The Wonderful World of Rudolpha: Jackson and Olivia’s prank

This morning, Santa Claus visits the North Pole Animal Day Care. The children are happy about the visit because the jolly man likes to tell stories and is happy to answer their many questions.

“Santa, do human children go to day care too?” asks Frost the snowy owl.

“Ho, ho, ho! Many of them do, yes, and they have wonderful teachers just like you,” Santa tells them, winking at Rudolpha the reindeer, their teacher.

“Santa, when you visit their homes on Christmas Eve to bring them their gifts, can the human children see you?” Storm the fox wants to know.

“Not usually, but sometimes they catch me. Ho, ho, ho! Let me tell you all a story.” The children gather round to listen.

“Last Christmas, when I was delivering gifts to the world’s children, I found myself with one last stop to make, the house where Jackson and Olivia live. They’d been very good that year, so the elves had made them very nice presents: a ukulele for Jackson and a drum for Olivia. They were going to be so happy.

“But when I got to their house, I saw the strangest thing. The gifts were already under their tree. Had I already been to their house? I looked in my big red sack and their presents were still in there. Had the elves prepared the same gifts twice? I didn’t understand. Then, I heard the voices of the two children.

“‘Santa, you look confused!’ said Olivia, laughing.

“‘Unwrap the presents, Santa, they’re for you!’ said Jackson.

“I couldn’t help but chuckle at these clever and mischievous children as I opened the boxes. Instead of a ukulele, I found a box of cookies and instead of a drum, I found a bag of carrots for my reindeer! Jackson and Olivia had just played a wonderful trick on me! Ho! Ho! Ho!”

Rudolpha and the children laugh and laugh.

“Were the cookies good?” asks Mistral. The penguin has a sweet tooth and loves cookies.

“Ho, ho, ho, yes they were! They were chocolate chip, my favorite.”

After giving everyone a hug goodbye, Santa heads back to his workshop and Rudolpha the reindeer thinks about the pranks she might play on her friend with the big white beard.

Written by Johannie Dufour and Sarah Beauregard
Translated by Cyan Caruso-Comas