FanStory.com - Rudolph's Nose Goes Outby fionageorge

"Santa Claus, I have some bad news to tell you," Rudolph says, looking worried. He bobs his head, his red nose shining brightly, much brighter than normal.

"What is it, Rudolph? You know we need to leave soon, or we won't have time to deliver all those lovely presents to the good girls and boys."

"I feel sick, Santa. Look at my nose; I can see my own eyes reflected in it. My nose is very hot. I think I have reindeer flu."

"Reindeer flu? What do you mean, Reindeer flu? I’ve never heard of such a thing," Santa says a little huffy.

"Well, look at my nose, not only is it red, but it’s all runny, and my eyes, they’re red too, and every bone in my body aches." Rudolph's voice sounds sniffly and snuffly.

“Aah-ah-ah-choo! Aah-ah-ah-choo!,” Rudolph sneezes very loud. He sneezes so hard, that his nose falls off, and rolls around on the floor.

All the other reindeer, who are resting before the big overnight trip, wake up with a start.

"W-what was that?" asks Blitzen.

"It ... ah...ah...ah-choo, it was me sneezing," says Rudolph.

"Who are you?" asks Dasher, "I don't think I know you!"

"I'm ... ah...ah...ah-choo, I'm Rudolph!,” says Rudolph, all upset.

"You can't be Rudolph, you don't have a red nose," says Comet

."Oh, dear me, dear me," says Santa, "Mrs Claus, can you help please, Rudolph has lost his nose!"

"Lost his nose? How can he lose his nose?" asks Mrs Claus.

"Oh, dear me, dear me," Santa says again, "what are we going to do, Mrs Claus, what are we going to do?" Santa rubs his round belly, looking very worried.

"I can't go out on the ride tonight, Santa, I just can't be seen like this. What will everybody say? I’m so ashamed, and I feel so sick. I won't be able to do the Christmas run tonight." Rudolph says, sounding very sorry for himself.

"But we need you to show the way, Rudolph. How are we going to find all the children if we don't have your nose to guide us, and to light the way?" Santa is looking more worried by the minute.

"I have an idea," Dasher says, "There is Rudolph's nose on the floor. We can stick it back on him, can't we?" He looks very pleased with himself for coming up with a solution to a problem.

"How do you stick a nose back on? It isn't like a piece of paper, or a piece of wood," Donner now speaks up. "We can hardly stick it on, or worse still, put a nail through it!"

"Noooo - you can't ... ah...ah...ah-choo!, you can't put a nail into me, I am sure that will hurt a lot. I am already feeling sick. I won't... ah...ah...ah-choo!, I won't let you put a nail in me!" Rudolph cries.

"Well," Santa says, "there must be something we can do. We’re running out of time. We have to go soon, or the children will miss out on their presents. Come on, Prancer, you always come up with bright ideas, think of something!"

"Uuuhhm - yes, this is a real problem," Prancer says, as he scratches the floor with his hoof. "Let me think about this, Santa." He drops his head and closes his eyes.

"Don't take all day, Prancer, we're running out of time. Look at the clock, it’s nearly eight o'clock," says Mrs Claus.

"Rudolph, did your nose hurt when it came off?" asks Prancer.

"No, I can't say that I ... ah...ah...ah-choo!, that I did. But I was sneezing so hard, I may not have heard it or felt it, ... ah...ah...ah-choo!"

"Why do you need to know that, Prancer? What difference is that going to make?" asks Santa.

"Well, if it didn't hurt or didn't break anything, then the nose must have just rolled off. That means we should be able to just put it back where it came from," Prancer says, sounding real proud of himself.

"Yes, that could work," says Santa, as he tries to bend over to pick up Rudolph's red nose. But he can't bend that far. He looks quite funny as he tries again, and a couple of the other reindeer give a little giggle.

Santa decides to wake up one of his elves. "Can you pick up Rudolph's nose?" Santa asks the elf. "He sneezed it off, and we need to see if it will fit back on," he explains.

The elf rubs his eyes, still half asleep. He doesn't like being woken up. But he knows better than to argue with Santa.

The elf tries to pick up the red nose, but it’s very hot, and round. It rolls away from him, and rolls between Santa's legs, ending up in front of Mrs Claus' feet.

"It's too hot," the elf says, "I can't get it."

Mrs Claus puts her foot on it for the elf to pick it up.

"Ouch, ouch!" he cries, and runs to Santa, dropping the red hot nose into Santa's hand. Santa is wearing his white gloves, so it doesn’t burn his skin, but he can feel the heat through his glove.

"Oh dear, oh dear me, Rudolph, you must be really sick. This nose is still very hot, and it’s been on the floor for quite some time." Santa looks at Rudolph with sympathy in his eyes.

"Santa, I can't come out tonight, even if my nose goes back on my face, I am too sick. Aah-ah-ah-choo!"

"What are you going to do, Santa?" asks Mrs Claus. She’s quite worried, because without Rudolph, the journey will be much slower.

" I think we need to leave right now, not wait a minute longer," says Santa.

"Yes, you're right, dear, but there's still the problem of who will lead. Rudolph is the strongest reindeer, and his nose is your guiding light," Mrs Claus says, still sounding worried.

"Can I lead, please?" Prancer prances up and down, his antlers swaying as he tries to show how strong he is.

"But you don't have a shiny red nose which will reflect the light of the moon, and show us where we're going," Santa says to Prancer.

"Why don't we stick Rudolph's nose on top of mine? I'm sure the elves have some glue left from all the wood-work they’ve been doing. Then I can lead, with Rudolph's nose still shining and leading the way." Prancer suggests proudly.

"That is a good idea, Prancer." Santa quickly goes over to the stairwell and wakes up the same elf who had picked up the nose earlier.

"Quick, I need you to put Rudolph's nose on Prancer. Do you have any glue left?" Santa asks the elf.

The elf is really annoyed now. Why couldn't Santa have woken one of the other elves? He’d only just gone back to sleep. As he walks towards the workshop to get the glue, he glares at Rudolph, as if he is to blame for all this.

When he comes back into the room, Santa gives him Rudolph's nose. The elf climbs up on a stool, then Mrs Claus lifts him up so he can reach Prancer's nose.

He carefully puts some glue on Rudolph's nose, which he quickly puts on Prancer before the glue dries. Straight away the other reindeer start laughing. Prancer, with his double nose, does look funny. First his brown nose, and now on top of that sits Rudolph's famous bright red nose. It really is a sight!

Even Mrs Claus gives a loud giggle. Santa joins in too. But poor Rudolph doesn't find it funny at all. The sniffles and snuffles are coming through two holes above his mouth, where his nose used to be.

"Come on everybody, get in front of the sleigh. Oh, by the way, elf, thank you very much, you can go back to sleep now."

"I hope I can stay asleep this time," the elf mumbles to himself as he heads back to bed.

Prancer proudly gets in front of Santa's sleigh, and the other reindeer all line up behind him. Meanwhile Santa and Mrs Claus put the reins on, and then Santa climbs into the sleigh.

"Oh dear ... oh dear me ... I hope this is all going to work out," he says quietly to Mrs Claus.

"Well, dear, it won't if you don't start yo-ho-ho'ing, instead of oh dear me'ing," Mrs Claus chides him. She gives her husband a kiss on the cheek. Santa pulls the reins, and yo-ho-ho's as the sleigh takes off.

Rudolph's bright red nose catches the light from the moon, and shines brightly, guiding Prancer and the other reindeer towards New Zealand, where they will stop first.

As they gallop across the sky, Santa keeps yo-ho-ho'ing, and Prancer keeps prancing, he is so proud.

After about ten minutes, something seems wrong. Rudolph's nose starts to loose its glow.

"What’s happening, Prancer, why is Rudolph's nose loosing its glow?" Santa asks.

"I don't know Santa," Prancer says, as he looses sight of where he’s going.

Rudolph’s nose has now completely lost its brightness, and the night is quite dark. Even though the moon is shining, it is sending a soft glow over the world, but it doesn’t provide a guiding light like Rudolph's nose did.

Suddenly there’s a loud bang as Santa's sleigh and the reindeer crash into the wing of an aeroplane.

"Oh, dear me, what happened, Prancer? You’re supposed to lead us to New Zealand, and here we are hanging off the wing of an aeroplane." Santa sounds annoyed.

"Santa, I couldn't see where I was going, Rudolph's nose stopped shining." Prancer is nearly crying.

Santa clambers onto the wing of the plane, and untangles the reins. The reindeer also climb on the wing, and they heave the sleigh up as well, ready to take off again.

"But Santa," says Vixen, “where do we go? We have no idea where we are."

"If we head North, we’ll go back to the North Pole. Comet, unpack one of the mobile phones we have wrapped as a gift, and call Mrs Claus. Tell her we are coming back, and ask her to call the doctor please. I think we need him to help Rudolph. We probably should have rang him in the first place." Santa climbs back on the sleigh, and with a not so jolly "Yo-ho-ho" they take off again.

Vixen unwraps a mobile phone, and rings Mrs Claus whilst they head back to the North Pole. He gives Mrs Claus the message from Santa.

They keep flying until they see the lights of Santa's workshop. When they land, Mrs Claus waddles over as fast as she can.

"The doctor’s here and he’s looking at Rudolph. But he’s very worried my dear, very worried indeed. He says he cannot do anything without Rudolph's nose."

"Oh dear, oh dear me, I am worried too. It’s getting later and later, and we haven't delivered any presents yet." Santa says, as his old blue eyes look up at his wife. "What am I going to do, dear? I can't disappoint all the children in the world."

The reindeer stay outside, and Mr and Mrs Claus walk inside. The doctor is standing near Rudolph, who looks a sad sight.

“Doctor, can you do anything to make Rudolph better?" Santa asks.

“Yes, I can, Santa, but I can’t unless I have his nose. Rudolph needs it to breathe properly. And he needs to blow his nose, but he can’t, because it isn’t there!”

“Oh dear, oh dear me, I’m not sure we can give it back to him, doctor. It’s stuck to Prancer’s nose with our special glue,” Santa says quietly.

“Ah, but that is where you’re wrong, Santa,” says the doctor, “we often solve this problem, because some people are silly and glue things together, like their fingers. They don’t take care when they use glue. I even had to remove one person’s big toe from their cheek. Ha-ha-ha, can you believe it? It was an acrobat, and he was trying to ….”

“Yes, yes, doctor, that is all well and good, but I don’t have time to listen to that story. Can you fix Rudolph, please? We’re running out of time. Oh dear, oh dear me, how are we going to deliver all the gifts to the children? I am getting quite stressed, doctor, quite stressed.” Santa looks like he might cry.

“Well, Santa, I have a great idea. Why don’t you bring Prancer inside, and I will remove Rudolph’s nose. I will also give him a special herbal tablet which will fix his reindeer flu.”

“Oh, good doctor, dear doctor, that sounds wonderful. But will Rudolph be well enough to go on our round the world trip, and do it faster than he usually needs to, because we don’t have enough time, and some of the children may miss out.”

The doctor scratches his chin, and looks over the top of his glasses, deep in thought.

“Santa, do you have a spare sleigh?”

“Yes, of course, we’re always, well, almost always, prepared for any problems. Yes, I have a spare sleigh. It’s not quite as nice as this one, but it works just as well. Why do you ask, doctor?”

“Because I have a plan, a brilliant plan,” the doctor says, smiling. “Here is what we’ll do. While I detach Rudolph’s nose from Prancer’s nose, and then put it back on Rudolph, you get all the elves to put half the gifts in the other sleigh.”

The doctor stops for a breath, because he’s so excited, he’s talking really fast.

“Then, when Rudolph’s all fixed up, I will give a special herb to Prancer. This will increase the blood circulation to his nose, which will cause his nose to glow. This herb only lasts twenty-four hours, but that is long enough for Prancer to lead one team of reindeer on the second sleigh, and for Rudolph to lead the other team on your sleigh.” The doctor finally stops speaking, smiling broadly, pleased with his brilliant plan.

“Haven’t you forgotten something, doctor?” Mrs Claus asks.

“What have I forgotten, Mrs Claus?”

“One sleigh will have no Santa Claus in it, doctor. How can that work? We can’t send a sleigh without Santa in it. The reindeer won’t be able to deliver the presents, because they’ll be tied to their reins. Who will go down all the chimneys? Who will deliver the presents?” Mrs Claus looks at the doctor, her eyebrows raised.

“Oh, Mrs Claus, that’s where you are wrong. I had thought of that. But first, tell me, do the reindeer know where they have to go?”

“Yes, of course they do,” Santa answers this time.

“And do you have a spare Santa suit in your wardrobe?” the doctor asks.

“Yes, dear me, of course, doctor.”

“Well, problem solved!” The doctor exclaims, puffing up his chest. “Here is my plan.”

He looks around at all the eyes staring at him; Santa Claus, Mrs Claus, Prancer and Rudolph, and peeking through the door, all the other reindeer.

“Look at me, take a good look at me. I’m about the same size as you Santa, and I have a white beard. I can wear your spare suit and take one of the sleighs, while you go on the other one. That way, we can still finish all the deliveries on time. But we must hurry, we can’t waste any more time. Prancer, come over here, and I will remove Rudolph’s nose, and give it back to Rudolph. Mrs Claus, can you organise the second sleigh and wake the elves? We should be ready in about half an hour if we all work together.”

They all set to work in a hurry. Mrs Claus wakes up the elves, and puts them to work. They move half the presents into the second sleigh, which Santa has pulled inside. Mrs Claus then goes into Santa’s wardrobe and pulls out his spare suit, brushing it down and making sure it had no missing buttons.

In the meantime, the doctor unglues Rudolph’s nose off Prancer’s nose, and then sews it back on Rudolph. For the first time that day, Rudolph has a smile on his face. Since the doctor gave him the herbal mixture, he has been feeling like his old self again.

Then the doctor gives the other special herb to Prancer, and straight away his nose starts to shine, although not as bright as Rudolph’s.

The doctor then runs over to where Mrs Claus is standing, and quickly puts on the spare Santa suit. It is exactly half an hour since they all started.

“Thank you, everybody,” says Santa, “now we must go.”

The reindeer split into two teams, and Santa and the doctor quickly get into the sleighs.

“Doctor, follow me until we get to New Zealand, then you look after the South Island, while we will do the North Island,” says Santa, whose face does not look stressed anymore. “The reindeer have been instructed where they need to go. You’re to go into each house, make sure the boys and girls are asleep, then quickly leave the presents.”

“Yes, Santa, I’m sure the reindeer will look after me. Actually, I am quite looking forward to flying around the world in one night!” the doctor says excitedly.

“Doctor, there is one more very important thing,” Santa says.

“Yes, Santa? What’s that?” The doctor looks confused, he is sure he’s thought of everything.

“You need to let me hear your ‘Yo-ho-ho’, doctor. You have to sound like me, otherwise the children will know it isn’t me.”

“Yo-ho-ho’” the doctor says in his deepest voice, “yo-ho-ho! – how is that Santa?” he asks.

“That’s just fine, doctor, that’s just fine. Tally ho, everyone, off we go.”

With that the two sleighs set off in the direction of New Zealand, to begin their important deliveries.

Rudolph’s nose is bright and shining again, and he smiles broadly, happy to be better and to have his nose back.

Prancer is also smiling, because he likes being in charge of the second sleigh, and his nose is also shining brightly.

As they fly through the air, the moon’s light reflects on two red noses. One sleigh has four reindeer, the other five. Santa and the doctor joyfully deliver all the presents around the world on time.

As soon as they are finished, they go straight back to the North Pole, where Mrs Claus is waiting for them with hot chocolate and delicious home-made cakes. The elves wake up, and they have a lovely Christmas party. They sing Christmas carols and share their favourite Christmas stories. After all the excitement of the night, everyone is happy that all the children's gifts were delivered on time.

Did you get yours?