May I Have This Dance?
A.N. Happy Holidays to everyone! This story here is my early Christmas gift to all of you! Now, allow me to clear something up before this story begins: I know I spell Hermey's name as "H-E-R-M-I-E" instead of how it's traditionally spelled. Well, I spell it like that because I feel more comfortable with that spelling.
One day in Christmas Town, Rudolph and the rest of Santa's reindeer were having a practice run pulling the Jolly Old Fat Man's sleigh. It was part of an every-other-day routine to make sure everything went smoothly when the reindeer pulled the sleigh on Christmas Eve, delivering presents to all the good little boys and girls all around the world. As usual, Santa was pleased with that he was seeing.
"That's it, boys!" said Santa. "Keep up the good work!"
Soon enough, the practice run ended, and as the reindeer were detached from their reins, Santa congratulated each one.
"Good job today, boys, as usual." he said before turning to Rudolph with a smile. "Especially you, Rudolph."
"Thanks, Santa." said Rudolph.
"Now, go relax and get some rest." said Santa.
"Yes, sir." said all the reindeer.
With that, the reindeer went their seperate ways. As Rudolph went along his way, he saw a posted nailed to a tree. The poster was for the annual North Pole Reindeer Dance, which was to be held that evening at the Christmas Town Snowball.
"Oh, right." said Rudolph as he read it. "That's tonight."
"Hi, Rudolph." a familiar voice said.
It was Clarice.
"Oh, hi, Clarice." said Rudolph. "What's up?"
"Not much." said Clarice. "You going to the dance?"
"I...I think so." said Rudolph with a blush.
Clarice was a little concerned.
"Are you okay, Rudy?" she asked.
"Uh...yeah! Yeah! I'm fine!" said Rudolph.
"Okay." said Clarice. "Well, see you at the dance."
Clarice then left, leaving Rudolph all alone.
"Darn, I really want Clarice to be my date at the dance, but how should I ask her?" he pondered to himself.
Just then, he had an idea.
"Maybe Hermie might have a suggestion." Rudolph said.
With that, Rudolph trotted over to the Tooth-Mobile, where his best friend Hermie The Elf, D.D.S. had just finished an appointment with a patient, who just so happened to be the Elf Foreman.
"Alright, Chief, I'll see you in two weeks." he said.
"Thanks, Hermie." said the Foreman.
The Foreman then left, and Rudolph entered. Hermie was most surprised.
"What are you dong here, Rudy?" the elf dentist asked. "Your appointment's not until Wednesday."
"It's not that." said Rudolph. "It's about the dance."
"What do you mean?" asked Hermie.
"I want to ask Clarice to be my date, but I don't know how." said Rudolph. "I don't want to sound too casual about it."
"I see." said Hermie. "I think I know what you could do."
"What?" asked Rudolph.
"Make a poem asking her." said Hermie. "That's what I did to get the Tooth Fairy to go with me at the Valentine's Day Dance when I was a student at the Elf Academy of Dental Arts."
"Good idea." said Rudolph.
Just then, Rudolph realized something.
"Wait, I don't have hands." said Rudolph. "Can you help me, Hermie?"
"Of course." said Hermie. "I mean, that's what friends do, right?"
With that, the two went back to Rudolph's home, where Hermie got out a pad of paper and a pencil.
"You tell me what to write and I'll write it down, okay?" asked Hermie.
"Yup." said Rudolph.
With that, they got to work, and soon finished. When they were done, the duo went over to Clarice's home and Hermie knocked on the door. Sure enough, Clarice answered.
"Rudolph?" she asked. "What do you want?"
Hermie then held up the paper with the poem on it to Rudolph, who then read it out loud. The poem went something like this:
"The stars in the sky,
Match the sparkle in your eye.
Love starts with a dance,
Then blooms into romance.
If two become one,
It's a lot more fun.
My request is simply:
Will you please go to the Reindeer Dance with me?"
Just as Rudolph finished up, Clarice smiled.
"Yes, Rudy." she said. "I'd love to go with you."
Rudolph smiled, too.
"Great." he said. "So, see you at the dance?"
"Totally." said Clarice.
Later that evening, Rudolph and Hermey went over to Clarice's home again, this time to pick her up. Rudolph had a dark red bowtie tied around his neck. As soon as he knocked on the door, Clarice answered. She had blue eye shadow on her eyelids and was wearing a red bead necklace.
"You look lovely." said Rudolph.
"Same to you." said Clarice.
"Thank you." said Rudolph. "Ready to go?"
"Yes, I am." said Clarice.
"Then let's go." said Rudolph.
With that being said, the two went to the Snowball, followed by Hermie. Inside, reindeer and elves alike were busy hanging out with one another. There were plenty of snacks and punch to get them through the night. Santa then got up on the stage.
"Welcome to this year's Annual Reindeer Dance." said Santa. "As a special treat, our own Hermie The Elf, D.D.S., has traded his dentists' uniform for a pair of headphones and a set of turntables and will be the DJ at our party. I will now turn things over to Hermie."
And that's what he did.
"Hello, everyone." said Hermie. "Like Santa said, tonight, I will be your DJ, and I'll be playing all the hits you love from the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's, whatever! To start us off, let's hear some good 'ol Twisting & Shouting!"
With that, the party really began when Hermie played "Twist & Shout" by The Beatles. After that came Barry Manilow's "Copacabana". After that song ended, Hermie spoke into the mic again.
"Alright, people, we're gonna slow things down now for a Couples Dance." he said. "So find a partner and get ready to slow dance."
As soon as everyone had a partner, Hermie played "Too Much Heaven" by The Bee Gees. Rudolph and Clarice slow danced together while the song played and looked at each other lovingly.
"I'm so glad we went." said Clarice.
"So am I." said Rudolph.
Later, after the party had died down, Rudolph and Clarice were standing outside, looking at the moon.
"This is to beautiful." said Clarice. "I just love the way the moon shines on the snow."
"It's just as beautiful as you are." said Rudolph.
Clarice giggled.
"Stop it." she said.
Rudolph then looked up at the sky.
"Hey, Clarice?" he asked.
"Yeah?" Clarice responded.
"Do you see those stars right there?" Rudolph asked as he pointed to two stars that were very close to each other.
"Yes." Clarice said. "What about them?"
"Well, I somehow get the feeling that the distance between those two might be a symbol of something." said Rudolph.
"Like what?" Clarice asked.
"Like maybe...that we're destined to be together forever?" Rudolph suggested.
"Yeah, maybe." said Clarice.
"Come on, I think it's time we headed off for home." said Rudolph.
"Couldn't agree more." said Clarice.
With that, the couple left, happy to have had such a wonderful night together at the dance.
The End