Chapter 5:  A Friend In Need Is A Friend Indeed...
 
   "Now we pay a visit to the Eskimo people!"  Santa exclaimed.
   "Do they live in igloos?"  Wiggle asked.
   "Some of them do,"  Santa answered.
   "Cool!"  Rosie said.
   "There's one..."  Santa declared, pointing below to a large,
dome-shaped house.  "Take us down, girls..."
   "Okay," Sammi replied as the ferrets flew diagonally towards the igloo.
   "Watch your speed!"  Santa yelled as the wind rushed by his head at
nearly eighty miles an hour.
   "Not again!!!"  Maxie screamed as the girls and the sleigh shot like a
bullet into a large snowbank next to the igloo.  Dooks sounded from
everywhere as the ferrets burrowed their way out of the snow.
   "Practice makes perfect..."  Santa reminded them as he wiped the powder
from his beard and clothes.
   "Can we deliver the presents?"  Sammi asked politely.
   "Sure you can!"  Santa answered, handing her the packages from his bag.
   "This gift is too big to fit in the igloo though,"  Santa said as he
pulled a six-foot long sled from the sack.  "I'll just leave it by the door."
   "What is that?"  Sammi asked, looking at the vehicle that Santa had
unloaded with the large ribbon on top.
   "It's a new sled for the family,"  Santa stated.  "They wrote me a
letter saying that their old one broke a few months ago, and that they need
a new one to hunt for seals."
   "They eat seals?"  Rosie asked.
   "Yes, that is all that they have to live on in this climate,"  Santa
replied.
   "I'm going in!"  Sammi declared, carrying the gifts in her arms.
   "Hello,"  A little Eskimo boy and girl pronounced to her as she entered
their home.
   "Hi!"  Sammi said, handing the gifts to them.  "Merry Christmas!"
   "Merry Christmas to you too!"  The boy and girl replied, taking the
presents.  They were dressed in heavy coats made of thick fur.  "Would you
like something to eat?"
   "Please!"  Maxie stated as she entered the igloo, followed by Rosie,
Shiva, and Wiggles.
   "Here,"  The Eskimo boy and girl said as they offered some bits of meat
to the ferrets.
   "Mmmm,"  Maxie declared as she chewed on the food.  "This is delicious.
What is it?"
   "Seal meat!"  The boy answered.
   "Gross!"  Rosie said, spitting the food onto the floor.
   "We consider it a delicasy,"  The Eskimo girl stated.
   "Yes,"  The boy added.  "We do not waste any of the parts of the seal
either.  We eat the intestines and everything!"
   "Yeah,"  The girl offered.  "Those are the best parts!"
   "I think we should be going now,"  Wiggles reminded the ferrets.
   "Goodbye,"  The Eskimos remarked.
   "Merry Christmas!"  Maxie said as they left the igloo, rejoining Santa
at the sleigh.
 
   "Were are we headed to next?"  Shiva asked Santa after they had visited
the homes of everyone within 100 miles of the North Pole.  It seemed like no
time had passed at all.
   "We are going to Alaska,"  Santa answered.
   "Hey,"  Rosie declared.  "How can we deliver all of these presents in
one night?"
   "Yeah,"  Maxie added.  "That seems impossible!"
   "Well,"  Santa replied.  "Stranger things have happened, I'm sure..."
   "Oh,"  Sammi stated.
 
     (to be continued, see http://home.aol.com/wildsidepu for the rest of
the story!)
[Posted in FML issue 1768]