So you think you can pull a sleigh?

It was fourteen days before Christmas eve when a postcard popped through the letterbox of Santa Claus's house.
"Looks like you've got a late christmas list from someone, Santa," said Mrs Claus as she bent down and picked it up the lonely card from the doormat.
"It probably got lost in the mail, poor child. Let's hope we can deliver what they've wished for," replied Santa peering up from his newspaper.
Mrs Clause paused. She stared down at the writing on the back of the postcard.
"I think you'll struggle to deliver any presents this year," she said with a crestfallen frown on her face.
Santa stood up from kitchen table. "What do you mean?"
"Rudolph's done a bunk!" stated Mrs Clause.
Santa snatched the card from her hands. On one side was a picture of a sandy beach with clear blue waters lapping the shore, and on the other side was a scrawl of text that read, "Dear Santa,
Gone to Oz for Christmas this year as it's much warmer than the North Pole. See ya soon, Ruddy."
Santa screwed the postcard into a tight ball.
"That impetuous deer. Now what am I to do? I have no lead reindeer. No-one to guide the way," he said as he paced the living room with the flap of his thick red coat fanning the flames of the log fire.
"You'll just have to hire another one, won't you?"
That afternoon Santa set about recruiting Rudolph's replacement. He placed an advert in The Daily Pole and within minutes an army of Reindeer were gathered outside his igloo. The thump of their hooves on the compact snow sounded like a herd of elephants.
When Santa stepped outside to greet them, into the freezing night air, they snorted and grunted with excitement. Two of them got so excited, prancing on the spot, they ended up locking horns with each other. Mrs Clause had to grease them up to pry them apart.
"Erm, welcome," said Santa, hesitantly, feeling a little overwhelmed by the sheer number of applicants. "Thank you for answering my call. As you know I'm looking for a new leader to guide my sleigh on the busiest night of the year."
As Santa looked out at the sea of expectant furry faces, one in particular drew his attention.
"Well, well, what have we here then," he said, crouching down onto the fresh layer of snow falling from the sky. "What would your name be then?"
From between the spindly legs of the reindeer stepped a grey husky dog. It stood bold and proud and looked Santa straight in the eye. "Santa," it said. "I am Bruno. I know I may not be the applicant you expected but I could do the job just as good as any of these reindeer."
The reindeers scoffed and chuckled at the husky's brazen confidence.
"Well, let's find out shall we," said Santa. "I've devised tasks that have to be completed. Each one represents a different quality I think is critical for the role of sleigh leader. The first task is a simple test of flying ability. I would like you to harness up and fly about my home. Nothing fancy. Just a simple display of ability."
No sooner had he said it every one of the reindeer disappeared in a puff of snow and were swirling around the night sky in a blur of red fur, banging and crashing into each other. One by one the unsteady ones fell from the sky and into snow drifts, their bony legs sticking out and flailing around. Bruno didn't follow them. He stood in the snow, watching and waiting. Then when the last of the airborne reindeer tired and landed, he leapt into the air and took flight, soaring round and round Santa's home like a eagle.
"My, that is impressive," said Santa.
The reindeer didn't think so. They huffed and grunted and muttered amongst themselves.
When Bruno gracefully landed before Santa, Santa announced the next trial.
"Another important part of the job is the ability to land safely, accurately and quietly," he began. "Over by that cluster of conifers is a wooden shed. It's where I keep my spare sleigh. I would like you to land on the roof."
The ten that managed to get through the first round, one by one, fly toward the shed. Half of them managed it but the other half, being gangly, didn't quite judge their speed. They skidded off the edge and tumbled into a heap of reindeer manure.
Bruno once again triumphed and completed the task with ease.
"And then there were six," said Santa. "That leaves just one final task. Given I must travel far and wide, delivering presents to children all over the world it is important to have a good sense of direction. Your final task may take some time to complete. I ask you to travel using your sight and instinct to find and bring me back a haggis from the land they call Scotland."
Three of the reindeer were so perplexed by the request they shrugged their shoulders and walked off. The other two and Bruno took to the air.
Santa smiled and stepped back inside his igloo.
"How's the interview going, dear?" asked Mrs Claus.
"We're down to two reindeer," he said. "And a husky."
"A husky, did you say?"
Santa let out a deep belly laugh. "I did indeed. He's quite a feisty thing and rather talented, for a dog."
"Well I'll be darned. What a turn up. So where are they at the moment then?"
"With any luck they're on their way to Scotland to fetch me a haggis."
"Oh, Santa, that's a little wicked of you. Send them off on your errands. I asked you to do the same thing for me last week," said Mrs Claus.
"It's called efficiency, my love. You gotta get with the times."

A week past and Santa saw or heard nothing more of his remaining candidates. He began to loose all hope of finding a replacement for the errant Rudolph when he heard the patter of feet outside his home. He heaved himself up from the comfort of his armchair and shuffled outside to find Bruno sat outside his door, with a plump, uncooked haggis at his feet.
Santa looked down at him. "You're alone?"
Bruno looked about him and then nodded his head.
Santa rocked back on his heels and rubbed his belly.
"Well then, Bruno, I think you're hired," Santa said with a broad smile. He held out his hand and Bruno lifted a paw.
"Glad to be of service," said Bruno.