A reindeer's tale

My favorite Christmas was a very magical one. Let me tell you about it...

One Christmas morning when I was seven years old, I ran downstairs as fast as I could to open my presents. Chris, my little brother, followed close behind. Just then, I lurched to a stop on the landing.

Chris toppled into me. "Holly!" he hollered. "Why did you stop?"

"Shhh, look," I whispered, putting my finger to my lips. There was a reindeer dressed in sleigh bells eating the celery and carrots we had put out next to Santa's cookies and milk on the hearth.

"Ohh," Chris whispered back, a surprised look on his face. "Whoa!! Santa must have left a reindeer last night!" The reindeer looked up. It cocked its head to one side, then went back to eating the celery and carrots.

"Did you see?" I asked Chris, pointing to the reindeer's neck. "It has a collar."

"What does the collar say?" Chris asked excitedly.

I squinted at the collar. "It's ‘Comet.'" At the sound of his name, Comet trotted up to the edge of the stairs. After that, he hopped up onto the landing. Then I saw something. Red rubies were placed around Comet's collar.

"That's pretty," I said.

"I think he's lost," Chris said.

"I agree," I told him. "How are we going to get him back?" Then, we both heard stomping upstairs.

"I think the kids are downstairs," I heard mom say.

"Yes, I do too," dad answered. Just then, mom and dad appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Oh, look, they found a reindeer, " mom said. "Let's keep it! It would be a cute pet."

"And," said dad, "We could make lots of money with it!"

"Oh, the phone's ringing. I think it might be Grandma," mom said. Both our parents walked to the phone.

"We need to take Comet back to the North Pole. He and his family are going to miss each other," I said in a loud whisper to Chris. After lots of walking, we arrived at a huge house with reindeer stables. Chris, Comet and I ran to the big house. We knocked on a large door. Santa opened it.

"Why, there you are Comet! We've been looking for you all over! Did you two bring him back?" He looked at us. We nodded. "Thank you! For helping my friend Comet, we will give you a special ride back in our sleigh!"

When we got on our roof, Santa helped us climb down the chimney. Just when I heard the reindeer push off the roof, I saw something small drop into the fireplace. A little white silk bag with a card tied at the top lay in the black ashes. I picked up the bag and looked at the card. Although it was covered in ashes, I could still read it. It said: From, Santa Claus. To, Holly Noel. I opened up the bag. Inside was a red ruby from Comet's collar.

I smiled, "I'll never forget you," I said, putting the red ruby next to my heart. "Never, ever, ever."

Miranda O'Mahony
Lodi
Age 8