The noise rumbled through the North Pole headquarter’s corridor like the pitter-patter of feet down the stairs on Christmas morning.

Santa Claus laughed with his hand on his stomach, “Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho!”

But, with all due respect, Father Christmas, this was not the time to laugh!

I just knew the reindeer would be at it again.

So I ran down the hallway and sure enough, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen – usually very polite reindeer – were bickering about who would ride behind Rudolph when they pull Santa’s sleigh on Christmas Eve.

“It’s your turn!” Cried Comet and Cupid.

“No, it’s your turn! We rode behind him last year!” Donner and Blitzen snapped back.

There was once a time when the reindeer wanted to ride behind Rudolph. But he got into the figgy pudding again this year.

You see, he’s lactose intolerant. That means as Santa’s sleigh passes over the various areas of the world pretty soon delivering presents, Rudolph will be passing a little something himself – WAAARPweeeew!

None of the reindeer are looking forward to riding behind the poor red-nosed reindeer and I’m just beside myself trying to calm everyone down.

Well, never mind that. Please allow me to introduce myself. I’m Willigans West, from the east of the North Pole. I am Santa Claus’s go-to elf – everything from making sure the elves eat breakfast before they make toys every day, to measuring the present bows to ensure they are the correct size.

Just last night I had to remind Mrs. Claus to sew Santa Claus’s thermal underwear to keep him warm during the long sleigh ride. Oh, which reminds me. Now where did I put Santa’s ChapStick and antacids?

There is so much to do around the North Pole, including writing this message to all you boys and girls in Kirkland.

Are you as excited as I am for Christmas? Do you know when Santa will arrive in Kirkland?

He’ll be there very soon. His trip is long; he will travel through places like Australia, Japan, Africa and Canada before he comes to each of the 50 states in the United States.

Well, if you’re wondering, you can track Santa’s trip on Christmas Eve. Just visit the Reporter Web site at www.kirklandreporter.com.

Every two hours, between 2-8 p.m., you will be able to see where Santa is at during his journey and when he and his reindeer are expected to fly down to Kirkland.

Santa told me just the other day that he can’t wait to see the lights twinkle on Kirkland’s big tree on Lake Street. He’ll be watching for the big star and the brilliant blue lights at Edie and Jerry Shipman’s house near Lake Washington High School.

Now, I must get back to Santa’s sleigh. We have about 400,000 more presents to fit into the sleigh before it is ready to go. If I can just squeeze this bag here and put this box here –

WAAARPweeeew!

Oh, Rudolph.

Willigans West is an elf who works with Santa at the North Pole.