Twas the night before Christmas:
by Sharan McQuack, Launchpad's wife.
This story may be too baby-ish for some, I'm not sure it's not too baby-ish for me, but it's been bugging me to write it and this way I'm rid of it and Christmas is coming ...
We were decorating the tree at Mr. McDuck's mansion.
"Launchpad, do you believe in Santa Claus?" Webby asked.
"I sorta have to. I met him once." Launchpad said.
"WHAT?" I said, surprised and delighted.
" I met Santa Claus once, when I was almost four years old." Launchpad said.
"This, I gotta hear. Tell me how it happened. And if your Mom just took you to meet him at some department store, I will be very disappointed. But knowing you, I doubt that very much." I said.
"No" said Launchpad. "It was the night before Christmas. I was three, going on four....
CUE FLASHBACK! Fade to black, then come back in dim colors!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My kid sister, Loopy was 4 months old. I was hanging up my stocking when I noticed that Loopy didn't have one.
"Doesn't Loopy get any presents?" I asked.
"Launchpad, Loopy is only four months old. She's too young." my Dad began.
"Anything small enough to fit into a stocking would be too small to safely give her. And she has one toy she takes everywhere and sleeps with and she refuses to play with anything else." Ripcord continued.
We're giving her a new pacifier and new clothes, and next year when she old enough, she get plenty of new toys. Not to mention the ones she already has, but won't play with- yet." my Dad said.
"Clothes aren't presents! And what about this year- Loopy should get something, too- or it's just not fair!" Launchpad said.
"Launchpad, we'd tried to think of something we could get her that she'd like now, but we're stumped. She's only a baby, she won't play with any other toy but her favorite- what else can we get her that she would like now?" my mom asked.
I didn't know, but I was determined to do something.
I decided if anybody would know what Loopy would like as a present, it would be Santa Claus. So I decided to talk to him. I set my alarm clock for midnight, figuring Santa wouldn't show till then, knowing any kid who stayed up to catch him would have fallen asleep by midnight. Besides, being not quite four, it was the only time I could set my alarm for. I didn't know how to tell time yet.
As soon as the alarm went off, I went downstairs, having slept in my clothes. There was Santa himself. No, it was NOT my Dad in a Santa Claus suit- I thought of that possibility even then. He was shorter, much shorter.
I told him I wanted Loopy to get a present, too.
"You don't want something for yourself, just your sister?" he asked.
"By now, either I'm already going to get a gift or I won't. But Loopy should get something or it's just not fair." I said.
"Tell you what. I can touch Loopy and find out what she wants- but you have to do me a favor in return."Santa bargained.
" I damaged my sleigh on the way here and I'm nervous about flying back in it. But you're a lot lighter than I am, so you should be fine. Especially since I'll keep my sack of gifts and deliver them to houses in this area if you will fly back to the North Pole for me with a note to my elves explaining the situation, telling them to fix my sleigh and telling them what to make for Loopy." Santa offered.
" Do you still want to do it? I know you are afraid of heights- which by the way is perfectly normal for a three year old!" Santa said.
"Not when you are a pilot's kid, from a long line of pilots and want to be a pilot so much you can taste it." I said.
"Maybe that's the trouble? You want it too much! That can make it scary." Santa said
"Maybe. But I'll do it. No way I can turn down a chance to fly Santa's sled. What kid could?" I said.
After touching Loopy and finding out what she wanted, Santa took me up to the roof. His sleigh was indeed damaged by " a minor fender-bender involving a chimney and some bats that startled me." as Santa put it. It was nothing to endanger a small boy, but somebody as heavy as Santa could be in trouble. I realized that this was no longer about just getting a gift for Loopy.
I was doing Santa a BIG favor here. I knew he must have a tight schedule and might be tempted to try to finish his rounds in a damaged sleigh if I didn't do this. If he flew back to the North Pole himself, he couldn't deliver toys while his sleigh was being repaired. At best, some MORE kids would not get a gift. At worse- well, I didn't WANT to think about how badly Santa could get hurt, falling from that sleigh in mid-air.
So I "parked" my fear and went anyway. I was still scared. I didn't overcome my fear- I just did what I had to, anyway...and a funny thing happened. I started to enjoy myself. I was flying something with no engine, no complicated controls, nothing to get in the way of just flying.
I realized what I really wanted was to fly like a wild duck, on my own wings. I knew I might never have the chance, that this might be as close as I could get. I also knew I was going to HAVE to become a pilot just to have this feeling again. It wouldn't be as good, but it would help me remember.
When I arrived at the North Pole, the elves ran out to meet me. I explained the situation to them and gave them Santa's note. They told me if I would take care of the reindeer, they would give me a tour of Santa's workshop.
So I undid the reindeer from the reins and took the reindeer into the stable. Luckily, I had taken care of animals before. I fed them, watered them and groomed them. Then the elf that was normally in charge of taking care of the reindeer complimented me on how kind I was to them and he gave me the Cook's tour of the place.
He showed me where they make the toys. Modern toys are mass-produced- but a lot of toys, especially the more old fashioned ones they still hand-make. They are very well organized, they have to be, and they have a lot of toys to make.
Then they showed me where they train the rare flying reindeer that used to barely eke out a living in caves far under the Artic Circle. They ate moss and lichen and mushrooms and never saw the sun.
The caves were unstable because the hot springs made the caves warm, but it was icy cold above. There were wide chasms down there. You never knew when the floor might collapse under you. The reindeer had to jump far and fast to survive.
After centuries of this, they evolved so they could fly. This let them visit the surface, let them find more caves and more food.
Santa found them and offered them a home. When they found out that they would get warmth, food, light and shelter and only have to work once a year. They would be asked to practice, of course- they figured: "Why not?"
"Did you know that Santa uses both girl and boy reindeer? The ones that fly for Santa always use the same names- tradition. They have real names, but use their "handles" while flying for Santa. Vixen is oblivious always female. So is Dancer, although that's less oblivious." the elf said.
All too soon, the tour was over. Loopy's toy was made and wrapped, the sleigh was fixed and it was time to go back. So back I went.
I was halfway back before I remembered I was supposed to be scared! I was thinking of something else - which I think is the secret of not being scared: think of something else.
"Well, did you enjoy your trip?" Santa asked.
"Very much, thank you. But could you please wait just one minute? I want to give you a Christmas present. It occurs to me that maybe nobody gives YOU a Christmas present and that really isn't fair." Launchpad said.
Santa nodded and Launchpad ran upstairs.
He grabbed something, put it into a box, closed the box and ran back up to the roof.
"Here. Merry Christmas, Santa. I'm sorry I didn't have time to wrap it." Launchpad said.
Santa opened it. It was a bike bell.
"This was a present a relative mailed to you. Your mom opened it by accident, which is why you got it early. It's a new bell for your tricycle, the old one broke." Santa said.
"It got rusty, but I didn't know I was getting a new one, so I fixed it. I scraped the rust off and painted it and Dad helped. I thought you could put it on your sleigh so birds and bats know you're coming and get out of your way." Launchpad said.
"That's very thoughtful of you." Santa said.....
CUE BACK TO "NOW"
"But what did Santa give Loopy, anyway?" I asked.
" A special baby carriage shaped like a plane. It even had a pretend joystick she could "steer" it with. It could be hitched to a bicycle and towed behide. Loopy loved it." Launchpad said.
The End.