The Story of Santa's Cyber Sleigh

As most of you know, for many years now I have been delivering presents all over the world using my trusty sleigh pulled by my faithful reindeer. What a wonderful time we have had! All the fun and joy bringing gifts to girls and boys has been great!

As time went by, however, the world began to change. More and more children were arriving every day… everywhere… all over the world. That meant more and more toys and gifts were needed everywhere too. With so many more places to go and so many more stops to make, the traveling really started taking a toll on my precious reindeer. They were getting very tired. And sometimes they would get very grumpy!

The time had finally come for a change.

I immediately called a meeting of my elves to see what we could do. Maybe we could build a lighter sleigh. Maybe we could add more reindeer. I was open to any new idea. When we met, I was in for a big surprise! They had already been secretly making plans for a fantastic new invention. They called it the Cyber Sleigh! My elves are a clever bunch, and I love them dearly!

I took a look at the plans for their new invention. It was amazing! Warp thruster engines would make the Cyber Sleigh fly faster and higher than anything else in the world. An amazing light system would make the Cyber Sleigh look like nothing else in the world. An incredible stereo system would make the Cyber Sleigh sound like nothing else… in the universe! This was awesome! I loved it! I asked the elves if they would start building the new Cyber Sleigh immediately. They agreed to begin construction.

Day and night the elves measured, hammered, shaped, drilled, wrenched, welded, and tested. Other than the occasional smashed thumb, scraped knuckle and small explosion, things were going quite smoothly. Except for one thing: The Reindeer.

My precious reindeer were becoming worried that something big was going to happen. Something that was related to them and their most important job: delivering gifts and toys to girls and boys around the world. The elves told me the reindeer were concerned about being replaced by some high-tech gadget. I immediately asked my reindeer to meet with me, and they agreed.

I told them there was nothing to worry about because this was going to help take a big load off of them and give them more of an opportunity to enjoy Christmas... without working so hard. I assured the reindeer that they would always have a job with me and that they should not worry.

It appeared most of my Reindeer were happy with this arrangement. But a couple of reindeer, Donder and Blitzen, well… they weren’t happy about this at all. They were downright mad! Some of the other reindeer, like Dasher and Prancer, seemed to be really sad. I tried my best to reassure the reindeer, telling them that I loved them, that we were family, and that nothing would ever get between us. I’m not sure it worked very well, but I did my best.

Time went by, and finally the day had come for the elves to show me their brand new creation: the Cyber Sleigh. They made me close my eyes while they led me to the workshop garage. The elves opened up the wide shop doors and then told me to look inside. When I opened my eyes, I could not believe it!

I was looking at the most incredible machine I had ever seen! Better than I even imagined!

The Cyber Sleigh was a beautiful Christmas red with fancy gold trim all around. It had lights that were twinkling and glowing all over. There was the wonderful sound of Christmas music coming from… everywhere! This was simply awesome! I was so overjoyed it brought tears to my eyes.

The elves told me to get in the driver’s seat and to start it up. I turned the key. The warp engines began to come alive with a roar unlike anything I had ever heard. The elves showed me all the knobs and switches for the light system, sound system, and the navigation controls. I immediately turned up the Christmas music. The music grew to be so loud and clear that it shook the entire North Pole! Everybody was running for cover! What a thrill!

I began playing with the light system. Strobes of lasers shot out like moonbeams. Under the Cyber Sleigh, a soft red glow appeared. The huge toy bag in back began to twinkle with a million tiny colored lights. Out in front a single brilliant spotlight shined brighter than anything I had ever seen before.

I put the Cyber Sleigh in gear and started to pull out of the garage. As I moved forward, the elves were shouting some instructions to me, but the roar of the engines prevented me from understanding what they were telling me. I think it was something about not engaging warp drive. I was not really sure. I was so excited about getting to drive my new Cyber Sleigh that I really just wanted to blast off! And that’s what I did.

I flipped a switch on the dash, and I was off like a rocket! Even faster than a rocket! I was an out of control Cyber Sleigh warp drive rocket machine! How do I slow down? Where’s the brake? How do I navigate this thing? How do I stop this crazy rocket sled???

As the Cyber Sleigh was flying faster and faster and higher and higher, I began to panic. I was fumbling around with all the knobs and switches trying to find one that would turn the Cyber Sleigh off. Well, I found it. The Cyber Sleigh immediately shut off and started hurdling straight down toward the ground. By this time I had reached such a high altitude and was so far away, there was no way that anyone could help me.

Now this was a fine mess I had gotten myself into.

Down and down I went, spinning around and around faster and faster towards the ground.

I was headed for certain doom! All of a sudden, out of nowhere appeared the most wonderful sight that I could ever have imagined… my reindeer! They blasted down from out of nowhere, with my technical elf hanging on to their harnesses with intense concentration.

They caught up with me and the Cyber Sleigh as we came nearer and nearer to the ground.

Donder and Blitzen were the lead reindeer, and they came close enough to me so I could grab their harnesses. I jumped out of the Cyber Sleigh and onto their backs. At the same time, my technical elf made a dive into the cockpit of the Cyber Sleigh.

The reindeer swerved up and away from the Cyber Sleigh with me holding on for dear life, while my elf frantically tried to regain control of the machine as it plunged towards the ground. The reindeer and I could not see the Cyber Sleigh or my elf for what seemed like forever. Our hearts were filled with worry.

But all of a sudden, up from below came an incredible sight and sound! The brilliant strobes and twinkling lights with the deafening blasts of roaring warp drive engines… and Christmas music!

The Cyber Sleigh, with my elf at the controls, blasted directly in front of the reindeer and me (almost hitting us in the process) and headed off into the distance.

We all let out a big sigh of relief. We slowly started making our way back home. When I arrived back at the North Pole, everyone gathered around to make sure we were all present and accounted for. Reindeer, elves, Cyber Sleigh… a-ok.

I then went up to my faithful Reindeer and gave them each a big hug, especially Donder and Blitzen. I thanked them for saving me and told them that after this exciting experience I would only be using the Cyber Sleigh for special occasions. Christmas Eve would be their job and theirs alone. They were very happy to hear that.

I then went up to my little technical elf, gave him a big hug too, and thanked him for saving the Cyber Sleigh. I also asked him if he wouldn’t mind giving me some Cyber Sleigh driving lessons! He wholeheartedly agreed.

We all laughed and then went back to doing what we love best… getting ready for Christmas.

The End