The Secret of Santa’s Great Sleigh
Story by Bruce Levitt
Illustrations by David Brewer
Many many many many years ago when Santa Claus first began delivering toys on Christmas Eve, he could easily carry all the toys he needed in his trusty red sleigh. But each year, there were more good little girls and boys, so each year Santa had more and more toys to deliver. He loved that! The more the merrier. Until that one night.
That was the night, no matter how hard they tried, the elves could not fit all the toys in the sleigh at one time. So Santa Claus and the reindeer had to make 2 trips. They delivered one load and then flew all the way back to the North Pole to pick up the rest. It was more work, but they didn't mind the tiniest little bit.
As the years passed, the number of good little girls and boys kept growing and growing and growing… and so did the number of toys to deliver. It wasn’t long before two trips weren’t enough. So Santa Claus and the reindeer had to make 3 trips… then 4 trips… then 5… then 25…then 500… and finally…
… the Reindeer ran out of gas! Well, so to speak, since reindeer run on carrots, not gas. They just couldn't fly that much in one night. Santa Claus knew he had to find a better way. Otherwise, he would not be able to deliver all the toys next Christmas. And that just wouldn't do, would it?
The very next day, Santa Claus called a meeting to figure out what to do. The Toy Workshop was jammed with elves wearing their very best thinking caps. And, as you would expect, there were lots of suggestions.
One elf suggested making the toys much smaller, so they would all fit in the sleigh at one time. But that didn’t sound like much fun to Santa Claus.
Another elf suggested making it harder to get on the Nice List, so they wouldn’t need as many toys. But that didn’t sound like much fun to Santa Claus either.
Then the newest elf of all, Budgy, said, “Instead of Santa Claus having to come back to the Workshop for more toys, why don’t we bring the Workshop to where he is?” Everyone laughed and laughed and laughed. Everyone but Santa Claus.
“Wait just a minute!” exclaimed Santa Claus. “I think Budgy has something! What if we made a huge great sleigh that would carry all the toys we need at one time… so we didn’t have to go back and forth to the Toy Workshop. I could still use my trusty red sleigh to make the actual deliveries, and whenever I needed more toys, I could just fly over to this huge great sleigh and pick up a new load in seconds. That would be WONDERFUL!
And with that, all the reindeer shouted “Nipsy Bipsy Boomtada”
A team of of elves was promptly selected to design Santa’s Great Sleigh™. That very night these elves gathered around the dinner table raring to go. There was just one problem. None of them had ever designed a Great Sleigh.
“Hmmm, what do we do?” said one.
“Gosh, I don’t know.” said another.
Then, Budgy piped up, “I saw a movie once where a guy designed something neat on a napkin.” “That’s it!” exclaimed the others. And with that they all began scribbling on their napkins.
Soon the table was covered with napkins, because as you can imagine, there were so many important things to consider in designing Santa’s Great Sleigh. The elves wanted to make it really special for Santa Claus.
First, the elves had to decide what Santa’s Great Sleigh should look like. As you might expect, the elves were full of ideas.
“Let’s make it a giant race car,” shouted one.
“It should be a Great big stuffed bear,” called another.
“How about a huge hot dog!” yelled another.
“A toy box….An accordion…A lollipop!
Then Budgy said, “This might be nice.” And he held up his napkin. The other elves fell
silent. They knew Santa Claus would love it.
One of the most important things to figure out was exactly how big Santa’s Great Sleigh™ should be. To determine this the elves used their most advanced Number Cruncher. A Number Cruncher is related to a computer, but instead of a hard drive it has TEETH!
First, the elves entered in the number of good little girls and boys in the whole world.
Next, they entered in the size of every toy in the world. And finally, they multiplied everything by a bajillion. And the answer to how big Santa’s Great Sleigh should be was exactly… GIGANTICALLY HUMONGOUSLY COLOSSALLY BIG!
Once the elves knew how big Santa’s Great Sleigh had to be, they knew the perfect place to build it… the great, glistening Ice Cave.
It was perfect for two reasons. First, it was in a super secret location deep under the village. Second, and most important of all, the great Ice Cave was GIGANTICALLY HUMONGOUSLY COLOSSALLY BIG! … just like Santa’s Great Sleigh had to be. The elves could hardly wait to get started!
At precisely 6:30 NPT (North Pole Time), Budgy blew his peppermint stick whistle and construction began. The Ice Cave was instantly bustling with activity. Hundreds of elf sleds arrived piled high with building supplies. Wood and hammers and nails and saws and glue and, of course, jellybeans. After all, elves work extra fast when the snacks are jellybeans.
Before long, Santa’s Great Sleigh was well underway. Wood was carefully sawed into special sizes and shapes. Then elf carpenters hammered each piece into the right place. And after that, elf painters applied a rainbow of colors. It was so bright you almost needed sunglasses just to look at it! Santa Claus was going to be amazed.
Santa’s Great Sleigh was finally ready for the great unveiling. All of elfdom gathered in the Ice Cave as spotlights flashed, lighting up the GIGANTICALLY HUMONGOUSLY COLOSSALLY BIG … shape.
This was such an exciting moment for everyone, especially Santa and Mrs. Claus, because they had never seen Budgy’s design. It was going to be a complete surprise for them! Santa Claus could hardly wait.
With the band playing “For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow,” Mrs. Claus threw a snowball to release the giant drape. As it fell away revealing Santa’s Great Sleigh, a huge cheer went up, and there towered the most amazing sleigh ever created.
Santa Claus beamed with pride. In fact, he was smiling so hard he couldn’t even talk! For a moment, Santa thought his face might be stuck forever in the biggest grin ever seen.
With the unveiling complete, it was time for Budgy to take Santa Claus on a tour. The first stop was the Bridge, way up on the top deck. This is where Santa’s Great Sleigh is controlled during its flight.
The huge steering wheel is manned by a team of elves. By shifting their positions up or down and left or right, they turn the wheel to keep Santa’s Great Sleigh flying right above his trusty red sleigh. That way, Santa can zip up whenever he needs more toys.
From the Bridge, the tour moved to the heart of Santa’s Great Sleigh… the Toy Deck. This is where all the toys from the Toy Workshop are stored, ready to be loaded onto little red delivery sleighs all through the night. As you might expect, the toy area is really big. Make that GIGANTICALLY HUMONGOUSLY COLOSSALLY BIG!
And the toy loading system is an elfin masterpiece. It hooks directly into the Naughty or Nice List, so it automatically loads exactly the right toy for each good little girl and boy. Santa Claus can pick up a full load in 1.5 seconds.
Of course, everything depends on Santa’s Great Sleigh being able to fly really fast to wherever Santa Claus needs it. So the elves designed a Super-Dooper Double-Looper power plant with 25,000 RDP (ReinDeerPower). That’s a lot! It can fly Santa’s Great Sleigh wherever it needs to go in the blink of an eye. That’s fast!
The last stop on the tour was the Reindeer Deck. This is a very cool area where the reindeer can relax during their rest breaks. It has bunk beds for napping, a bowling alley, and a carrot cafe that’s open all night. There’s even a swimming pool full of… you guessed it… jelly beans! Reindeer love jelly beans as much as elves do.
Back on the main deck of Santa’s Great Sleigh, Santa Claus suddenly said to Budgy, “I’m afraid there is still one thing missing.” Budgy gulped.
“What is missing,” said Santa Claus, “is someone to pilot my Great Sleigh on Christmas Eve.” And with that, he held up a golden pilot’s badge.
Then Santa Claus said, “Budgy, I am proud to appoint you the first Pilot of my Great Sleigh. And the crowd went wild!
Now, every Christmas Eve, two sleighs take off from the North Pole. First comes Santa Claus in his trusty red sleigh. Then comes Budgy in Santa’s Great Sleigh. And all night long they fly around the world making sure Santa can deliver toys to all the good little girls and boys.
Including you. |
