, no I haven't. Fidbertle gave me an idea - I'll admit its crazy, but I can prove it will work. It will work!' He exclaimed throwing his hands jubilantly into the air.

Santa ran back to his desk and grabbed the bunch of papers from his tray. He waved them at Mrs Claus, 'look here it is - it's all here!'

He beckoned her over and explained his plan, poring over each page - occasionally grabbing his pencil, crossing something out and writing something else. 'Yes it's all here.' He said at the end of his explanation, collapsing back in his chair. 'I just have to do it.'

'It looks very ... dangerous.' Said Mrs Claus hesitatingly

'Oh there are risks.' Said Santa brushing her concern aside, 'but there are risks with all great endeavours.' He said, grandly.

'Just don't get carried away with yourself Santa, I know how you get when you have an idea. Have a sleep dear, and think about it for a day or two before you go running off making a ...'

'Making a what? Burst Santa, 'making a what ... a fool of myself?' He stopped before he said any more.

Mrs Claus looked a trifle taken aback by his sudden outburst. '... I didn't mean it in a nasty way.' She said.

'No, no I know you didn't ... sorry. Just excited you know. I will think it over, and yes a snooze will do me the world of good.' And with that he sank into his chair, closed his eyes and was snoring before Mrs Claus quietly closed the door.

#

Santa worked on the sleigh for the next week. What was left of the workshop was a hive of activity as the elves, led by Fidbertle, scurried around carrying out Santa's orders as fast as they could. Mrs Claus was very busy, keeping everyone energised with lots of tea and toasted tomato and cheese sandwiches, which she would wheel in on a tray-mobile every hour or so.

He made all sorts of adjustments - big and small, so that the sleigh could travel far out into space and return, as safely as possible.

He installed a stronger energy shield to protect himself and the reindeer, a completely new navigation system to guide them through the planets, a complicated mechanism to open and close the Santa sack, like a giant net, to gather up the ice and then release it over the Poles, a huge fuel tank.

On and on it went, the workshop pulsing with blue light every time the energy shield was tested, or a new part welded. Until finally, at the end of the week he sat back and looked at the sleigh, smiling. 'Finished,' he sighed. So did all the elves . They were all exhausted - but all managed a big cheer when Mrs Claus brought in the biggest chocolate cake anyone had ever seen to celebrate.

Visiting the reindeer in their stalls, Santa whispered, 'well my friends, I believe we're ready to go.' Rudolph pawed the straw with his hoof and nodded his approval. 'Good lad!' said Santa as he stirred his aching back into action and stood, stretching. 'Time for some rest before we head off eh?' He mumbled heading for the door.

#

Next morning was Christmas Eve, the sleigh with all it's new knick-knacks stood proudly on the snow. The reindeer whinnied excitedly - they could barely wait for Santa to settle into his chair in the sleigh.

Fidbertle walked around the sleigh checking this and that admiringly. 'Wonderful!' he concluded.

All the elves waited expectantly for Santa to emerge from the front door of the castle and when he did a great cheer went up.

Mrs Claus walked alongside Santa on his way to the sleigh, 'have you got your sandwiches?' she asked worriedly. 'Yes dear.' Replied Santa. 'Your clean underpants?' 'yes dear.' He replied a little peeved. 'Your ...' 'My dear, I have everything.' He smiled at her.

'I'm so worried.' She said quietly, trying hard to keep a smile on her face and pressing his hand in hers. 'Are you certain you have made all the adjustments?'

'Yes dear.'

'Taken everything into consideration?'

'Of course dear - it's going to be wonderful - you'll see! Now stop worrying.' He whispered, smiling and waving all the while to the elves.

'But I can't stop worrying Santa.'

'I know my dear, but we've been through it a hundred times. It'll all be alright. I've thought of everything.'

And with that he gave her a big hug and kissing her on the cheek climbed aboard the sleigh.

Another great cheer went up from the elves - Santa acknowledged them with a jolly wave, and blowing a kiss to his wife, touched the starter on the control panel of the sleigh.

The air around the sleigh and reindeer shimmered in a blue haze, the air hummed slightly. Ripples like when a stone is dropped in a pond, spread through the haze, warping the sleigh's image in its waves. Then silently it rose, and suddenly disappeared into the sky in a flash of white light - Santa was on his way to Halley's comet.

#

The sleigh hurtled out of the Earth's atmosphere - the International Space Station flashed by as the startled astronauts peered out the window.

Of course they couldn't know what the strange streak of light was that disappeared as quickly as it had arrived, because Santa's expedition had been kept a secret from humans - just in case it didn't work out.

Santa hummed a jolly tune as he travelled out - the stars warped around him - he was going almost as fast as the speed of light.

Suddenly there was a jolt, a bump and then another - Santa was startled. He could see small shapes speeding at him - rocks. 'Oh, oh,' he muttered - worried, 'meteors.' Don't worry fellas.' He called to the reindeer, 'our shield will protect us!' and under his breath, 'I hope.' With that he turned the knob marked "SHIELD" from five to ten.

He looked at the fuel gauge and could see that the shield, protecting them, was burning much more fuel than he had estimated. But he reasoned that he had allowed a generous extra reserve - so all should be OK.

They came out the other side of the meteor field, and Santa checked all the gauges for any damage. 'All good!' he called to the reindeer as they sped on into the dark reaches of space.

After several hours, he could make out the whispy white tail of Halley's comet way, way ahead. 'There it is fellas!' he called excitedly, and the reindeers bellowed out their approval.

As they got closer, Santa checked the Santa sack, which was in the storage compartment behind him. He needed to make sure that the equipment he had made to open the sack was working properly. It seemed to be fine, so he turned back to the control panel and touched a button marked "OPEN" - the the sack opened wide. He touched the button again and it closed. He breathed a small sigh of relief.

Now he could see the tail of the comet in great detail - it was huge - maybe a million miles long and half a million wide. It looked magnificent - all that ice sparkling in the light from the stars. His dream was coming true - or so he thought.

#

The tail of the comet drew closer and closer. But as soon as the sleigh reached the tip of the comet's tail, it was immediately sucked in - like a giant vacuum cleaner - sucked along in the gravity of the comet. 'Oh, oh!' cried Santa, 'I didn't count on this!'

The sleigh lurched this way then that, upside down, swirled around in the sea of ice.

Santa fought for control - he increased the power, thrusting the sleigh forward, and slowly he regained control and was heading straight. 'Whew! That was close'.

He checked the Santa sack one more time and then touched the button marked"RELEASE". The sack flew out the back of the sleigh like a gigantic balloon, hundreds of miles long and wide - its mouth gaping open like a huge whale. 'Fantastic!' he yelled. The reindeer agreed - they'd never seen anything like it - mind you, neither had Santa!

Ice started filling the sack. It got bigger and bigger and all was going according to plan. Until it got so big that it started to drag the sleigh out of control again.

Once more Santa was forced to increase the power to regain control. He checked the fuel gauge and a worried frown crossed his forehead. It showed they were almost into the reserve.

'Let's finish up and get out of here!' he shouted to the reindeer, who thought that was the best idea he'd had for a while.

Santa touched the button marked "CLOSE", and the mouth of the sack drew closed around its haul of ice. Then he pushed the throttle forward and pointed the sleigh toward the edge of the comet's tail.

Not much happened - the sleigh was still being sucked along sideways now, by the gravity of the comet. He pushed the throttle further forward using even more power and gradually they made their way to the edge of the ice tail, and suddenly they burst free.

The reindeer snorted their delight, but Santa was looking at the fuel gauge - they were getting perilously low on fuel. He, turned the knob reducing the power being used by the shield, and pulled back the throttle, slowing the sleigh down. 'That's better.' He thought as the gauge showing fuel burn came back out of the red into the green.

The sleigh made a giant arcing turn and headed back for Earth.

#

Santa turned and watched the sack for a time - it looked amazing, stretching back as far as the eye could see. 'More than enough ice, and a much better Christmas present than toys.' He mused, opening his pack that Mrs Claus had prepared and taking out a peanut butter and lettuce sandwich. He munched into it, 'delicious! Ho, ho, ho.'

Rudolph turned his head to look at Santa's sandwich. 'Don't worry fellas, there's a feast of your favourite moss and hay waiting for you at home.' Santa called. The reindeer team snorted in delight.

Some hours later the blue orb of earth came into view - tiny - in the far distance. Santa pulled the throttle back to zero. 'We'll cruise in from here.' He said looking at the fuel gauge, which was well into the reserve now. 'Just need enough to slow down into the atmosphere and cruise over the poles.'

They passed the moon and the International Space Station. The astronauts couldn't believe what they were seeing - Santa in his sleigh with all the ice trailing for hundreds of miles behind. They radioed back to Earth straight away, with the news.

#

It was Christmas day. The sleigh dropped into the Earth's atmosphere. Santa could see an orange glow surrounding the shield as it heated up.

'To be expected,' he thought. But as they went down further, the orange turned to red, and things started to warm up uncomfortably in the sleigh.

The reindeer began to fret looking back at Santa for help. Perspiration dribbled down Santa's face into his eyes and his beard - he could hardly see.

Suddenly they were roasting!!

Santa checked the gauges for the shield - the energy levels were very low. 'Stupid me!' exclaimed Santa - I forgot to turn the shield back up.' He turned the knob and the shield glowed brighter. 'That should improve things,' he called to the reindeer.

The reindeer had smoke coming from their fur and Santa could see smoke coming from his beard. He had to do more - and quickly, before they burned up.

He had an idea - using some of the power in the sleigh's engine, he slowed it down, just a little. Now the sack of ice was going slightly faster than the sleigh. The ice caught up to the sleigh and as it passed underneath, Santa increased the speed of the sleigh to match the ice - the sleigh was now on top of the ice - cooling it down. They were saved!

People on Earth gazed up into the sky as, what looked like, another moon streaked across their view, trailing a long glistening tail, heading toward the North Pole.

Then, magically, as Santa touched a button "RELEASE", the back of the sack split open - tons of ice crystals flowing out showering down in the most spectacular light show anyone had ever seen. Everyone gasped and cheered. Even the children, who had been very disappointed when they awoke to their empty Santa stockings.

The North pole glittered and shimmered as it froze again.

A mother polar bear looked at the sky and growled happily, before rolling playfully in the new snow with her cub.

Santa's castle was restored to its icy glory. The elves stood about in the falling snow and ice, cheering as they had never done before. Mrs Claus watched smiling proudly, Fidbertle at her side.

After completing his work at the North Pole, Santa flew down South and repeated the work there. Both Poles were now as beautiful as they had been before the warming started.

But the fuel was now dangerously low, hovering around "EMPTY". So Santa turned back for the North Pole and home. He touched the button"CLOSE" and the Santa sack drew back into the compartment at the rear of the sleigh.

The sleigh flew low over the North Pole and descended out the front of the Ice Castle.

It settled into the new snow comfortably and Santa closed it down just as the fuel gauge glared "EMPTY".

The blue shimmer of the shield faded and a tired and singed Santa and reindeer team were mobbed by cheering elves, led by Fidbertle.

They carried him on their shoulders back to the front doors of the castle, where Mrs Claus waited, wiping a happy, relieved tear from her cheek.

Santa marched over to her and gave the biggest hug and kiss he could muster from his tired, smokey body.

'My goodness, you are are a mess,' whispered Mrs Claus in Santa's ear, 'and you smell of ... smoke.' She touched his singed beard and ruffled it a little - the burned ends fell out like soot. 'Whatever happened?' she exclaimed - a worried frown passed over her usually jolly face.

'Nothing that wasn't expected,' replied santa confidently - fibbing of course!

He turned to the elves, 'thanks fellas, would you mind taking care of the reindeer. They're pretty hungry.' The elves laughed as he and Mrs Claus went inside.

#

'I've cooked your favourite dinner,' Mrs Claus said lovingly as Santa collapsed into his comfy chair. 'Wonderful, I'm starved,' he replied wearily, 'but I think I might just take nice bath first.'