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]