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Santa's New Sleigh © ~ A Chuckles & Buckley Adventure continues . . .

   They shook hands and Santa left with Major Reddish. They went back outside and Santa used his reindeer whistle to call Comet. Five minutes later, Comet landed right in front of

Santa at the 'NORAD Tracking Santa ' parking lot sign. Santa reached into his pocket and took out a hand full of magic corn. He always rewarded the reindeer when they came to him after he called. The magic corn did  it’s trick and suddenly Comets antlers were thicker with antler  dust than they had been before. Satisfied that Comet was ready to  take to the air, Santa climbed onto Comet’s back and said in his  booming Santa voice, “On Comet!”

         “Merry Christmas , Stacey.” Santa shouted down as he  circled up and then out of sight.

 After leaving NORAD, Santa pointed Comet south and let the  magic take over. A short time later, Santa could see the Andes mountain range and headed that way. Up ahead, he saw the ruins of Machu Picchu and began to slow down. Right there in front of him, he saw the children and Tyler. They were involved in a deep conversation so no one noticed Santa’s almost silent approach. An alpaca, however, did and started ‘calling’ to Comet who rumbled back. Tyler’s attention left the children and fastened on the source of the rumbling up in the air. Comet stepped down out of sky and stood there in his most reindeer like pose. Santa threw a leg over Comet’s back and dropped to the ground.

      The children stared at Santa as if they were seeing a ghost or something. Santa laughed at this because it was the usual ‘first reaction’ he got when he appeared in front of awake children for the first time. As if on cue, their first reaction of surprise and anxiousness transformed into the utter joy of recognizing Santa. They rushed toward him each trying to be the first to hug him. Tyler, just as excited as the children, stood back and let them have their moment. They all tried to talk at once and Santa seemed to be able to understand each one and respond to each one as if he were listening to only one at a time. He had four distinct and separate running conversations going at once.

      As the Spirit of Christmas Joy, Santa freely spent his time with the children. Joy planted in a child’s heart has a way of spreading like syrup over your pancakes. Pretty soon, though, the visit had to end and Santa reluctantly said goodbye. Once again he said, “On Comet”, and the reindeer took off with Santa and Tyler.

      Once they were on their way, Tyler told Santa about the little girl’s generosity and kindness; about how she went without her lunch so Tyler could eat. He asked Santa if maybe there was something special he could give to her. Santa assured Tyler that there was a present he could give them that would do just that, but declined to say anything further about it.

    A special jet stream that only Santa knew about, helped them make very good time returning to the North Pole. Comet touched down by the shop doors and his passengers jumped down. Everyone at the North Pole was overjoyed to see Tyler and Santa return safely!

. . . to be concluded