UPDATED SEPTEMBER 5th, 1999: I just received an e-mail from the author of this story. Olive, the Orphan Reindeer will be published in Novemeber of this year. You can get your order in at Amazon.com and be one of the first to get it!
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Here is a portion of the e-mail I received from Mr. Christie: Hi, Leslie Thank you so much for using Olive, the Orphan Reindeer and making it available to lots of kids. Over the years I've become a believer in Murphy's Law: "If anything can go wrong, it will." So when I wrote to you I didn't want to mention it in case things went sour, but it's definete now--the story will be published. It will be published with full color illustrations by New Canaan Publishing for this Christmas (1999). However, I hope the publication of Olive doesn't stop you from continuing to post it. I feel that a story on a website can exist on its own. I don't think it's in competition with nor does it diminish an illustrated book that can be found under a Christmas tree or in a stocking. As someone has said, "A book is a revolutionary breakthrough in technology. It has no wires, no electrical circuits, no batteries, nothing to be connected or switched on. It's so easy to use even a child can operate it. Just lift its cover! A book never crashes, never needs rebooting, and it is compact, portable, durable, and affordable." All the Best, Michael
This Christmas story was sent to me by a visitor to my website. He gave me permission to use it here on my site. The story is copyrighted so please don't take it without the authors permission. Thank you very much and enjoy the story!
Did you know there’s another reindeer besides Rudolph with a funny nose? Most kids know about her because this reindeer is in the Rudolph song: "All of (OLIVE) the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names." Yes, her name's Olive and here’s the story I wrote, "Olive, the Orphan Reindeer". A bit about me: I live in the Vancouver area of Canada. I've been an elementary school teacher for twenty-nine years, now happily retired. I'm married with two sons, three grandchildren. Oops! Shouldn't forget our cat, Felix. All the best, Michael Christie OLIVE, the ORPHAN REINDEER Copyright Michael Christie 1997 (Ages: For all those who believe in Christmas) By Michael Christie CHAPTER 1 Wolves The storm in the Barrens raged around the little reindeer with a nose like an olive. "Mommy! Daddy!" She’d lost her mother and father and brothers and sisters. The night wind shrieked. The snowflakes stung her eyes. "Mommy! Daddy! Where are you?" But no one could hear. And now — danger! — wolves. She could smell them. They were close. Maybe they got my family, she thought, and want me too. So the little reindeer ran as fast as she could. In the fierce storm she didn’t know where she was going. She just knew she had to get away. The wolves chased her, but she soon left them far behind. Even when she no longer picked up their scent, she ran and ran. Finally she came to the North Pole.
CHAPTER 2 Santa And Mrs. Claus Gasping for breath, she found herself in front of Santa and Mrs. Claus’s house. Night here was calm and peaceful. She saw them arm in arm on their doorstep. They were looking at the stars. Santa Claus laughed when he saw the tired little reindeer. "Ho! Ho! Ho! Look, my dear. A reindeer with an olive for a nose! Goodness! Welcome to the North Pole, little one." Mrs. Claus smiled. "Well, aren’t you just the cutest thing though! We’ll have to call you Olive. Right, Santa?" Santa nodded. "Do you like cookies, Olive?" "I don’t know, ma’am," she said. "Well, try this," said Mrs. Claus. She gave Olive a cookie. "It’s raisin and oatmeal fresh from my bakery." Olive found it tasty. While she nibbled on it, Mrs. Claus tied a blue bow on her head. "There, Olive!" Mrs. Claus said, giving her a big hug. "You just needed a mite sprucing up." "I hope you can stay a while, Olive," said Santa. Olive felt she'd never see her family again. She was an orphan. So she decided to make the North Pole her home.
CHAPTER 3 Olive’s Jobs As the years passed and she got bigger, Olive became one of the best skaters among the spare reindeer. She always won the friendly races against them at Candy Cane Pond. Olive also had important jobs to do during the Christmas season. She looked through the magic telescope to see which boys and girls were naughty or nice, and reported their names to Number One, the chief elf. She hauled boxes of presents to Santa Claus’s sleigh on the runway. She delivered muffins from Mrs. Claus’s bakery to the hospital. In the toy factory she checked for broken toys coming off a line in Quality Control. She liked these jobs, but the job Olive wanted more than anything was to be on Santa’s team. Will I be picked some day? she wondered.
CHAPTER 4 A Foolish Dream It was Christmas Eve again. As always Olive wished she could go on the Big Trip. Many of her spare reindeer pals had gone. Why not me? she thought. But maybe that was a foolish dream. Only this morning an elf had shouted, "You over there — no, not you, Jingles. The other reindeer. Yes, you, green nose. Give us some help." But at dusk when Olive got off shift, she began to do some serious thinking. Maybe it wasn’t a foolish dream at all. What did that smart alec elf know anyway? So she decided right then to visit Santa and ask him if she could join the team.
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