Well it is Christmas time again. This will be special one since we have Christmas’ puppies with us for their first one. I know they were all excited after hearing the stories their uncles and mom told them about our past Christmas adventures.
Momma Christmas told them about the year we found her in the woods behind our kennel. We snuck out of our yard to bring her into our kennel and to safety.
Uncle Lakota told them about the first time we visited the orphanage on Christmas Eve and Mike played “Santa” for all of the kids there. Doing that has become an annual tradition for us. However, I could not tell the puppies that Mike received his Christmas wish that year; that I could see for a day. That Christmas was the one where I met the little blind girl Caitlyn.
Uncle Doc told them about last year. Caitlyn still lived at the orphanage and got lost in a blinding snowstorm and we found her. Doc told everyone that I found Caitlyn. However, it was a team effort. We all found Caitlyn. When we got Caitlyn back to our home, Mike and Mary asked Caitlyn if she would like to live with us. I can still taste the salty tears of joy she cried when she said yes.
Yes, the pups were pumped up with the excitement of their first Christmas. Through all of the excitement, Momma Christmas made sure that her pups remembered the true meaning of this wonderful season, the “Season of Giving.”
We had just returned from our visit to the orphanage and were settling down for the evening. It was very exciting to see the boys and girls’ faces as they opened up their gifts. Well, I could not see, but Stormy, who has become my shadow and eyes so to bark, told me all about it.
Mike was dressed up in his red Santa suit and Caitlyn was dressed up as his little elf helper. I thought that was super since last year Caitlyn was still at the orphanage. I heard her comment to Mike on the trail as we raced home that it felt so good to be able to give to those kids. She knew how they felt and she was so thankful she could share her happiness them.
After a while, Mike came out of the big house to spend some time with us. It was snowing very gently and the night was very still. Mike gave us our goodnight treat, and then told us it was bedtime. We all had fresh straw in our doghouses and the chow we had after we came home from the orphanage was just great. After Mike gave me my treat and his nightly body hug, plus an extra ear rub, I settled into my doghouse for a great night sleep.
The sound of thundering hooves woke me up. The sound of a man groaning got me out of my doghouse. The strange smells drew me to the kennel gate. When I got to the kennel gate, my teammates along with Christmas and her babies were already there.
As usually, Lakota and Stormy were next to me telling me what was going on. There was this big guy in a red suit with eight large animals hooked up to a big sled parked between our kennel and the big house. Okay, so why are we not barking?
Doc said that the guy in the red suit did not look well. He was clutching his tummy. Ugly told us that the eight large animals were reindeer and they looked sick too.
At this point, I heard Mike come out of the big house. Before Mike could say a word, the guy in the red suit said, “Mike, I need to use your bathroom, your outhouse will work. Please point me in the right direction.”
Stormy told me that Mike pointed to the small outbuilding next to the warming shed. The guy in the red suit trotted to it, saying, as he was racing to the outhouse, “My reindeer are sick also, I am so sorry for the mess.”
Yes, they sure were sick and so was the guy in the red suit.
Surprisingly, we still were not barking. Maybe because we did not believe this guy in the red suit and his team were a threat to Mike or us. Frankly, they were in need of some help, as sick as they were.
When the guy in the red suit returned from the outhouse, he started to talk to Mike.
“You know who I am, Mike?” the he asked.
“If this was not Christmas Eve, I would say you are a crazy old coot with 8 stolen reindeer, but my gut feeling is that you are the real Santa Clause and these are your reindeer, Dasher, Blitzen, Cupid…” Santa interrupted Mike before he could finish.
“Excuse me for cutting you short, Mike, but time is ticking away on me, and I really need your help.” Santa said. “As you can see, I am very sick and so are my reindeer. Something we ate I suspect. The problem is that neither the reindeer nor I can finish delivering gifts tonight. We finished about two thirds of the world. I am asking you and your dogs to finish the rest.”
Now Santa does get to the point, doesn’t he? How does he expect ten dogs and Mike to travel over 1/3 of this world pulling that huge sled filled with gifts?
“You must be kidding me.” Mike said. “Gee, I believed in you when I was a kid and that was 50 years ago. Besides believing in you, you want me to fill in for you, and use my ten dogs in place of your flying reindeer. Talk about asking for a miracle.”
“You have asked for miracles in the past and they happened, right?” Santa replied. “And you do a pretty good job of being me for the kids at the orphanage. Deep inside your heart, you do believe in me or rather, what I represent. That is why I stopped here for help. So what is your problem?” Santa asked.
“First of all I don’t fly, neither do my dogs. Second you are magical, I am not and…”
“Enough, we are wasting time.” Santa said. “Mike, you and your dogs can do it. It is within you and your dogs. It is as you told them, being a true champion comes from within you. You can do this. Trust me. This is for the kids. Please Mike, this is for the kids.”
This was getting interesting, yet confusing. Lakota told me that Mike stood there with Santa, not saying a word.
“We need to get your reindeer unhitched from your sled and let them graze in the kennel. I will get them some water and some medicine to help them. When I am done with that, I will change into my Santa suit, harness up my dogs, and hitch them to your sleigh. As you said, time is a wasting, let’s get this show on the road.” Mike said.
“It sounds like we are going on a late night trail run.” Nitro said.
“Do you think we can pull that sled?” Ugly asked.
“Piece of cake,” said Brownie.
“How far is one third of the world, Momma?” asked Sky.
“I do not know, Sky.” Christmas answered.
“I know,” said Tundra very excitedly. “It is one half as long as two thirds!” she laughed and we did too.
Soon, Mike had the reindeer in our kennel with us as Santa made another frantic trip to the outhouse. These reindeer were very big, but gently. Mike led them to one corner of the kennel where he laid out fresh straw for them to lay in. I heard him get some buckets of water for them also. I heard them drink deeply. Mike refilled the buckets before he left to get our gear.
While Mike was in the house getting his Santa suit on, I heard Santa come into the kennel to check on his reindeer. Stormy told me that after he was done checking his team, he came to each one of us and gave us a great ear rub and told us that he really appreciate this. He promised us that we would have a great run, racing all over the world delivering these gifts to the kids that they were made for. He said it would be the greatest race we ever ran.
When Santa came to me, he told me he had heard of me and knew that I would do my best to get these gifts delivered tonight. I am not sure what it was, but the way Santa talked to me made me believe we could do this. There is something special about Santa. Whatever it is, it makes you want to believe in him. You can really feel the good that is all around him. I wonder why humans stopped believing in him as they became older.
Lakota told me that Mike came out of the house in his Santa suit. While Mike harnessed us up and snapped us in to our positions, Santa made another dash to the outhouse. Tundra told me the reindeer were sleeping.
Mike was putting us into our team positions as Santa returned from the outhouse.
“Could Christmas be one of your lead dogs, Mike?” Santa said. “That would be appropriate for tonight. And. please let Rivers run lead with her. I know he can do that.”
“Mike answered,”You know Rivers is blind don’t you?”
“Sure I do, but on this trip he won’t need eyes. He sees with his heart and that is what this race is as all about. And didn’t you name Christmas because she was found on Christmas Day?” Santa asked.
“Okay,” Mike replied, "how do I know where to go? You have a map or list, Santa?”
“Nope, the sleigh knows.” Santa answered.
“What about this flying stuff?” Mike asked.
Santa replied, “Run your team down the trail as you normally do, and the flying will take care of itself. So will all of the other finer points of doing this. Just trust your instincts and you will not go wrong. Trust your dogs as they trust you. They will not let you down.”
Santa continued. “By the way, I did not visit the military personnel in the war zone. There is a special bag of goodies for them. Just be careful, most of the people who made my “Naughty List” are also in the war zone. They do not like the good that the holiday season is all about. They may try to shoot you down.”
“Hold on," Mike said. “What about the magic you are all about. Can’t you protect my dogs from hostile fire?”
Santa sighed, “Mike, only you can do that. So trust yourself to do just that.”
Santa continued, “Time to get going”
Mike came to where Christmas and I were in the team, gave us each an ear rub while checking our lines and harnesses. Tundra told me that he did that to every dog in the team. I heard him climb into the sleigh and say, “Okay team. Get set. Go”!
We leaned into our harnesses as Santa told us to have great trip. I was waiting for the strain of the gang line as we started to pull the sleigh, but it never came. The sleigh glided along the trail just as our own sled does. It felt very light.
The trail felt very soft under my paws. Funny, I could not feel any snow at all.
“Uncle Rivers,” it was Christmas, we are flying!”
“No way I," said.
Then from the back of the team, I heard all of the dogs bark excitedly about flying and then Mike said, “Holy moly, we are flying, yippee! Okay team settled down we got a job to do tonight.”
And we did. We delivered those gifts to the kids. Soon, all we had left was the bag of goodies for the military men and woman in the war zone.
Mike told us that this was going to be tricky. Up to this point, we delivered the gifts to the buildings where the kids lived. However, these goodies had to go the tents, trenches and open fields where the military people were.
Christmas told me that Mike guided the sleigh very close to the ground. Were going very, very fast, but hardly made a sound. Lakota told me we were flying faster than we ever ran on a trail Even though it was pitch black, Christmas told me she notice that there were no trees, just sand. As the sleigh landed, a voice called out, “Who goes there?
Mike snapped back, “Mike Dillingham, Master Sergeant, United States Air Force, Retired.”
The voice demanded, “Identification.”
Mike replied, “I have my military ID. You can check it if you like.”
Christmas told me that a small flashlight went on and a hand reached out from the darkness towards Mike.
“What are you doing here, sir?” The voiced asked.
“I have a Christmas gift for you. Shine your light past me and you will see a sleigh full of gifts.”
“Man-O-Man, I don’t believe it. A sleigh full of gifts pulled by a dog team?” The voice said. “I don’t believe it.”
Mike replied as I heard him climb out of the sleigh, “Yep, Santa got a bit sidetracked tonight and called in Air Support. You know us old retired vets. We are never really retired. Enough said son, I have to hustle and get all of these gifts delivered tonight. Try to have a nice Christmas here in this place and remember that the folks back home are rooting for ya. We are all very proud of the great job you are doing.” Mike said as he handed the young man his gift. “By the way son, where are you from?”
“Chickloon Alaska, sir.” the voice answered.
“No kidding, we live just down the road from you in Palmer. Have a Merry Christmas son. Take care.”
Christmas told me that Mike climb back into the sleigh and yell, “Team go,” and we took off into the skies once more to deliver more goodies. I was amazed that we were sighted only once, and that was by the young soldier from Chickloon. I bet the magic of the season allowed us to deliver the gifts unnoticed. Overall, it was a very beautiful, yet uneventful night, except for the sound of gunfire and the distinctive sound of a bullet ricocheting off the sleigh. I bet Santa is not going to be happy about that.
Soon, Mike told us that the bag was empty. We had delivered all of the gifts and goodies that were in the sleigh. While it was fun, it was scary when we were shot at over the desert. Santa did warn us, but as you know, good always wins out over evil and we were doing a great deal of good tonight. Mike told us we could head home.
It felt like a matter of seconds before we were racing up the trail to our home. I heard Santa greet us.
“Looks like you guys did a good job; there is nothing left in the sleigh.” Santa said. “Hmm, I see you took some enemy fire by the looks of this dent in the sleight. Anyone get hurt”
“We are all okay. I think that was just a stray shot that nicked us. Are you feeling better, Santa?” Mike asked.
“You betcha and so are the reindeer, Mike. If you will help me get them hitched up to the sleigh, I will head back to the North Pole and start planning next year’s adventure.” Santa said.
Stormy told me that while Mike was taking us out of our harnesses, Santa was hitching up his team to the sleigh.
“Well Mike, thank you very much for helping met out. It could have been a major disaster if you and your dogs were not willing to take a chance and believe in the goodness and magic of this beautiful season.” Santa said.
“Thank you for letting us help you tonight.” Mike said. “I must admit at first I was skeptical, but once the sleigh became airborne, there was no doubt in my mind at all.
Santa said. “Well I better get going before it gets too light.”
Stormy told me that Santa climbed into the sleigh. I heard him call out each of the reindeers’ names. Stormy told me that the sled glided down the trail like it did when we were pulling it. Then shot straight sky ward, like a rocket and disappeared.
With all of the excitement of the night, I forgot how tired I had become. We all were getting tired and after telling my buddies good night, I headed to my doghouse. I heard the paw steps of the other dogs heading to theirs. Soon, the night was very still except for the snoring of several tired, but content dogs.
“Hey you sleepy heads get your fannies out of bed!” Mike’s wake up call for chow rang out in the morning quietness.
“Hi Rivers”. It was Lakota. “Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas to you too, Lakota, some night we had last night.”
“Yes,” he said. “I slept like a log. I was a bit tired after going to the orphanage yesterday and playing with all of the kids.”
“But Lakota,” I said. “We met Santa and the reindeer, and he was sick, and we delivered gifts, and pulled his sleigh and…”
“Rivers, you must have had another one of your great dreams. You sure do get excited when you wake up from them. I sure do wish I could dream like that.” Lakota was chuckling as I heard him walk away.
A dream! I was dreaming. Or was I? Well it makes no difference. It is not the dreaming but the believing that counts. Believing in the goodness of this great season and its true meaning is all that is truly important.
Merry Christmas to all!
Rivers
Momma Christmas told them about the year we found her in the woods behind our kennel. We snuck out of our yard to bring her into our kennel and to safety.
Uncle Lakota told them about the first time we visited the orphanage on Christmas Eve and Mike played “Santa” for all of the kids there. Doing that has become an annual tradition for us. However, I could not tell the puppies that Mike received his Christmas wish that year; that I could see for a day. That Christmas was the one where I met the little blind girl Caitlyn.
Uncle Doc told them about last year. Caitlyn still lived at the orphanage and got lost in a blinding snowstorm and we found her. Doc told everyone that I found Caitlyn. However, it was a team effort. We all found Caitlyn. When we got Caitlyn back to our home, Mike and Mary asked Caitlyn if she would like to live with us. I can still taste the salty tears of joy she cried when she said yes.
Yes, the pups were pumped up with the excitement of their first Christmas. Through all of the excitement, Momma Christmas made sure that her pups remembered the true meaning of this wonderful season, the “Season of Giving.”
We had just returned from our visit to the orphanage and were settling down for the evening. It was very exciting to see the boys and girls’ faces as they opened up their gifts. Well, I could not see, but Stormy, who has become my shadow and eyes so to bark, told me all about it.
Mike was dressed up in his red Santa suit and Caitlyn was dressed up as his little elf helper. I thought that was super since last year Caitlyn was still at the orphanage. I heard her comment to Mike on the trail as we raced home that it felt so good to be able to give to those kids. She knew how they felt and she was so thankful she could share her happiness them.
After a while, Mike came out of the big house to spend some time with us. It was snowing very gently and the night was very still. Mike gave us our goodnight treat, and then told us it was bedtime. We all had fresh straw in our doghouses and the chow we had after we came home from the orphanage was just great. After Mike gave me my treat and his nightly body hug, plus an extra ear rub, I settled into my doghouse for a great night sleep.
The sound of thundering hooves woke me up. The sound of a man groaning got me out of my doghouse. The strange smells drew me to the kennel gate. When I got to the kennel gate, my teammates along with Christmas and her babies were already there.
As usually, Lakota and Stormy were next to me telling me what was going on. There was this big guy in a red suit with eight large animals hooked up to a big sled parked between our kennel and the big house. Okay, so why are we not barking?
Doc said that the guy in the red suit did not look well. He was clutching his tummy. Ugly told us that the eight large animals were reindeer and they looked sick too.
At this point, I heard Mike come out of the big house. Before Mike could say a word, the guy in the red suit said, “Mike, I need to use your bathroom, your outhouse will work. Please point me in the right direction.”
Stormy told me that Mike pointed to the small outbuilding next to the warming shed. The guy in the red suit trotted to it, saying, as he was racing to the outhouse, “My reindeer are sick also, I am so sorry for the mess.”
Yes, they sure were sick and so was the guy in the red suit.
Surprisingly, we still were not barking. Maybe because we did not believe this guy in the red suit and his team were a threat to Mike or us. Frankly, they were in need of some help, as sick as they were.
When the guy in the red suit returned from the outhouse, he started to talk to Mike.
“You know who I am, Mike?” the he asked.
“If this was not Christmas Eve, I would say you are a crazy old coot with 8 stolen reindeer, but my gut feeling is that you are the real Santa Clause and these are your reindeer, Dasher, Blitzen, Cupid…” Santa interrupted Mike before he could finish.
“Excuse me for cutting you short, Mike, but time is ticking away on me, and I really need your help.” Santa said. “As you can see, I am very sick and so are my reindeer. Something we ate I suspect. The problem is that neither the reindeer nor I can finish delivering gifts tonight. We finished about two thirds of the world. I am asking you and your dogs to finish the rest.”
Now Santa does get to the point, doesn’t he? How does he expect ten dogs and Mike to travel over 1/3 of this world pulling that huge sled filled with gifts?
“You must be kidding me.” Mike said. “Gee, I believed in you when I was a kid and that was 50 years ago. Besides believing in you, you want me to fill in for you, and use my ten dogs in place of your flying reindeer. Talk about asking for a miracle.”
“You have asked for miracles in the past and they happened, right?” Santa replied. “And you do a pretty good job of being me for the kids at the orphanage. Deep inside your heart, you do believe in me or rather, what I represent. That is why I stopped here for help. So what is your problem?” Santa asked.
“First of all I don’t fly, neither do my dogs. Second you are magical, I am not and…”
“Enough, we are wasting time.” Santa said. “Mike, you and your dogs can do it. It is within you and your dogs. It is as you told them, being a true champion comes from within you. You can do this. Trust me. This is for the kids. Please Mike, this is for the kids.”
This was getting interesting, yet confusing. Lakota told me that Mike stood there with Santa, not saying a word.
“We need to get your reindeer unhitched from your sled and let them graze in the kennel. I will get them some water and some medicine to help them. When I am done with that, I will change into my Santa suit, harness up my dogs, and hitch them to your sleigh. As you said, time is a wasting, let’s get this show on the road.” Mike said.
“It sounds like we are going on a late night trail run.” Nitro said.
“Do you think we can pull that sled?” Ugly asked.
“Piece of cake,” said Brownie.
“How far is one third of the world, Momma?” asked Sky.
“I do not know, Sky.” Christmas answered.
“I know,” said Tundra very excitedly. “It is one half as long as two thirds!” she laughed and we did too.
Soon, Mike had the reindeer in our kennel with us as Santa made another frantic trip to the outhouse. These reindeer were very big, but gently. Mike led them to one corner of the kennel where he laid out fresh straw for them to lay in. I heard him get some buckets of water for them also. I heard them drink deeply. Mike refilled the buckets before he left to get our gear.
While Mike was in the house getting his Santa suit on, I heard Santa come into the kennel to check on his reindeer. Stormy told me that after he was done checking his team, he came to each one of us and gave us a great ear rub and told us that he really appreciate this. He promised us that we would have a great run, racing all over the world delivering these gifts to the kids that they were made for. He said it would be the greatest race we ever ran.
When Santa came to me, he told me he had heard of me and knew that I would do my best to get these gifts delivered tonight. I am not sure what it was, but the way Santa talked to me made me believe we could do this. There is something special about Santa. Whatever it is, it makes you want to believe in him. You can really feel the good that is all around him. I wonder why humans stopped believing in him as they became older.
Lakota told me that Mike came out of the house in his Santa suit. While Mike harnessed us up and snapped us in to our positions, Santa made another dash to the outhouse. Tundra told me the reindeer were sleeping.
Mike was putting us into our team positions as Santa returned from the outhouse.
“Could Christmas be one of your lead dogs, Mike?” Santa said. “That would be appropriate for tonight. And. please let Rivers run lead with her. I know he can do that.”
“Mike answered,”You know Rivers is blind don’t you?”
“Sure I do, but on this trip he won’t need eyes. He sees with his heart and that is what this race is as all about. And didn’t you name Christmas because she was found on Christmas Day?” Santa asked.
“Okay,” Mike replied, "how do I know where to go? You have a map or list, Santa?”
“Nope, the sleigh knows.” Santa answered.
“What about this flying stuff?” Mike asked.
Santa replied, “Run your team down the trail as you normally do, and the flying will take care of itself. So will all of the other finer points of doing this. Just trust your instincts and you will not go wrong. Trust your dogs as they trust you. They will not let you down.”
Santa continued. “By the way, I did not visit the military personnel in the war zone. There is a special bag of goodies for them. Just be careful, most of the people who made my “Naughty List” are also in the war zone. They do not like the good that the holiday season is all about. They may try to shoot you down.”
“Hold on," Mike said. “What about the magic you are all about. Can’t you protect my dogs from hostile fire?”
Santa sighed, “Mike, only you can do that. So trust yourself to do just that.”
Santa continued, “Time to get going”
Mike came to where Christmas and I were in the team, gave us each an ear rub while checking our lines and harnesses. Tundra told me that he did that to every dog in the team. I heard him climb into the sleigh and say, “Okay team. Get set. Go”!
We leaned into our harnesses as Santa told us to have great trip. I was waiting for the strain of the gang line as we started to pull the sleigh, but it never came. The sleigh glided along the trail just as our own sled does. It felt very light.
The trail felt very soft under my paws. Funny, I could not feel any snow at all.
“Uncle Rivers,” it was Christmas, we are flying!”
“No way I," said.
Then from the back of the team, I heard all of the dogs bark excitedly about flying and then Mike said, “Holy moly, we are flying, yippee! Okay team settled down we got a job to do tonight.”
And we did. We delivered those gifts to the kids. Soon, all we had left was the bag of goodies for the military men and woman in the war zone.
Mike told us that this was going to be tricky. Up to this point, we delivered the gifts to the buildings where the kids lived. However, these goodies had to go the tents, trenches and open fields where the military people were.
Christmas told me that Mike guided the sleigh very close to the ground. Were going very, very fast, but hardly made a sound. Lakota told me we were flying faster than we ever ran on a trail Even though it was pitch black, Christmas told me she notice that there were no trees, just sand. As the sleigh landed, a voice called out, “Who goes there?
Mike snapped back, “Mike Dillingham, Master Sergeant, United States Air Force, Retired.”
The voice demanded, “Identification.”
Mike replied, “I have my military ID. You can check it if you like.”
Christmas told me that a small flashlight went on and a hand reached out from the darkness towards Mike.
“What are you doing here, sir?” The voiced asked.
“I have a Christmas gift for you. Shine your light past me and you will see a sleigh full of gifts.”
“Man-O-Man, I don’t believe it. A sleigh full of gifts pulled by a dog team?” The voice said. “I don’t believe it.”
Mike replied as I heard him climb out of the sleigh, “Yep, Santa got a bit sidetracked tonight and called in Air Support. You know us old retired vets. We are never really retired. Enough said son, I have to hustle and get all of these gifts delivered tonight. Try to have a nice Christmas here in this place and remember that the folks back home are rooting for ya. We are all very proud of the great job you are doing.” Mike said as he handed the young man his gift. “By the way son, where are you from?”
“Chickloon Alaska, sir.” the voice answered.
“No kidding, we live just down the road from you in Palmer. Have a Merry Christmas son. Take care.”
Christmas told me that Mike climb back into the sleigh and yell, “Team go,” and we took off into the skies once more to deliver more goodies. I was amazed that we were sighted only once, and that was by the young soldier from Chickloon. I bet the magic of the season allowed us to deliver the gifts unnoticed. Overall, it was a very beautiful, yet uneventful night, except for the sound of gunfire and the distinctive sound of a bullet ricocheting off the sleigh. I bet Santa is not going to be happy about that.
Soon, Mike told us that the bag was empty. We had delivered all of the gifts and goodies that were in the sleigh. While it was fun, it was scary when we were shot at over the desert. Santa did warn us, but as you know, good always wins out over evil and we were doing a great deal of good tonight. Mike told us we could head home.
It felt like a matter of seconds before we were racing up the trail to our home. I heard Santa greet us.
“Looks like you guys did a good job; there is nothing left in the sleigh.” Santa said. “Hmm, I see you took some enemy fire by the looks of this dent in the sleight. Anyone get hurt”
“We are all okay. I think that was just a stray shot that nicked us. Are you feeling better, Santa?” Mike asked.
“You betcha and so are the reindeer, Mike. If you will help me get them hitched up to the sleigh, I will head back to the North Pole and start planning next year’s adventure.” Santa said.
Stormy told me that while Mike was taking us out of our harnesses, Santa was hitching up his team to the sleigh.
“Well Mike, thank you very much for helping met out. It could have been a major disaster if you and your dogs were not willing to take a chance and believe in the goodness and magic of this beautiful season.” Santa said.
“Thank you for letting us help you tonight.” Mike said. “I must admit at first I was skeptical, but once the sleigh became airborne, there was no doubt in my mind at all.
Santa said. “Well I better get going before it gets too light.”
Stormy told me that Santa climbed into the sleigh. I heard him call out each of the reindeers’ names. Stormy told me that the sled glided down the trail like it did when we were pulling it. Then shot straight sky ward, like a rocket and disappeared.
With all of the excitement of the night, I forgot how tired I had become. We all were getting tired and after telling my buddies good night, I headed to my doghouse. I heard the paw steps of the other dogs heading to theirs. Soon, the night was very still except for the snoring of several tired, but content dogs.
“Hey you sleepy heads get your fannies out of bed!” Mike’s wake up call for chow rang out in the morning quietness.
“Hi Rivers”. It was Lakota. “Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas to you too, Lakota, some night we had last night.”
“Yes,” he said. “I slept like a log. I was a bit tired after going to the orphanage yesterday and playing with all of the kids.”
“But Lakota,” I said. “We met Santa and the reindeer, and he was sick, and we delivered gifts, and pulled his sleigh and…”
“Rivers, you must have had another one of your great dreams. You sure do get excited when you wake up from them. I sure do wish I could dream like that.” Lakota was chuckling as I heard him walk away.
A dream! I was dreaming. Or was I? Well it makes no difference. It is not the dreaming but the believing that counts. Believing in the goodness of this great season and its true meaning is all that is truly important.
Merry Christmas to all!
Rivers
