Weekly News from the Wacky World of Fairy Tales. The Once Upon A Times keeps you up to date with all the goings-on in the fairy tale lands, from the Pleasant Kingdoms to the Seven Seas of Despair.
Fluyrryflake Airfiled - Magic carpets, broomsticks, and all other flying apparatus in the northern Kingdom of Flurryflake were grounded this morning after an influx of shiny-nosed reindeers compromised the airfield's signaling systems.
"We employ over two hundred will-o'-the-wisps to provide lights that direct incoming and outgoing fliers," explains Air Traffic Controller, Gale Winters. "The wisps are a red-orange colour. Easy to distinguish--until three days ago, that is."
That was when scores of reindeer arrived, their noses enchanted to shine bright red. Just what are the reindeer after?
Kari Hoofwinkle, a young reindeer, spoke to The Once Upon A Times through translator Gerda Rosling, recently returned from the rescue of her brother. (See last week's article for Gerda's compelling story.)
"Do you recall Rudolfus Foreflite?" Kari Hoofwinkle asks. "He got his nose enchanted last year and helped Saint Nicklaus through all that fog. Well, we just want to be the next Rudolfus! I got my nose done by a sorcerer in Capitolia. A few friends paid forest nymphs to enchant theirs, and honestly, I think the difference shows plainly enough. Anyway, we've come to the airfield to practice our flying skills."
Airport authorities are having none of it. "This Rudolfus might have improved visibility for a certain sleigh-flying saint last year," says Gale Winters, "but all these red-nosed reindeer milling about are obscuring our real signaling wisps. We've had seven crash landings in the last two days!"
While the reindeer influx costs the airport, others are seeking to profit from it. Gus Glacie, a traveling salesman, is hoping to partner with the reindeer for a holiday business venture. "I sit these deer down and have a right honest conversation with them. I tell them, look, most of you aren't going to be the next Rudolfus. Sad, but true. However, let me lease you to a family of frost giants for the holidays and you can sit on top of their tree with that little nose of yours shining like a star. If you can't save Christmas for the whole world, you can at least bring some good cheer to a chilly home, eh?"
Mr. Glacie says he has already signed contracts with over twenty deer, but Kari Hoofwinkle--and most of the others here--have only one job in mind: "I want to guide that sleigh. You'll see. I'll go down in history."
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Based on the narrative poem, Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, first written by Robert L. May in 1939.
Tune in next week for more wintry shenanigans from the wacky world of fairy tales...
