Will The Lonely Littlest Tree Get Its Christmas Wish?
A snowy cosy Christmas story, part 2 of 2
In part 1 we met the littlest pine tree in the forest near the village. He didn’t know about Christmas; didn’t know where the other bigger trees went each year. He just wished he would have grown tall enough to go with them, but he just wasn’t…
As the winter turned into spring, the animal friends came back one after the other. They noticed the littlest pine tree was much quieter. He kept to himself during those early spring days. He would talk to them, but not about what was bothering him. Summer came and the breeze, warm sun, and happy animals around him made him forget. Playing and talking during the day, forgetting about growing. He did like that he could get more and more of the sunlight, spreading his branches and needles upward.
Then the summer sun cooled. The trees below turned their leaves from green to red to yellow and brown. The frost crept up the hill in the nights, though he didn’t feel it nibble at its feet as much. He became more silent again, staring without seeing and sighing more. His animal friends stopped asking what was the matter. He wouldn’t answer and they got busy preparing for winter. The first snow appeared, a thin layer on the ground. He got in the habit of looking up all night.
Oh no, the star again There it was. One night it just appeared. When he saw it he felt a gloom coming over him. Sobbing quietly, he thought about how alone he would be on the hill for several weeks. Again.
When the humans came with the shovels to dig out the trees, the tree couldn’t make itself look upward. He didn’t want to face the empty spaces. The men were getting ready to head back to the village when one man said, “Hey, we forgot one.”
The little tree, who hadn’t noticed he wasn’t too little anymore, felt the earth around him move. He saw the digging but didn’t understand at first. They hauled him into the air as if a giant wind had got hold of him. He felt disoriented and then found himself laying on the cart with the other pine trees, who cheered for him now he finally joined them.
A house so warm and cosy The humans took them to the village and one by one the pine trees disappeared in these blocks called ‘houses’. He was chosen too and placed in a large room of a family with a father, mother, and two children. They put little stars on his branches and hung all kinds of wondrous things. They tied a ribbon on his stem and a red one on a branch. He heard them talking, learning a lot of unfamiliar words. He saw them smiling and felt the warmth in their words.
They laid all kinds of square things under its branches at his roots. “Take good care of our presents,” the children asked him.
The tree was proud to be asked and stood just a bit straighter. At night, he spent a lot of time just looking at his tiny stars. ‘Christmas tree lights’, he learned. He enjoyed the way they flickered and how they illuminated the branches.
The next day, he played with the pets, just like he did with his woodland friends. They frolicked around him, trying to bat at the ornaments until the humans sent them away. His lonely days were long forgotten, his new surroundings filled him with warm thoughts. Concentrating on seeing what would happen next. He heard the children ask their mother to play the piano so they could sing Christmas carols. He did not know what they meant. The piano music filled the rooms, their voices joining in. How thrilling! He couldn’t join in, of course, but he did his best to rustle with his branches and tick his needles together to accompany it. He listened carefully so he could remember the songs and talk about them with his friends.
His own treat Every day he would get water from the mother. After a few days, as he was drinking from the freshly poured water permeating the soil, he realised there was something in it. It was both sweet and sour. It made the water a bit thicker, but so much richer. He heard her say this was plant food. It was like having his very own treat, just like he saw the human family share. He felt more part of the love between the humans and pets, standing even taller and beaming with joy.
For weeks he was the centre of the festivities and conviviality, amid scents and colours and lights. Every night, he loved thinking about what he had seen, heard, and felt. He practised the carols and the words he learned. He remembered the Christmas morning with the presents and how much fun it was to see such happiness in the faces of ‘his’ family.
Bangs and lights: Happy New Year! One evening he noticed their excitement, the children staying up late, which was unusual. Everyone gathered together and then suddenly a lot of shouts ‘Happy New Year’ and a lot of hugs. The children rushed out, which seemed strange. He heard loud bangs coming from outside the room and he saw ribbons of light pass by the windows. He looked on in wonder, thinking this must be this New Year they were talking about. The little tree finally understood what it had seen in the previous winters. It was a beautiful sight.
A few days more, he stood there while noticing the cheer and hubbub had lessened. Then the day came when everything was stripped from his branches. He couldn’t understand. He heard them talking about how the Holiday Season was over and when they were going to return the trees to the forest. That last night, standing bare in an unfamiliar colder room called ‘shed’, it was all he could do to stay upright. He felt so down and sad. What did he do wrong? There was only one ribbon left on one of his lower branches. The red one. He could shake it a little to make it flow, but it wasn’t the same. He sobbed, thinking of the light and music he missed so badly.
Out on the hill again So it was that the winter sun found him among his friends on the hill in the forest again. The other trees were talking for days about what they had experienced. The little tree was silent, only telling some when asked. He just didn’t know why they cast him out. After a few days, he heard voices coming his way. They were happily talking about “finding ours”. As they came closer, he recognised ‘his family’. There they were! He tried to stretch to see them better, making the ribbon wave in the breeze. They saw him. The children came running.
“Mom! Dad! It’s him! It’s our tree!” The adults joined them. He did not know what they were doing there, but he was so glad to see them again. His attention on the children and dog, he hadn’t realised what the father was doing until he felt a sharp pain in his top. He felt astounded. Was he attacked?! “So, that’s that,” the father said in satisfied tones. The children cheered. “Well done, dear,” Mother said. “Now he will not grow too big for our sitting room. With this ribbon, we can find him again for next Christmas.”
Christmas yet to come Realisation dawned on the little tree. They will come to find him next year and take him home again! When the humans had gone, all the trees congratulated him with his ribbon and chosen status. Now he was telling everything that happened to anyone who would listen. He just couldn’t wait until next winter. He might be little still and could no longer grow. However, that didn’t matter. He was big enough for his own human family and Christmases to come!
Written with the Promptly Written theme “The Reason for the Season” in mind. Ravyne Hawke
© 2014–2021 Mireille van Driel. All Rights Reserved
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