Interview With Rudolph

 
By Penny Shuftan
 

A few days ago, I had a chance to interview Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer.  My first question was if he is the head reindeer. "On foggy nights, yes. That's when I take the lead,"  Rudolph said.  I asked if that was often. "It's fairly common for there to be some haze," he replied, "But when it starts to get thick, I guess that's about ten percent of the time. Since there's nine of us, that makes it about even."

I asked Rudolph what his goals for this year are, and he replied, "Same as always, helping Santa deliver the toys. Before that, I appear with him sometimes at malls and stores when the kids want to sit on Santa's lap. So that sometimes means handing out candy canes to the kids. And of course there's the kids who like to play 'nose boops.' Heh."

I wanted to know if Rudolph is looking forward to Christmas.  He said, "Of course, I look forward to it every year. It can be busy sometimes, but I like imagining the smiles on the kids when they open the presents."

I was just wondering about Rudolph being a special reindeer, and his response was to smile, "We're all special. We can fly, and as you see a little reindeer magic allows us to stand on back legs and walk around like Santa and the elves when we want to. I do have to admit there was a time in the past things got to my head a bit."

I was curious to see what Rudolph would like the public to know about him. "Well, I suppose mainly that I'm no longer the little guy in the old movies. I've grown up. A little bigger and older, and hopefully a little wiser," he said with a smile.

I was rather interested to know if Rudolph have any hobby.  "Well, I guess I like traveling around," replied Rudolph, "The thing about going about on Christmas, you don't stay on one place for very long at all. Though unless it's the Christmas season, I need to wear a disguise when I'm not out in the middle of the country.  It is nice being able to go about at my own pace. Seeing the elves make all those toys, I took a try at it, but the results left something to be desired. Oh well, the nieces and nephews liked them."

Since I did notice musical notes coming from Rudolph's mouth whenever he talks, I was just so curious to see if he actually sings. "A little, but not very well. The elves thought my version of 'Oh Christmas Tree' could turn one brown overnight. Heh heh,"  Rudolph said with a laugh.

According to Rudolph, his favorite activity is seeing the smiles on the kids when with Santa Claus, helpers at the "pictures with Santa" events at the stores and malls. He said that it's a big deal because it's a once in a while kind of things.

My next question would be if he really live in North Pole on Second Life. "There's several places in Second Life that call themselves North Pole. There is one that's operated by some of the reindeer and elves. Which one it is, well, not saying," said Rudolph with a smile, "I'm sure the residents will like trying to figure out which one it is."

The last question I have is what Rudolph thinks of people staying up all night trying to catch Santa Claus as he arrives at their houses to deliver presents. "It's cute," said Rudolph, "but they very seldom catch him. 'ol Santa simply goes to the next house when he sees the kids waiting for him, and comes back when they're asleep."

After that, he was gone, but before he left, he gave me a warm hug.  Thank you, Rudolph, wherever you are for letting me have an interview with you.  In a way, just by having an interview with Rudolph, he had granted me one of my wishes to continue writing even when I'm in a lot of pain.  That is greatly appreciated.  As I save this article up with a smile, I know that on Christmas eve, Santa Claus, and Rudolph will be working very hard at granting so many people's wishes so when they wake up on Christmas morning, they'll definitely have a big smile on their faces.
 
Penny Shuftan 

The preceding was a fun article meant for entertainment.