"We're More Than Happy To Pay If It Means Children Get Their Presents"

(The following is a true story. The names haven't been changed to protect the innocent.)

'Twas two months after Christmas and Rudolph was grazing,
Unmindful of what would be a most fatal hazing.
In a Danish meadow the reindeer was lumbering,
When it seems out of nowhere two F-16s came a-thundering.

The low-flying fighters were practicing that day
While Rudolph was quietly chewing his hay.
When from up above their arose such a clatter
Rudolph looked up to see what was the matter.

What happened next, it seems so hard to say.
Unlucky Rudolph was there, in the way.
His heart couldn't take the shock of the roar.
His ticker just stopped -- he was dead on the floor.

Santa was mortified to find Rudolph dead.
He called the Danish Air Force and respectfully said,
"Your jets killed my reindeer, I'm saddened to say,
"If you want presents for Christmas, then you'll have to pay."

The Danes were stricken at the thought posed by the old elf,
So they dug through the archives, searching shelf after shelf.
They found mission logs that corroborated the claim
And a vetrinarian examined Rudolph, confirming the same.

They looked over the bill with which they'd been stuck.
Ol' Santa, he wanted about five thousand bucks.
The Danish Air Force paid it all this past week,
That's when Santa (Olovi Nikkanoff) finally did speak.

"I needed two reindeer to carry my sleigh,
"I only had one after that terrible day.
But now that the Air Force has made it all right,
I''m off to buy a reindeer, now to all, a good night!"

FMI: http://denmark.dk/portal/page?_pageid=374,520640&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL