“Santa catches a cold!”

The day before Christmas, Santa caught a cold.

“You know,” said Mrs. Claus, “Santa’s getting old!

“He’s been doing this so long.

When he started working overtime,

I knew something would go wrong!”

All the elves looked so sad.

They said, ” What are we gonna do?

There will be no toys for the children

‘cause Santa’s got the flu!”

Albert, Rex and Elmo said,

“We think that we can do it.

We have been watching Santa all these years,

And, heck, there’s nothing to it!”

They hitched the reindeer to the sleigh

and piled the toys inside.

Off they flew into the night

with Rudolf as their guide.

The little elves knew just what to do.

They worked and worked

the whole night through,

delivering all the wonderful toys

to all the little girls and all the boys.

Their work all done, they hurried home,

exhausted—each and every gnome.

The crisis over, his fever gone,

Santa woke up with the dawn.

“It’s morning. Oh, what have I done?

I’ve overslept. There’s the morning sun!

“Don’t worry, dear,” said Mrs. Claus,

“Put on a happy face,

Albert, Rex and Elmo

took your place.”

“Thank you guys,” said Santa.

“What a great idea.”

And with a wink, he said, “I think . . .,

we’ll do the same next year!”

MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Rine Steketee is a writer of fiction and nonfiction from Fircrest, Washington.

Retired from the U.S. Navy, many of his stories are based on his military

experience. Santa Catches a Cold was published as an illustrated

children’s book.

SHARING STORIES is a weekly column for and about the 50 plus crowd living in the Puget Sound region. Send your stories and photos to ariele@comcast.net. Tell local or personal stories; discuss concerns around aging and other issues; share solutions, good luck, and reasons to celebrate; poems are fine too. Pieces may be edited or excerpted. We reserve the right to select among pieces. Photos are always a plus and a one-sentence bio is requested (where you live, maybe age or career, retired status, etc.). SHARING STORIES is featured on http://www.northwestprimetime.com, the website for Northwest Prime Time, a monthly publication for baby boomers, seniors, retirees, and those contemplating retirement. The newspaper can be found in the greater Seattle area and other Puget Sound locations. For more information, call 206-824-8600 or visit http://www.northwestprimetime.com. To find other SHARING STORIES articles on this website type “sharing stories” in the search function above.