A Christmas Eve Tragedy

It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark. Santa wasn’t used to being out this early on Christmas Eve, but the forecast had called for terrible blizzard-like conditions throughout several parts of the world, so he figured it might be best to get an early start so he didn’t risk getting stuck with no way of getting to each house in one night.

It didn’t take long before the conditions became so blinding that even Rudolph’s nose wasn’t enough to penetrate through the wall of snow that was in front of them. Donner suggested that maybe they wait it out, but Santa insisted that they push through and keep moving forward. “I know it’s scary now,” he said, “but I’m sure it will feel worse knowing that there are some kids who didn’t get the presents they deserve because we didn’t try.”

So, against their better judgment, they trudged on, pushing their way through the resistant wind. The reindeer were flying mostly off of instinct as there was really no way for them to see what direction they were going, or even how far off the ground they were flying. The snow and wind was so heavy, and the darkness so black that they might as well have been flying blind folded.

They were able to see just far enough ahead to make out the next home as it came into view right before running nose first into the wall. Santa was moving quickly but trying not to be too quick to avoid making mistakes. It doesn’t happen often, but there have been times when he’s had moments of impatience which have caused him to become clumsy and leave the wrong toys for the wrong kids, which is embarrassing for him.

Despite the treacherous conditions, they seemed to be moving along pretty well. That is until as they were taking off from one house, Prancer felt himself crash into something that had been hidden by the snow. This caused the entire crew to tumble to the ground, and the contents of the sleigh went flying as if it were a pinata that had just been burst.

“What the hell was that?!” Santa asked as he was trying to gather his wits about him.

“Prancer’s hurt!” he then heard Dancer shout from the darkness.

This was followed by Prancer’s voice crying out, “It’s bad!”

Santa hurried over to check on his cherished reindeer. They were all special to him, of course, because they had been with him for so long and they had all been through so much together, so the thought of anything happening to any of them was a lot for the father of Christmas to bear. He was worried about what he was going to walk up on because of how agonizing Prancer’s cries had been.

They were right, it was bad. The bone on Prancer’s right front leg was snapped in half and jutting through the skin. Santa was not prepared for the gruesome sight and he vomited into the snow.

As he was gathering himself and about to turn back to towards Prancer to try to figure out what they could possibly do for him, if anything, he heard Vixen call from well behind the crashed sleigh, “Santa, you’ve got to come see this!” Santa looked helplessly at Donner, who was doing his best to comfort Prancer. Donner told him to go, that he would stay with his friend. Santa gave Donner a nod of confidence and began to trudge through the snow to see what else was the matter.

The other six reindeer were doing their best to gather the toys that had been splayed across the new fallen snow. Santa thanked them as he continued towards Vixen.What a mess, he thought to himself.

“This is bad,” Vixen said as Santa crept closer to him.Santa noted the concerned look in Vixen’s eyes and motioned for the reindeer to step aside so he could see what it was that had his trusted buck so worried. When Vixen did as instructed, what to Santa’s wondering eyes did appear?

An old woman laying lifeless in the snow.“She’s got a broken neck,” said Vixen, which caused Santa to toss his milk and cookies for the second time in the span of about ninety seconds. “Poor thing,” Santa said as he gathered himself, “She must have been walking home from her grandson’s house.”

“We have to get rid of the body,” said Vixen, trying to be sensitive to the situation while also recognizing the sense of urgency at hand. The other reindeer had gotten most of the gifts packed back aboard the sleigh, and Donner was still tending to Prancer. “I know,” Santa said, “I’ll get the saw.”

But just then they all heard something, causing the reindeer to pop their heads up and perk their ears like a pack of prairie dogs.Then they heard it again. It sounded like a faint voice from somewhere in the distance.

When they heard it the third time it was clearer and closer. “Grandma!” they heard a young boy shouting. Panic ran through Santa’s body like an electric shock.

“We’ve got to get out of here,” Dancer whispered.Santa and Vixen left the limp corpse where it was and quickly dashed towards the sleigh along with the other reindeer. All except Donner and Prancer because Prancer couldn’t move and Donner did not want to leave his friend.

“What about Prancer?” Donner asked, even though he already knew the answer.

“Leave him,” Santa said. “There’s nothing we can do for him at this point, anyway.”

“Let me go,” Prancer said, causing Donner to look down at his longtime pal with tears in his eyes. “You know he’s right.”

Donner nodded in reluctant agreement and took Prancer’s hoof in between two of his own and said, “I’ll never forget you.”

“Let’s go!” Comet urged Donner as they could hear the voice of the young boy getting nearer.

Donner took his place in front of the sleigh and Santa hurriedly exclaimed, “On Dasher, On Dancer, On Pranc…,” then paused for a brief moment as the reality of what had just happened began to set in. He shook it off and continued to order the rest of the crew off into flight.

They took off just as the little boy was about to reach the crime scene. Santa didn’t know if the boy saw them or not, and he didn’t look back to find out. He kept moving forward knowing that just because one family’s Christmas was ruined didn’t mean that the rest of them had to be as well.

Santa did manage to get the rest of the gifts delivered that night, but the images of what he saw would be branded into his mind for the rest of time. And as bad as the things he saw were, it is the last thing he heard as they flew away that he knew would be the most unshakable moment of that night. As he was soaring away to bring joy to millions of other kids around the world, he heard the voice of one who he knew would have Christmas ruined for him forevermore scream into the otherwise silent night, “Oh my god, Grandma got run over by a reindeer!”