Chapter 4:  "Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"
 
     "This is gonna be fun!"  Sammi said as Tiny and some other elves
attached harnesses and reins to each of the girls.  They were outside in the
snow, but the ferrets were not cold because Mrs. Claus had quickly knitted
five, little sweaters for them.
     "I can't believe that I'm wearing a sweater!"  Rosie exclaimed.
     "I happen to think that mine is quite adorable,"  Wiggles stated.
     "Mine is warm!"  Maxie added.
     "Santa,"  Shiva declared.  "How do you fit all of the presents in that
bag?"
     "They just seem to fit,"  Santa answered, loading his large, red bag
into the back of the sleigh.  "The elves make presents all year long, and
they put them in my bag.  It takes them a few days to get them all in, but
the bag seems to hold as much as we need it to.
     "Remember the crinkle sack?"  Wiggles answered Shiva.
     "Oh, yeah," Shiva replied.  "Whatever happened to the crinkle sack?"
     "I think we left it in the forest,"  Rosie replied.
     "Hey Santa,"  Sammi exclaimed.  "Have you ever met Mr. Otter?"
     "I talk to him from time to time,"  Santa answered.
     "Really?"  Maxie said.  "How do you know Otter?"
     "He comes up to the North Pole to see Mrs. Claus, the elves, and I.  He
really is a kind fellow.
     "I love Otter!"  Sammi announced.
     "Santa,"  Wiggles stated.  "Please tell us about the first Christmas."
     "Well,"  Santa began.  "The first Christmas ever was when Jesus was
born."
     "Who is Jesus?"  Rosie asked.
     "The Son of God!"  Wiggles shouted.  "Please pardon my sister's
foolishness."
     "You mean the Big Ferret in the sky?"  Sammi replied.
     "Something like that,"  Wiggles answered.
     "Well,"  Santa said.  "The tradition of Christmas was started when
Jesus was born, to celebrate His birth."
     "Why do you deliver presents?"  Shiva asked.
     "I suppose that the festivity began when the three wise men brought
gifts to the parents of Jesus on the night of his birth."
     "Did you ever meet those three guys?"  Maxie questioned.
     "Yes,"  Santa answered.  "Two of them happened to be good friends of
mine, and the third one happened to be me.  The Big Guy upstairs asked me if
I could deliver presents from then on to all of the world, and I agreed."
     "Woah,"  Sammi exclaimed.  "Santa knows the Big Ferret in the sky!"
     "Shall we be off then?"  Santa asked the girls, who were buckled in to
the reins of the sleigh.
     "Good luck, Santa!"  The elves and Mrs. Claus yelled from all around
the sleigh.
     "Well be back soon!"  Santa said, climbing aboard the sleigh and taking
the reigns in his hands as he sat down on the seat.
     "Here is your thermos of hot coffee!"  Tiny declared as he handed Santa
the colander.  "Hurry back!  We'll miss you!  Take care girls!"
     "Bye-bye, Tiny,"  The ferrets called back to him as they began running.
     "That's it, girls!"  Santa said from behind them, as the sleigh was
somehow pulled by these two-pound creatures.  "Now on the count of
three...jump into the air!"
     "I hope that this works!"  Shiva stated as she ran as fast as her
little legs would travel.
     "Yippeee!!!"  Sammi shouted as she jumped at Santa's count of three and
all five of the girls lifted gracefully off of the ground and into the air,
pulling the sleigh with Santa and his bag of presents aboard.
 
     (to be continued, see http://home.aol.com/wildsidepu for the rest of
the story!)
[Posted in FML issue 1766]