Ho Ho Ho!

Rudolph

Where are you my lead reindeer? We are getting late. We need to get those gifts to all the kids at the right time.

You know they will be waiting for them.

Hearing Santa’s voice from the other side of the field, I sighed.

Hearing this, Dasher gave me a questioning look.

“What’s wrong Rudolph? Why the long face? Cheer up! We are minutes away from our biggest flight of the year.”

Biggest Flight? Yeah right.

Until last year, I was all too happy to get those gifts to all the human kids, but then I saw something which erased my faith in humanity.

Mr. Claus is nice, but my last visit away from the North Pole has made me question, if the reason we give gifts to children is because, as an adult one is corrupted with evil and not because they stopped believing.

I still remember that night.

.

Santa had sent me on the task to get the raw materials for this year’s Christmas preparations with Hermey, the elf. It was late night and due to our previous supplier closing his shop, we had to find a new one. Which was a huge task.

After all, finding an adult that believes in our existence is very difficult and hence for our search, we ended up in Greenland. A beautiful place and even more beautiful was our new supplier, Angie. Right from the moment I laid my eyes on her, I knew what a kind soul she had. In her 50s, she still had that childlike sparkle in her eyes that communicated her awe upon seeing us. She invited us both inside her shop and even fed me mushrooms, my favourite while Hermey listed all the items needed by us.

In a few minutes, she had everything ready. A few benefits of having a well-organized shop, I believe. All the raw material was packed and ready for us to take back to the North Pole. She even slipped Hermey a note from her granddaughter addressed to Santa.

We said our goodbyes and got ready for our flight, but before we could do so, the lights turned off and Angie whispered, “Oh, no. It must be the goons that have been in the neighbourhood for the past few weeks. They saw the lights on at night and took it as an opportunity to loot my store.”

Upon hearing this, Hermey quickly got off the sleigh and asked her if she needed us to stay and help her. Even I nodded to communicate that we can stay.

She smiled gratefully and together, we waited for any sign of those goons. We waited but nobody came.

“Maybe they went away. They realized that there is nothing of importance at this old shac-,

Just as she was about to complete her sentence, we heard an ear-piercing scream of a child.

Angie quickly dashed inside the shop and behind the door that was at the far end. Hermey followed her to see what happened as I waited outside.

I was tied to the sleigh. Hermey forgot to untie me before running away. I waited outside for quite a long time, it was almost dawn when Hermey came back. I waited for him to tell me what happened inside but instead, he sat silently on the sleigh.

I gave him a questioning look and he whispered, “The goons were already inside. They took away some cash and a few items that they thought were worth more than a few pennies. Angie’s Granddaughter saw them.”

I sighed, assuming that the little girl got the goons caught. She is on Santa’s Nice List, for sure. I will personally ask Santa to make a special gift for her. The little hero deserves it.

I was brought back from my thought when I heard shuffling behind me and saw Hermey take out the Letter that Angie gave him to deliver to Santa and whined!

Hermey looked at me and I finally noticed the tears in his eyes.

Looking into my eyes he said, “Rudolph, we can’t give this letter to Santa. It’s useless. Because even though we promise to fulfill wishes of all the children with a pure heart, we cannot deliver gifts in heaven.”

.

Since then, my perception has changed. What’s the point, when upon growing up, they are filled with sins. Filled with greed, they hurt strangers and their own without remorse.

The scream I heard that night still chills me to the core. I am terrified to even think about what Angie went and is still going through. I asked Santa about her, I wanted to know if she was okay, but Santa couldn’t find her. Guess she lost her faith…

Reindeers are better than people

Sven, don’t you think that’s true?

Yeah, people will beat you

And curse you and cheat you

Every one of ’em’s bad

because they all hurt you.