Greta sipped on her steamy hot cocoa as she watched the snow glide down to the still untrampled ground. Christmas was just days away, and it looked like it would be a perfectly white one. But as she watched with childish wonder, she saw something else gliding in the air. Gliding, but coming down. Coming closer. It was a sleigh, Greta realized with startling clarity. More than that, it was a red sleigh being pulled by a single reindeer.

To her surprise, it was coming very, very close, seemingly having chosen Greta’s own tiny yard as a landing pad. But that made some sense since she didn’t have any big trees back there. And so she watched the tiny reindeer and tiny sleigh land in her backyard, just feet away from her.

Greta quickly got her shoes and a coat on, then went flying through her backdoor. She had no other thought but to see a real flying reindeer up close. When she got outside, she saw not just a reindeer, but an elf. Greta wasn’t very tall, just a bit over five feet. And she had a few inches on the elf. His ears were big and pointy, his hair shiny and gold. He wore a warm green tunic and striped red tights. And to Greta’s delight, curly toed shoes.

“There, there, buddy.” He said, rubbing the neck of his reindeer.

“Oh my gosh,” Greta said, looking at the sight. The reindeer, if it wasn’t miniature, was close to it.

The elf, and the reindeer suddenly looked over to Greta, standing in her pajama pants and holding her jacket tightly closed. “Ah, fiddlesticks,” the elf said, “I thought the house was empty.” The reindeer nodded.

“Sorry. I won’t tell anyone, I swear, if that helps.”

“It does,” the elf said. He had sparkling cheeks and a pointy nose. He held out one hand, “I’m Bart, by the way.”

She took and and shook it warmly, “Greta. What happened, it looked like you fell out of the sky.”

“We sort of did.” Bart hooked his thumb to his reindeer, “Stewart here’s a bit under the weather. He can’t quite pull the sleigh tonight.”

“Oh, no. Do you need a phone to call someone,” Greta asked. “Maybe a vet?”

Bart shook his head, “What I need is to get to the North Pole tonight. I have a sleigh full of Christmas lists that the elves back home need to look at.”

“Because Christmas is like ten days away.”

“Right. It’s always down to the wire, and this year has been crazy.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Greta asked, fully serious.

“Well...” Bart put his finger up to his chin, “there is one thing. One really crazy thing.”

“What?” Greta asked the elf.

“I could hook you up to the harness. You and Stewart could fly the sleigh back home.”

“Me?!” Greta shouted, staring at the sleigh, then back at Bart, “how would that even work?”

“Well, and this is a little known secret, so no blabbing,” Bart said, and Greta nodded, miming zipping up her mouth. “The magic is in the harness. If I harness you up, then you could fly the sleigh.”

She looked at the big red sleigh with double seats. It wasn’t big, but maybe it wasn’t THE sleigh but it still must weigh a good amount, more so with Bart’s own weight. “I couldn’t pull that.” She said.

“Well, not with that attitude. But, it wasn’t a good idea, anyway.”

Greta crossed her arms and looked around. “So, you’re telling me I could fly?”

“That’s the idea.”

“And I’ll be back home by Christmas.”

“Yes, of course.”

“And I’ll get to see the North Pole?”

“That goes without saying. But you don’t…”

“Ok.”

Bart blinked, “Wait, what? You’re saying you’ll be my reindeer?”

“Sure, why not. I always wanted to fly, I always wanted to see the north pole, and if this is what I have to do to make that happen, yes. I’ll be your reindeer.” It was the most ridiculous thing Greta had ever said, the most ridiculous thing she was ever about to do. Did that make her crazy? Probably. It didn’t stop her grinning from ear to ear.

Bart jumped and spun in the air, “Oh, my gosh, this is a life saver. You’re a hero! You just saved Christmas!” He said, running up to Greta with a wide, glittering smile. He grabbed my arms and shook me. “You are the best!”

He turned to his reindeer, “Whadya say, Stew? Think she’ll make a good reindeer?” The animal shook his big antlers and grunted.

“Well, thanks for the vote of confidence,” Greta said, laughing, and thinking she was probably delirious. Bart waved off Stewart and pulled Greta toward the sleigh, standing her in front of the reindeer.

“What do we do now?” Greta asked.

“You just stand there like a good reindeer while I hook you up.” Greta nodded and faced forward. Her brain desperately tried to explain how crazy this was. Her heart didn’t much care.

Bart returned with a a red harness that jingled as it moved. “I think, if we take this piece here, and wrap it with that there, and then…” he slid the harness over Greta’s head, hooking it around her chest, then went around the back and tightened it. Not to the point of making it hard to breath, but it was still a snug fit.

“Is it on?” She wondered.

“Shh. Reindeers don’t talk.”

Greta frowned. How did reindeers talk to the elves? Then, she stamped my foot in the snow and nickered.

“Not bad,” Bart said, walking back in front of me. “But you need a reindeer name.”

I nodded while Bart tapped his chin. “How about Fancy?”

She shook her head, but I didn’t speak since Reindeers don’t speak.

Bart laughed, though, and rubbed Fancy’s nose, “No, I think you’ll be Fancy. Now, for this to work, you need to believe that you are a reindeer.”

Fancy nodded and nickered. She had to believe she was a reindeer.

“Ok, Fancy.” Bart said, beginning to whisper in the darkness and running his fingers through her hair. “You are a reindeer. You are my favorite reindeer. You are the best reindeer in Santa’s flock.”

I nodded. There was something extra in Bart’s voice. Like, a jingle, or a bell. That, and his fingers gliding through her hair made Fancy calm down and begin to imagine herself as a real reindeer.

“Your name is Fancy, and you love to play reindeer games. Your job is to fly and pull sleighs. You live in the north pole, and you can’t wait to get back home, where you’ll see your friends reindeer friends again, and get to eat all the moss and carrots and grass you can.”

The thought of eating moss somehow made Fancy’s mouth water as Bart said it. She nodded again. Something was beginning to tickle and shift across her body. Fancy looked down and saw her clothes had changed into a warm reindeer costume. Her chest was white and lightly furred, the rest of her new suit light brown with short fur. Her hands and feet were wrapped in hooves, and she felt the extra weight of long antlers on her head. When she turned her head, she heard bells dance on the tips of her reindeer antlers.

“Very good, Fancy. You’re a reindeer now, aren’t you?”

Fancy bobbed her head and nickered. Her elf friend rubbed his hand along her nose. It felt good.

“Are you ready to fly back to the North Pole?”

She nodded her head again. Bart nodded, too, and went back to the sleigh. He pulled on the reins, testing them out, and Fancy felt the pull of them, turning her head and torso left, then right. She heard a whip crack, but it didn’t strike either reindeer, just startled them. Somehow, Fancy knew that was the signal to start forward. She began to run, Stewart helping her, their combined strength pulling the sleigh across the ground. Gaining speed on her back hooves. Then, she leaped into the air, her hooves pawing as if still running, and she was up. She was flying!

In that moment, Greta, the rational thinking human had gone away, replaced by the magical, though strange, reindeer Fancy. She thought of flying, of frolicking in the snow, of living in the stables. She thought of nothing else but being santa’s reindeer.