Santa's Sleigh Ride
by Molly Geene (2008)
Genres: Children's

It's late Christmas Eve, and Santa is on the last house of his ride. Help Santa make this delivery!

action: %
response: Every Christmas it's been a joy to give presents to all the good little girls and boys. Hauling presents, climbing down chimneys: it's no easy job being the guy who lives to bring joy throughout the world on Christmas, but you, Santa, are up to the challenge. Now you've made almost all your gift-giving rounds, and the only thing between you and a good eleven months of well-deserved rest is the last house, the Madisons'.

Before you land your sleigh, you double-check your gift list in your magic book to make sure you have all the Madisons' gifts: A Barbie for Kelly Madison, a Batman action figure for Justin Madison, a Wii for the whole family, a bone for their dog, Tina, and two bags full of candy and toys for the kids' stockings. Yep, that's everything! You park your sleigh on the Madisons' rooftop, and exit the sleigh.
(Note that new players should type ABOUT.)

A moment in the life of Santa Claus by Molly Geene

Newly fallen snow sits gently on the roof. Nearby, you spot a chimney you can climb down.

Your sleigh sits nearby, right where you parked it.

Leading the sleigh is your trusty Reindeer Brigade, without which you couldn't make a single Christmas delivery.
action: About yourself
response: You're wearing a dapper red hat and suit combo made specially for this outing by Mrs. Claus, and you've trimmed your beard just right. You look smashing!

Dasher shakes his head.
action: Inventory
response: You are carrying:
the magic bag
Wrapped Wii (for the family)
Wrapped Barbie (for Kelly)
Wrapped Batman Action Figure (for Justin)
Doggy bone (for Tina)
Kelly's candy bag
Justin's candy bag

Cupid champs at his bit.
action: You look at the chimney
response: A warm, cozy chimney. There's just enough room there for you to climb down it.

Dasher paws the ground with his hoof.
action: Go downwards
response: You pinch your nose and jump down the chimney.

But halfway through, you bump into some nasty junk in the chimney. Oof! You jump rght back up the chimney. Looks like you have to find something to help you clean up the junk.

Donner champs at his bit.
action: You examine the Comet
response: Comet has antlers, red fur, cloven feet, and in most respects looks like your average reindeer.

Dasher shakes his head.
action: You look at the junk
response: Some nasty, awful junk is clogging up the chimney.

Dancer champs at his bit.
action: You examine the sleigh
response: Your sleigh is full of the things you need to make your rounds. It's almost empty now, though, since you've made almost all of your deliveries. The only things left in it are the magic book, the warm blanket, the cocoa mug and the sweeper stick.

Vixen paws the ground with his hoof.
action: You take the stick
response: Taken.

Donner shakes his head.
action: You clean junk with the stick
response: You clear out all the junk with the chimney sweeper. Whoo! That was some hard work, but now you can go down the chimney.

Vixen champs at his bit.
action: You examine the magic book
response: It's a magic book that updates itself automatically with all the names of the good little girls and boys. You don't know what you'd do without it.

On the last page of the book, it lists the Madisons' gifts: a Batman action figure for Justin, a Barbie doll for Kelly, a Wii for the whole family, a bone for their dog, Tina, and two bags full of small toys and candy to serve as stocking stuffers for both of the kids.

Donner paws the ground with his hoof.
action: You examine the blanket
response: A warm, cuddly blanket.

Dancer shakes his head.
action: Examine mug
response: A mug with a merry scene of young boys sledding imprinted on it. It's empty, of course. You may as well just bring the whole pot with you next time.

Donner paws the ground with his hoof.
action: You put the stick in the sleigh
response: You put the sweeper stick into Santa's sleigh.

Dancer shakes his head.
action: Go downwards
response: You pinch your nose and jump down the chimney.

The living room is lit only by the lights on the Christmas tree. The red brick walls give the living room a storybook feel.

The Christmas tree is dazzling, with pretty colored lights and ornaments a glitter.

A dog by the tree is growling cautiously at you.

You spy a little boy sleeping on an old worn couch.

Nearby, you can see the fireplace for the chimney you went down.

On the fireplace are Justin's Christmas stocking (empty) and Kelly's Christmas stocking (empty).
action: You give the bone to the dog
response: (first taking Doggy bone (for Tina))
You give the dog her bone. Suddenly her mood lights up instantly and she plays with it as if she were a frisky little puppy. Ho ho ho! What a jolly dog!
action: You put Wii under the tree
response: You place the family's Wii under the tree. Ho ho ho! Giving presents makes you feel good.
action: You put Batman in the j stocking
response: Ho ho ho! Wrapped Batman Action Figure (for Justin) doesn't go there.
action: You put Batman under the tree
response: You place Justin's Batman action figure under the tree. Ho ho ho! Giving presents makes you feel good!
action: You look at what you're carrying with you
response: You are carrying:
the magic bag
Wrapped Barbie (for Kelly)
Kelly's candy bag
Justin's candy bag
action: You put Barbie under the tree
response: You place Kelly's Holiday Barbie under the tree. Ho ho ho! Giving presents makes you feel good.
action: You put the k bag in the k stocking
response: You put Kelly's bag of candy and toys into her Christmas stocking. Ho ho ho! Giving presents makes you feel good!
action: You put the j bag in the j stocking
response: You put Justin's bag of candy and toys into his Christmas stocking. Ho ho ho! Giving presents makes you feel good.

Suddenly, the little boy awakes at the sound of putting away the last present. You face the boy and put your finger to your lips. The boy nods and dives into the couch front first, pretending to be asleep.
action: Go up
response: You pinch your nose and jump up the chimney.

However, just before you disappear up the chute you hear the little boy dashing out of the living room, banging and bashing into many things along the way. After you climb into your sleigh and urge on your reindeer, you see the little boy with his sister outside the house. They are both waving at you, and as you fly through the air like a bird in the sky, you shout  to them "Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"