All characters, except those not mentioned in the movie are the property of the Walt Disney Company and are used without permission. Even though I do believe that they deserve much better than what they get recently these days.
Chapter 1: A Magic Sleigh Ride
"Heads up!" Mrs. Calloway turned too late to see a snowball thrown by Maggie come splash straight into her face.
"Oh now you're in for it!" Shaking the snowflakes off, she darted towards Maggie to wrestle with her in the deep snow (in a playful way). Then they began to have more snowball throwing competitions to see which one was the fastest at throwing them. So far, it had been an even match. The two had managed to get along just fine over the past couple of months since Maggie first arrived on Patch of Heaven. Although there were still some times when they would have a few arguments about whatsoever, they would always find ways to resolve their differences as most families do. None of that would spoil their winter wonderland at this moment.
Grace on the other hand had been making a snowman and using small quality items to create a happy face. She let out a sigh. It would have been much more fun if the snowman would at least say hello to her or be able to dance around in the snow. The reason she thought about that was because of the story of Frosty the Snowman who came to life from the magic of a hat placed atop his head. Too bad she didn't have a hat or a scarf for him.
Without warning, she didn't notice a big snowball zoom and splat behind the back of her head, almost causing her to lose balance in the deep snow.
"Hey Grace, are you gonna stand there all night with your hooves frozen over there, or do we have to drag you over to join our snowball fight!" Maggie had called out to Grace in a playful sarcastic tone. "You're missing out on all this!"
"Come on, you can finish the snowman later!" even Mrs. Calloway agreed whilst shaking bits of snowflakes off of her body.
Oh what was there to complain about? She was still having lots of fun out here. Leaving the snowman behind, she went off to join Maggie and Mrs. Calloway for a long lasting snowball fight. Although it was cold out, the three girls had worn a few minimal garments to keep themselves from freezing to death. Maggie wore a dark green scarf around her neck and aquamarine earmuffs. Mrs. Calloway wore a blue violet scarf and lilac earmuffs under her purple bonnet. Grace had worn a thick pink scarf and purple earmuffs. As they were still playing, Grace stared back at the snowman sitting all alone on the small hilltop; it might not have been a real person, but for some reason, it seemed to possess a kind personality. Or had she been listening to too many fairy tales to think of such things?
"You know…" Maggie had ceased from throwing any more snowballs to talk about a story, "…when I was a young calf growing up on my old home, me and the other cattle would gather around and listen to Abner tell a story about a magical place called the North Pole." Grace and Mrs. Calloway paused for a moment at the mention of that word and listened as Maggie continued. "It's true, every year on the night of Christmas Eve, it is said that a merry old man by the name of Santa Clause rides on a sleigh pulled by eight reindeer to deliver presents all over the world."
"Tell us more about Santa," pleaded Grace. She was feeling excited and merry herself by listening to the tale.
"Well let me think now," Maggie scratched her chin thoughtfully for a moment. "In order to enter the house without waking anybody, he slides down the chimney to leave the gifts by the Christmas tree and exits through the fireplace. Sometimes you can even hear his sleigh bells ringing merrily in the sky."
"What about the North Pole, what does he do there?" Grace still wanted to hear more.
"I'm getting to that. During the rest of the year, he lives together with his wife Mrs. Clause and his elves manufacturing toys in preparations for the next couple of years. For you see, his home is like a huge toy factory like no other in the world." All the Christmas memories from her earlier childhood began to come back to her from every tale she told her two friends. A smile spread across her face as she looked up dreamily at the snowy sky with snowflakes falling. "I wonder what it would be like to ride on his sleigh and travel all over the world while still delivering gifts. And I wonder if it would be possible to ever visit the North Pole to see what a wonderful, fabulous, magical, spectacular…" Maggie's eyes began to sparkle from imagining what would lie beyond the North Pole.
"…more spectacular nonsense!" Mrs. Calloway interrupted sternly, knocking Maggie out of her daydreaming experience.
"Excuse me?" Maggie turned away from the snowy sky.
"Don't you think you're a little old to still believe in fairy tales about some old man riding in a sleigh on a night like this? First there was that story of Callie the witch whom Grace was afraid of and now this?" Grace nearly shuddered from the sound of that dreadful name. Even if only a month had passed since that dream, she still didn't like having anybody say it in front of her. And sometimes, she still believed that the witch was still somewhere out there waiting for her next victim; especially her. She had gently asked the entire family numerous times to try and never mention that name out loud. But was it really a dream?
"You know if I were you, I would watch what I say because Santa keeps a list of all the folks who have been naughty or nice all through the year. And he knows," Maggie warned as all three of them were walking back to the farm.
"Have you ever seen any of what you just mentioned before?" Mrs. Calloway asked in a concerned tone. She saw Maggie scratch her head with her hoof while trying to come up with something.
"Uh…well no but…but…" she stammered.
"But what?" the proper cow was still waiting.
"Not exactly…but just because you're not seeing something don't mean it ain't there. Abner once told me that believing in something means…well you know. It just means you believe in it."
"I see," was all Mrs. Calloway could say without being convinced. Maggie furrowed her brow from having heard her say that.
"You don't believe in Santa Clause do you Mrs. C?" she asked seriously.
Grace paid no attention to the two of her friends as they continued to talk about the existence of Santa Clause and the North Pole. Just like Maggie, her mind was now on wondering what it would be like to visit such a wondrous place. Unlike Mrs. Calloway, she found the story of the night on Christmas Eve quite believable from every detail explained clearly. If she were ever to be swept away to another land of enchantment, then the North Pole would definitely be the perfect place to be; unlike the land of the dead that's for sure.
That night
The three girls had fallen asleep hours later. Maggie and Mrs. Calloway managed to agree on not speaking another word about the existence of Santa Clause since both knew it was wise to keep one's beliefs to themselves rather than boast about who was right or wrong. It just simply wasn't worth it.
Grace on the other hand still believed she would somehow hear the bells from Santa's sleigh ride by pretending to go to sleep. Then again, what if the whole situation is nothing more than mere nonsense as Mrs. Calloway said it was? But why would Maggie even bother mentioning it to them if she had never seen it? As she was still lost in her thoughts, she thought that she heard a sort of strange yet merrily echo. Could it be the sound of jingling bells? Not only did she hear jingling bells, but also the snorting of a different kind of animal. Jingle bells, animal sounds, what more could it possibly be? Rising up, she walked slowly to the doors to listen for any more jingling. Grabbing her scarf and earmuffs off a wooden stool, she opened the doors to find a sledge and eight reindeer with bells on their harnesses!?
Grace stood there in bewilderment with her mouth dropped open. It was almost too good to be true. Santa's sleigh was right in their ranch. Only that the person who sat on the sledge was no bigger than a baby lamb. There sat a tiny old man with a white bushy beard, a small stubby nose, a green pointed hat, a blue sleeve shirt, light brown pants, and small dark brown boots. Grace stared at him in confusion. Was that little man Santa? She had at least expected him to be a little bigger than what she was looking at.
"E...excuse me but are you Santa Clause?" she asked the little man. He gazed at her while holding on to the reins.
"No, but if you climb aboard, I'd be more than happy to take you to the North Pole," he answered in a voice like a male chipmunk.
"Climb aboard, you mean this is…?"
"…Santa's sleigh," the little man finished for her. "Of course it is, and I'm Ester the gnome. We're a few inches taller than the elves. What we do is take care of the reindeer while the elves help Santa with making toys." He gave Grace a cheerful smile as she climbed on the sleigh to examine its seats. It was made of a soft velvety red material. She couldn't believe she was actually sitting in a sleigh she thought was only supposed to be imaginary. But it was here now.
"Are we ready to depart?" the gnome asked cheerfully.
"Oh but maybe I should go and get…" she was about to say Maggie and Mrs. Calloway until she heard a shout from somewhere.
"Grace, what are you doing? Get off there this instant!" It was Mrs. Calloway with Maggie running up to the sleigh. They had put on their winter garments. Immediately, the gnome had cracked the reins and the sleigh started moving. Maggie had managed to jump aboard, but Mrs. Calloway had a hard time catching up.
"Stop the sled!" she cried out to whoever was riding this thing. The other two helped her get in a few seconds before the sleigh began to lift off the ground.
"WHOA, WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!?" she hollered in bewilderment from seeing that their ranch had grown smaller and smaller.
"We're going to the North Pole!" called the gnome while holding on tightly to the reins. "So whatever happens, hang on tight!"
"What do you mean hang on TIIIIIIGGGGHHHHTTTT!!!?" Mrs. Calloway held on to her hat as the sleigh was now zooming at a high speed into a bright light up ahead. The cows covered their eyes as the light grew brighter. It was almost like riding on an out of control train ride without any breaks. "I DEMAND TO KNOW WHAT THE MEANING OF THIS IS!"
"HANG ON, WE'RE ALMOST THERE!" the gnome shouted as the sled still kept zooming. Finally it slowed down while the light diminished. The cows opened their eyes to see that they were still up in the sky which was twinkling with the brightest stars of all shapes and sizes.
"Wow, look at all the stars!" Grace shouted in joy as she gazed at the starry sky. It was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. Maggie was surprised as well as her and tried to convince Mrs. Calloway to come and see. But the proper cow refused, insisting that she would rather wait until they land on the ground. This was definitely not her way of adventuring up at a high altitude, especially if they should all be asleep by now.
"Look down below!" Ester called out. "Right now we are traveling over the forest of Christmas Trees!" Maggie and Grace gazed down to see the entire snow covered forest of trees decorated with aluminous colors and lights. Never had they seen something so beautiful like this before.
"Take your seats now, we're about to make a landing!" Everyone sat down as they were now nearing the snowy ground. The sleigh landed with a soft thud.
"Are we on the ground yet?" Mrs. Calloway asked nervously.
"Yes, you can open your eyes now Miss-no-fun-at-all!" Maggie answered sarcastically. Mrs. Calloway rolled her eyes ignoring her comment and looked at all the beautifully decorated trees the sleigh had been passing through. This all couldn't be real. She turned to the gnome in control of the sleigh and moved upward.
"Whoever you are, turn this sleigh around at once and take us home," she ordered.
"Sorry ma'am, no can do," the gnome answered while still keeping his eyes on the snowy path. "The light we just passed through only allows us to enter into this realm without turning back. Only Santa Clause knows the other way around"
"Santa Clause, what is going on here?" Was this some kind of joke?