This first line was mine, I’d actually thought of it earlier in the day. My only thought until the timer started was that there would be reindeer:
The steps in the snow were very mysterious. The dogs wondered about them, too, sniffing from one to the next. They were deep and wide, the edges blurred. Bigger than any deer prints I’d ever seen. We’d just come across them on our usual walk and, though it was getting dark, I decided to follow them. There was certainly more than one, maybe a herd. Should I be scared? No, definitely not wolf prints, so I kept going. The dogs were hot on the trail, a hundred feet ahead of me plowing through the snow. I trudged behind and could see the straight path the mysterious critters had taken into the trees. The light was fading but I could still make out the shadows of the prints. The lights in the valley down below were coming on. I paused to enjoy the twinkling Christmas lights, one of the ranches had strung lights around their house and all their outbuildings. I love Christmas lights! Now I was having trouble keeping the trail in sight and suddenly both dogs were back with me, excited and prancing around. And then the tracks just disappeared. Gone. I searched in the settling dusk but they had vanished. How was that possible? Wait a minute….did I just hear sleigh bells???