Dasher's Sacrifice

Tiptoe sat outside of her gingerbread house, thinking. As she thought, she gazed into the vast beauty of the night sky hovering over the countryside. She did this often, coming outside and simply thinking- dreaming. Dreaming of escaping the countryside and moving to the beautiful, snow-covered North Pole. Should I? She thought. She wanted to escape from Lucifer, her guardian who had supposedly found her as a baby one day. He was always rude- when she mentioned her dream of escaping. When she mentioned her dream of flying. And especially when she mentioned her dream of joining Santa’s sleigh team.

When she trotted inside her gingerbread house one day, she asked for hot cocoa and he said, “Get it yourself, you oaf!” So she didn’t get any because she didn’t know how. She then presented to him her idea of going and getting to be on Santa’s sleigh. She had told Dasher, too, and he said they could escape together one day.

Dasher was her best friend. She had met Dasher one day outside, and he said he was on Santa’s sleigh team. They’ve been friends ever since, and he was Tiptoe’s only friend from the outside world. Tiptoe would sneak out so they could have fun together talking about what it was like in the North Pole, hunting in the forest, and even swimming in the lake. They would ice skate when it was frozen, and they would play reindeer games. Day after day, night after night, they had fun together. They comforted each other. They grew up with one another until they were almost four years old- almost an adult.

But one day, they stumbled upon Lucifer in the forest. He almost spotted them, and that was the day she decided to not sneak out anymore.

She had not seen Dasher in a while.

When Tiptoe told Dasher her dream, he understood. He listened. He tried to help. But when she told Lucifer, he became enraged and erupted, immediately started listing reasons why she couldn’t be a member of Santa’s sleigh, especially because she wasn’t good enough at flying, and in fact, she couldn’t fly at all.

Every day, she would lay down in her bed and dream- dream about being the leader, with Rudolph and Dasher- meeting Santa and wondering if she’d ever be good enough at flying to make the team. Surely she had to pass some kind of test or something. But that didn’t change the fact that she didn’t know how to fly.

Lucifer had always stopped her from going on big adventures. Nothing was stopping her now. But she was scared. And she certainly didn’t know the way. Of course, she could go on the big adventure she’s always wanted to go on since Lucifer was out hunting. Or she could stay and rot in this house made of candy. Tiptoe sat and thought and eventually made a decision. But the only problem was that there was another reindeer’s shadow creeping up toward her.

Could it be Lucifer?

She sort of had to make a decision now. But she still didn’t know how to fly. Whoever was there was approaching, and fast.

So, she tried her best. She tried her best to fly, up into the sky, to try to escape-

Although her best wasn’t very good.

…

Tiptoe woke up, startled. At first, she was confused. Why am I in my bed? But all the horrid memories came rushing back to her. Her whole body ached like she had fallen from a skyscraper. She remembered seeing a shadow… she remembered trying to fly… she remembered darkness. Now she only had one question; why was her best friend, Dasher in the corner, gagged and tied up? And why was Lucifer threatening to throw him off the ledge and questioning him why he was here? Well, more like hollering at him.

“WHY ARE YOU HERE?” Spit flew across the room as he hollered at Dasher.

“Well,” He squeaked, “I simply was hunting across the me- the meadow-” Lucifer had now grabbed his neck.

“Hey!” Tiptoe had now sprung out of her graham cracker bed. “Don’t hurt him!!” She winced at the pain of putting pressure on her hooves.

“Save your breath.” Lucifer turned back to Dasher but then stopped. He turned back around and lunged for Tiptoe.

“Hunrrg!” she wheezed as Lucifer turned on her.

“Ah, so you know who this trespassing disgraceful menace is.”

His icy breath was in her face. She could see a booger hanging from his nose and his breath smelled like fried monkey brains. She tried not to laugh at how pathetic he looked, booger and all.

“Uh, yeah, he’s my best f- hrnng!”

Knuckles clenched around her neck. Sharp hooves under her fur, puncturing her hide. Pain surrounded her thoughts until she could no longer think. Pain over here. Pain over there.

“Do you mean to tell me,” he began, “That-”

Suddenly, Dasher bounded over from across the room and tackled her guardian.

Her two favorite people in the whole wide world were fighting tooth and hoof.