Santa's Sleigh Lights
A Cathy and Janice Bedtime Story
By Joe Pegasus

 

Copyright 2010

List of Illustrations

Cathy and Janice watch their Mom

Mom reads to the girls

Santa rides his sleigh

The girls see lights in the snow

Santa's sleigh lights

Cathy finds the light bulbs

The magic of the lights

The great dilemma

Santa and his lights

Go to: Cathy&Janice

 

The Story About Santa's Sleigh Lights

One Christmas Eve nine-year-old Cathy and her four-year-old sister Janice found their mom adding water to the family Christmas tree and checking the lights upon the tree. Janice tugged at her big sister Cathy's dress and whispered, "Let's get mommy to tell us the story of Santa's shay lights.Cathy smirked down at Janice and corrected her: Sleigh. Santa's Sleigh Lights. "Yeah," replied Janice. "Shay lights, like I said." Excited by the twinkle of the lights they asked their mom to tell them the story of Santa's Sleigh Lights.


Go to List of Illustraions or Go to Cathy & Janice

 As they cuddle beside the tree, mom said, "On Santa's sleigh, there are four special lights. Each one of those lights serves a purpose: one for every direction: North, South, East and West directions. If and only if all four of those lights are on Santa's sleigh will he be able to fly through the dark, snowy Christmas Eve night to deliver presents to all good girls and boys. If just one bell is gone or misplaced then there would be a great dilemma, there could be no Christmas."



Go to List of Illustraions or Go to Cathy & Janice 

 

The girls cheered, quite amused with their mothers story. All Christmas Eve the girls chanted the story over and over, even as they snuggled under their blankets in the bedroom they shared. What a wondrous sight it must be to see the sleigh's four colorful lights draped across the front of his sleigh and reindeer!

Santa riding through the night
Go to List of Illustraions    or    Go to Cathy & Janice

  Later that Night

That night after the family was all in bed and sound asleep there came a clang from outside the girls' bedroom window. From across the room Cathy heard her sister ask, "Did you hear that, Cathy?" Being curious Cathy snuck from under her covers and peeked out her window. Everything looked so wonderful because there laid a blanket of snow across her family's back yard. It glistened under a dark and snowy sky. But what made that clanging noise? Janice joined her at the window.

The girls looked all around. Snow was falling heavy enough that Cathy thought to say, "Surely this was the kind of Christmas Eve when Santa needed his sleigh lights!' Then they noticed two small glimmers of light hidden in the snow just below their bedroom window. "Oh, my, Cathy!"Janice panicked. "Look in the snow. There's a monster down there. I see red and a green monster eyes."


Go to List of Illustraions    or    Go to Cathy & Janice

Cathy shoved at her sister's small shoulder. "Silly, baby,"she scolded. "Monsters do not have different colored eyes."Janice thought to ask her older and wiser sister, why not? When suddenly like a blast of breath on the cold windowpane an even more frightening and dreadful thought popped into both their minds all at once. Janice turned to her big sister and cried, "This is a dealamar!"Even in the drama of the moment, Cathy corrected her. "A dilemma.' And Janice replied, "Yeah, that's what it is, a great dealamar!"


Go to List of Illustraions    or    Go to Cathy & Janice

Worried what the lights may be, Cathy with her little sister in tow dashed from their room, down the stairs, out the front door and onto the porch. Peering from the porch, they spotted the lights. Cathy jumped from the porch and into the snow filled back yard. She wrapped her arms around herself because the cold night made her feel like she stood inside a big ice cube. Cathy looked around. She cried back to her sister to remain on the porch so as not to catch her death of a cold. At first Cathy did not see anything through the snow and darkness, but then a shiny glimmer caught the corner of her eye. At the same time from the porch Janice screamed out and pointed at the glimmer, "There, Cathy! Look there. There they are!" Cathy jumped to the spot then bent down and pulled two shiny light bulbs from the snow. She held them in her hand, amazed. Strangely, while she was holding the lights she felt warm, she was not cold anymore. She smiled because she had found the lights when a thought struck her.

 
"Oh no!"Cathy said aloud with a worried look in her eyes, "This is one of Santa's sleigh lights! That means there can be no Christmas without these!"Cathy decided to wave the light bulbs high in the air over her head and call out to Santa. She cried at the top of her lungs in hopes that Santa would hear her through the wind and snow. Janice too began calling out, pleading with tears in her eyes. "This is a terrible, Christmas dealamar!"

And Cathy added, "Yes, it is!"

Together the sisters took hold of the red and green sleigh lights. With all their might they flung them high above their heads. So very high the lights flew through the falling snow. They fell back into Cathy's hands. The girls felt troubled. Then Cathy waved the bulbs four times, one time for each direction Santa needed to guide his way across the world. Suddenly, with some magic sparks, they disappeared and the girls were once again cold.

Go to List of Illustraions    or    Go to Cathy & Janice

Cathy ran back onto the porch. "Did you see that, Jan?"The girls marveled over their Christmas Eve adventure. Could those lights really be Santa"s? Did he get them back? Will Christmas come? But the sisters shivered with cold and felt tired so they returned to their beds and drifted off to sleep.


Go to List of Illustraions    or    Go to Cathy & Janice

 
Christmas Morning

The next morning everyone opened all of their presents and everyone was happy. Little Cathy looked under the tree and found one last present with a card attached addressed to both Cathy and Janice. It came from Santa. Excited the two girls opened the present together. Inside the wrapping, atop a snow white colored box laid a card that read: "Thanks! But never a need to worry because I always carry a spare. Merry Christmas, Santa"
Cathy and Janice laughed and cheered. Together they looked in the box and pulled out a red and a green sleigh light!

 

The End

Go to List of Illustraions
or
Go to Cathy & Janice