On a mild December afternoon, everything seemed to be quiet in the Endless Forest. The deer were going about their usual business, when from out of nowhere they heard a sound. It was distant but approaching, an interesting jingling that sounded like it was coming from the sky. Many deer raised their heads and perked their ears to the sound, looking upward to see if they could spot what was making it through the Forest canopy.

Zevi was drinking from the Pond when he raised his head to the sound as well. He was the first to spot what it was – an odd object trailing what appeared to be several flying deer. The deer tilted his head in confusion, he knew deer could fly but wasn’t sure what was chasing them. The jingling got louder and louder, until the flying object swooped overhead. It went off in another direction, and Zevi shrugged. He had seen odder things in the Forest, and assumed this was Michael and Auriea practicing another Abiogenesis. He was about to return to his drink when a splash sounded close by.

Jumping back a bit startled, the deer glared at the water, and slowly approached it. There was something floating for a moment, before starting to sink under the water. The deer approached and reached into the Pond water, pulling out the strange metallic object. He walked out of the water and sat the thing down on the shore, examining it as it made an interesting jingle sound. The bell was golden with a long red strap, much like it was tied into a necklace. The deer nudged the bell, hearing the jingle, but as he went to put his hoof down, it seemed to float into the air briefly before finally making landfall.

Zevi looked around to see if anyone else was there, before he reached down and slipped the strap around his neck. The bell jingled a bit more rapidly when he sat up, and the next thing he knew, his hooves were glowing and felt weightless. He was so surprised at this that almost uncontrollably he ran and jumped into the air, and it felt as if he was running on solid ground but ascended instantly into the sky. ”Whoa!”, he gasped as he was hovering in the sky, floating up to the clouds.

Close by, a few other deer came to the Pond, thinking they heard something going on as well. “It was right over here, I swear I heard a splash!”, Pierce spoke. Shadow was right behind him, sniffing the air, “Hmm it does smell like someone was just here too…I thought someone spoke too, but I don’t see any others here.”, she spoke. “There’s tracks here…but they disappear.”, Greyhorn pointed out, where there were hoofprints in the shallow mud that walk out from the pond and then vanish. “What? That doesn’t make sense…”, Shadow tilted her head. “Come on, something’s got to be going on tonight.”, Pierce said and led them in one direction to investigate.

Zevi was floating over the clouds, and once he got the hang of it, he figured out how to run on the air. It felt as if he was running on a solid surface, and the afternoon sky was simply gorgeous too. He hadn’t seen a prettier sunset over the clouds, and excited, he yelled out, ”Wooooo!”. This made several deer blink and look to the sky, including Pierce, Greyhorn, and Shadow. But Zevi was over both the canopy and the clouds so they could not see the source of the noise. The entire time the bell was chiming in rhythm to his movements.

He was so exhilarated over the flight that he then learned how to descend, and now under the clouds, he brushed his hooves along the treetops. One dropped several pinecones on some resting deer, who were bonked on the head and groaned loudly in response. ”Oops..sorry!”, Zevi called and continued on. Pierce looked up and spotted him, “Oh, who is that?”, he asked. Greyhorn looked up as well, “Must be the one causing the disturbance! After him!”, he roared and chased after the flying deer. Pierce and Shadow followed behind him, having to bound over sleeping deer and avoid trees to catch up.

Zevi spotted them chasing after him, and he ascended back over the clouds. The pursuers slowed to a halt, losing visual of him. Zevi now knew he needed to stay hidden so nobody else would see him, but at once his ears perked, and he heard a familiar sound. In the distance he saw the very top of the Ruins, and nearby was a group of deer and a strange-looking thing. The deer were attached to the sleigh, and there was a rather plump man in red who was standing by them. Zevi slowed his pace and descended to the other side of the Ruins, where he could listen to them.

“That bell needs to be found. Without it, we can’t make it back to the North Pole.”, the round man spoke. “But Santa…it could have fallen anywhere.”, one of the deer replied. “We’ll spread out and look for it, just try not to disturb the locals here in the Endless Forest. We don’t want them to cause a panic…”, Santa replied.

Zevi looked at the bell around his neck. It seemed like this thing held some kind of special power that helped the deer fly. But now he had a choice to make – he could keep the bell for himself, or he could give it back. The flight was quite fun, and he started to debate the consequences of keeping the thing…

Before he could make a choice, someone called, “There he is!” Shadow was the first to spot Zevi on the other side of the Ruins. He immediately ran, but was cut off by Pierce, who asked, “Hang on, what’s going on?”. And blocking his last path was Greyhorn, who also approached, speaking, “We’re not going to hurt you, we just want to know what’s going on.”

Zevi sighed, and spoke, ”This thing…it fell from the sky. I put it around my neck and somehow was able to fly around. But I think it belongs to those deer over there and that human, so I was about to give it back to them…” Shadow nodded, “That would be best, I think.”, and Pierce sneered, “Must have been fun being able to fly though.” Greyhorn approached and said, “Come on, let’s give it back before they start looking.”

The trio led Zevi to Santa and his reindeer, who were surprised to see them there. Zevi approached and said, ”I believe this is yours.”, and dropping the bell, he stepped back. Santa smiled and picked up the golden bell, and showing it to the reindeer, they all reared in happiness. He turned to Zevi and the others, “Thank you. We did not mean to lose this, and we appreciate your generosity. I will make certain you are on the ‘nice list’.”, he spoke. Zevi, Greyhorn, Pierce, and Shadow bowed in response, and right after, Santa stepped onto his sleigh. Before he took flight, he looked to them, “How about a ride before we go?”

The deer all looked to one another, and quickly approached. Pierce hopped onto the sleigh first, followed by Zevi, then Shadow, and lastly Greyhorn. It was a tight fit, but they all were able to sit comfortably.

“On Dasher! On Dancer! On Prancer and Vixen! On Comet! On Cupid! On Donner and Blitzen!”, Santa ordered, and the reindeer, now with the magic of the bell that was attached to the front of the sleigh, all ran and ascended into the air. The Endless Forest deer all held on tight while the sleigh went over the clouds. “Woooohooo!”, Pierce cheered. Greyhorn smiled and Shadow was laughing. Zevi simply closed his eyes and let the wind and afternoon sun hit his face. This was a great afternoon, even if he would never experience it again.

The deer would be dropped off later on, but for now, Santa led his reindeer all across the Endless Forest, showing them a spectacular view of their home. He called out to all the deer on the ground, “Ho Ho Ho! Merry Christmas to all!”

The End