Frolicking in the Snow

Sample of my contribution to Between the Snowflakes

You know Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, and Blizten. No this isn't the Rudolph song but a behind the scenes look at the North Pole during the Christmas season. We all know that Christmas magick exists and that's how Santa gets his reindeer in the air on Christmas Eve. But did you know that very same magick is used to let the reindeer roam in their human forms the night before Christmas Eve? There's no need to clean out your ears because you heard me right, I said human forms. That's right, my lovelies, Santa's reindeer are shifters and for one night a year they are allowed to experience life as a human. This is just one of the things we aren't told as children. Are you prepared to join in on their reindeer games?

*****

Santa's reindeer looked forward to the night before Christmas Eve when they were allowed to stretch their human legs and have fun, not having to stress over carrying the fat man around the world. It's not that they didn't enjoy their jobs on Christmas Eve and they absolutely adored their boss and his elves but they all eagerly waited for the night before business had to be done so they could be human. That one night a year Santa would grace them with the magick to take their human shapes and allow them to dine on whatever pleasure they found. Most of the shifters chose to take their time with opposable thumbs to help the elves finish up their last minute work or play games with the pointy eared folk. Some of the reindeer would even help Santa's little helpers set up for the next year's Christmas, hoping to lighten the little people's load. But there were two shifters who wondered if they had been experiencing everything there was to offer as a human.

Holly and Sage were reindeer in training and had decided the year before to sneak off and meet in the woods outside of Santa's workshop. They wanted to explore each other and the wonders of the human flesh without the chance of any interruption. They had chosen a spot not too far from the workshop, but not really close either, and stashed some things they wanted to use in their fun and games the year before. As the night before Christmas Eve approached, the anticipation seemed to vibrate through the air. The reindeer pranced around in their excitement as Santa made his way through the barn, touching each one as he passed. The magick enveloped their bodies and the shifting process began.

Santa tried his best to make it a comfortable experience with very little pain but he couldn't always make any guarantees. He had been perfecting the art of making the reindeer shifting process a lot smoother over the last two or three years, since he had lost one of his loyal shifters when they got stuck between human and animal, and he felt that he really had it this year. When Santa finally approached Holly and Sage, they were so excited with the prospect of being human they could barely stand still long enough for him to touch them and let the magick wrap around their animal bodies. While the shifting process began, they both waited until the rest of their colleagues had finished transforming and made sure they had followed the boss man out of the barn. The two stretched their newly found human bodies and gazed across the aisle, drinking in the sight of each other standing on two legs in their new pink flesh.

Holly had an athletic build with wavy red hair and beautiful blue eyes whereas Sage had a muscular build with sandy brown hair and striking green eyes.

Sage cleared his throat, "Do you think everyone has gone inside the workshop by now?"

Holly crept to the entrance of the stables and stuck her head out.

Looking both ways she saw nothing and nobody, "It would appear that way, but I think we should stick to our original plan. You go to the spot we agreed on and I'll meet you there in about thirty minutes."

Sage gave her a crooked grin and nodded his agreement, reluctantly leaving the stables, not really wanting to leave Holly behind. Holly leaned back against the wall by the entrance to the barn, trying to strengthen her suddenly weak knees and her stomach feeling like it housed a million butterflies. She couldn't remember a time where she'd felt so nervous. She pushed away from the wall and stepped out of the stables, needing to walk around so that she could calm her nerves.

It can't hurt to make an appearance inside the workshop for a few minutes. Might help take any suspicion off of Sage's disappearance, Holly thought as she made her way in that direction through the light dusting of snow.

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