Santa woke up really early to clean out their stalls and to make them a meal because they would be hungry from their long flights. It was 11.00 a.m. and the reindeer would be landing soon, so everyone was waiting for them on the runway.

In the distance Santa could see dots of colour flying around. He just thought they were birds migrating south, but as soon as the dots came closer it looked like Vixen and Cupid but they were bright red.

Just then, Dancer, Prancer, Comet, Donder, Dasher and Blitzen came in to view and they were yellow, gray and lime green! As all the Reindeer landed, Santa was furious. He did not know what to do. He could not fly around in his sleigh with multi-coloured reindeer, and it was only five days until Christmas.

Santa went back to his office and thought and thought and thought about how to solve this problem. Then he remembered his Ranger Elves, Rodney and Roderick, who were really good at solving mysteries. He called them on his radio, and they came over right way. They assured Santa they would try to find out what was going on quickly.

Rangers Rodney and Roderick returned to their headquarter where they kept their secret machines and tools. Cupid and Vixen had been to Australia for their holiday, so they input into their computer "Dangers in Australia''.

That gave them an answer right away. Vixen and Cupid had been burned by the harmful sun's rays that were beating down through the hole in the ozone layer.

Knowing that Dasher and Blitzen had been vacationing along the Mississippi, they then entered "Dangers of the Mississippi''. Sewerage and Industrial Pollution came flashing up on the screen, together with the fact that the waters of the Mississippi were the most polluted in America. From there, Dasher and Blitzen had been drinking the water from the river and the chemicals had turned them lime green! "Four down and four to go'', said Roderick. Solving the mystery of Dancer and Prancer's gray colour was not going to be quite so easy. They had to examine their hair under the microscope and found it was full of smog. They had been to India to see the Taj Mahal and had been polluted by the heavy smog in Delhi.

Comet and Donder had gone off to Russia and had returned with yellow coats.

The Rangers didn't have a clue what could have done this. Roderick remembered that there had been a nuclear disaster at Chernobyl a few years ago so they tested the reindeer for radiation. The monitor's needle went shooting up into the danger level.

Well, now they knew why all the reindeer were funny colours, but they had only three days left to find a cure.

They knew they wouldn't be able to find the cure on the Internet, but would have to use some of the magic of Christmas. They dusted off their big volumes of "Christmas Magic'' and started to look up in the index all the spells and cures for discoloured fur due to pollution.

All the cures indicated that they needed ingredients that were pure and clean.

Where could they possibly find such things in such a dirty world. They looked at their atlas but were getting very frustrated -- everywhere was suffering from one kind of pollution or another -- until they found Bermuda.

Here was an Island, miles from anywhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, with clean air and clear water. "That's where we'll find all the ingredients for our cure'', said Ranger Roderick, and immediately they set off on their mission to find all the ingredients.

Pure air and Bermuda sunshine rays were easy to find and quickly they captured them in their jars. Next they headed to Church Bay where they found the pink sand and clear blue water.

Crushed Easter Lilly was not so easy, as it was almost Christmas, but a helpful local told them to go to the Perfume Factory, where they had lots in store.

The last item was going to be far more difficult. It was the feather of a Cahow which was almost extinct. They searched all day, but had no idea where they would be able to find one. It was only two days until Christmas and they still had to get back to the North Pole, mix the potion, and hope it would work.

Once again, a friendly local told them to visit the Aquarium so the next day they set off on their moped to Flatts. The Aquarium staff had a wounded Cahow they were nursing back to health, and were happy to give the Rangers a feather if it would save Christmas.

So with all the ingredients packed in their bags they headed back to their headquarters at the North Pole. They got out their test tubes and bunsen burners, and began mixing everything together. It gave off such a lovely pure smell as it simmered over the flame! After careful preparation, the position was taken over to the reindeer's stables and mixed with their nightly feed.

"Well, we've done all we can'', said Ranger Rodney. "We now just have to see what happens in the morning''.

"Good gracious'' said Santa, "I do hope it works. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, our one big night of the year. People will think it mighty strange if my reindeer are all different colours''.

So the next morning everyone was up bright and early, rushing down to the stables to see if the cure had worked, and there in their stalls were eight brown reindeer.

"Hooray'' everyone shouted. "Three cheers for Rangers Rodney and Roderick, they have saved Christmas Day!'' The End Under 18, runner-Up: Alex Lumbery, age 11.