The Little Christmas Tree

In a thick forest, found deep by the mountains of a little village were a dozen tall pine trees, and right next to them, were the baby ones. Every year, the men of the villages would come to the forest with their axes, and search for tall, bushy trees to take home to their families for Christmas. They would decorate the trees with beautiful, glittering ornaments, and the children would gather by the trees and sing and hold hands, and then they would put presents under the looming branches, and the room would be filled with joy and love.1

Every one of the baby trees knew that at some point, they would grow tall like their parents, and in a couple of years, also be taken home and used for the holiday. But only one tree felt impatience for that day.2

The little tree thought that people were the most beautiful and interesting things in the world. She always thought about them, how they visited her little forest, how they took all of the lucky trees to put ornaments on, and put presents under, and how she so dearly wished to be one of them. 3

Every day, when the pigeons and sparrows that lived in the village trees and slept under the roofs of the bread market and the blacksmith came to rest by her and her sisters and friends, she would rustle and whistle to the birds and they would tell her about the people, and the sparrows would tell about the bread man, who gave the little birds crumbs of his warm bread, and of the little children that played and laughed out in the cobblestone streets until parents would call them to come inside.4

The pigeons would talk about the blacksmith and his hands that gently tended the horses, and that pounded red hot metal together. They told of the soot covered men that worked for him, grunting to each other under their breaths and smoking cigars. They told of the filthy mutts that crowded the center and begged for morsels of food from passerby’s.5

And every day, the tree would yearn, yearn for the time it would snow, when the men would come and take her.6

***
Two years had passed, and the little tree had grown up, tall and strong, with bushy green twigs and prickly cones. Her sisters and friends had grown up as well, and the little tree was excited for the time that it would snow, and she would be chosen by a man and taken home, and see all of the things that the birds and animals had told her about.7

She went through Spring, sighing through the warmth and delight of animals and flowers. She lived through the heat of Summer, and the loneliness of Fall. And when Winter came, she was trembling and swishing her leaves with excitement.8

Finally, on a frosty day at the start of the Christmas month, the noise of the men as they thundered into the woods, hitching their heavy horses to posts in the icy snow and lumbering through the drying branches in their annual search for pine trees was heard, and her dream had finally come true. 9

Every animal hid from the men; the rabbits darted into open logs, squirrels screeched as they scratched into their hollows, foxes grabbed their kits as they plundered down into their dens. But the trees only stood and whistled with the low wind, their mighty branches trembling slightly. The men pushed through the thick undergrowth, until they found the little stand of trees. 10

And that is when the forest came to life. 11

The grunts of the men as they sawed through the bark of the trees, the low creaking of the falling pines, and the last howl of wind as it soared through the branches as if saying goodbye. 12

All around her, the little pine tree saw her sisters and all of her friends being taken, and she tried moving her branches in an urge to call out, "And what about me? Take me! Me!" But the men seemed not to understand. They all ignored her as they kept cutting the taller trees, the ones with bigger and lower branches. Nobody wanted the little tree. She was too small and skinny. 13

When all the men left, and darkness had finally settled on the tips of the faraway mountains, the little tree stood sadly alone, crying to herself as all of the animals emerged from their hiding places, to inspect the damage done by the humans. She wiggled her little branches around her, and tried to catch the wind, but it had gone to rest, and had left her by herself, like the humans. 14

But not for long. As the darkness kept settling, all of the animals and the little tree heard a sled sliding in at the edge of the woods. The shrill neigh of a horse and the thud of its hooves warned the animals that another man had come. The little tree stood up straight, and wiggled with excitement- maybe now she would be chosen. The man came out into the clearing, carrying his glinting saw, and frowned when he saw the stumps surrounding the little tree. He came up to her, and rubbed her bark with his gnarled fingers, muttering under his breath.15

"And what'll we do wi' you? So tiny... But I guess Lilly and Ark will like ya. A small tree's betta than none, it’s true."16

But he decided to take the tree anyway, for his house was small, and taking in a tiny tree was not going to hurt. 17

So he began sawing. And the tree suddenly felt a searing pain rip through her bark, and she forgot all about being happy. 18

"Please... that hurts...why are you doing this? It hurts so much..." She cried out, but it was only a whistle. To the man, it was just the wind soaring through the branches.19

Finally, he stopped cutting, and leaped aside as the tree came crashing down, clouds of snow soaring around her head. There was sap leaking from her stump, and slowly, the pain disappeared, the little tree was excited at what would happen once again. 20

The man, holding his breath, grabbed the tree by her skinny stump and dragged her to his wooden sleigh, wheezing slightly and blinking as the warmed fumes of his breath rushed to his face in a cloud of white. The little tree's head made many tracks as she glided across the smooth snow, and to her, it sparkled under the setting sun, and she thought naively that it was saying goodbye. The man threw her into the sleigh, and the bottom of her dripping stump still ached a little, but she was so excited about what was to come, and she wiggled her branches as she lay in the sleigh. The man clambered to his seat and breathed onto his naked pink hands before he gripped the worn leather of the reins and urged his horse onward. And as the animal began its slow march out of the darkening wood, its heavy hooves crushing the hardened snow, the little tree shifted in her stiff bed, and the wind suddenly awoke, and began to weave through her branches, begging her to come back. 21

***22

They had passed many villages and roads along the way and the sun kept setting and setting, until the darkness was so thick the tree could not even see her nearest leaf, and the horse began to whicker nervously as it imagined the sounds of prowling animals. The tree had grown accustomed to hearing her fellow tress shifting in their comfortable slumber, and she had grown used to the warm circle of sleeping trees. It wasn't very dark in the forest as well, because the stars always shone brightly through the twigs of the giant oaks and maples, and the tree was used to dancing under the stars. But as she lay in her wooden sleigh and thought of her former home, she saw no stars in the sky above, and the only sounds she heard were the rhythmatic hoof beats of the moving horse, and the wheezy breathing of the man. She suddenly felt afraid, and unwelcome. She heard the faraway cries of moving animals in the fields around them, and she flinched at the crude shrieks of roosters readying their voices for the morning call. The panting of the wolves scared her, for they did not live in her forest, and even as she searched for the familiar sounds of birds and trees, she found none. She was afraid of the oppressing dark, and she was afraid of what was to come. She called for the wind, but it had given up on her, a long way back.23

***24

They finally arrived after a long while of lonely riding. The village they turned to was quiet as the residents slept, and she heard the shuffling of their own animals as the man pulled into the corner and let his horse clomp loudly on the cobbled path. She lay still, and listened for sounds, and looked around, but there was nothing to be seen or heard, because it was still the darkness and thickness of night. She was tired, for she had not slept the whole ride, and her stump began to ache again as the man pulled by his house and dragged her off the sleigh. His breath began to puff again, and he opened the wooden door and stepped inside, dragging the tree with him. Then, he threw her upright into a bowl of water that was made ready by his wife, and he stuffed her into the thin opening and made sure it held her. Then he puffed out her branches, so as to make her look lovely, and then smiled as he stepped outside again to put his tired horse back to the barn and smiled wider at the thought of sleep at last.25

***

Author notes

Still not done, but working hard! And.. I commented on your Angel Skin story.. I'm Kailasrose!!!!!!!!!!!! lol

A contest entry

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Comments

1 - 13 of 13
  • Adele Ellen Bakker
    July 18

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    A charming Christmas tale that needs to be finished. Your descriptions are creative and vivid. It's sad that the reality of being chopped down does not meet the tree's expectations. Now for some editing hints:
    Overall some of your sentences are way too long eg:
    Para 4 is just one sentence or did I miss a fullstop? You need to break it up to at least 3 sentences.
    Para 5 'passerby's' should be passersby.
    Para 9 again the sentence needs a break or two
    In para 14 you say the darkness has finally settled and in para 21 you talk of the setting sun; confusing.
    In para 23 you talk of the tree having a leaf, should be needles?
    Para 23, line 3 - just a typo, you have written tress instead of trees.
    Thanks for entering my contest. Good luck


  • Sailor Moon
    May 9

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    The beginning of this story really held me - I could see this happening very clearly, and as she was cut down I could almost feel her pain - this part in particular really drove the emotion home, so good job on that.
    Perhaps at paragraph 23 you could do a little editing; perhaps making this large chunk of writing shorter, or separating it into two paragraphs instead of one. I only suggest this because you almost seem to lose focus here.

    Nevertheless, I hope you do continue this - it sounds like a beautiful story - make sure you keep up with the tree's point of view you're doing an excellent job so far.
    Ending-wise, I can see this going either way. If it's a happy one [which I'm sure my inner child would love to see happen] do your best to avoid any cliche - a sad ending would perhaps make it more poetic, but could also make the story seem unfinished..

    Whichever way you decide to go, I will be very eager to read on! This is great reading.


  • flowerbee1234
    January 17
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    Very sweet and sad mixed together, but happy ending. Nice story using adjectives and other things that make your story complete. The only thing I'd say though is that it is a little bit too long for a kid. Kids usually only sit for a minimum of fifteen minutes, but it makes sense and flows. Great job on this, and good luck in the contest!


  • Lady Eventide Greeters member
    January 1

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    I think this story is rather sad. I don't think my family uses "live" trees. We use the other kind. Indeed, a very sad story. The tree's emotions are...so well described. Good job and good luck.


  • Neolittlefish
    December 15, 2008

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    Aw, that was sweet. I especially liked the part about the wind calling her to come back, it was really inventive. I would love to read more of your work in the future


  • Dragonbabyx3
    December 11, 2008
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    This is a beautiful story so far, although I have to say, I really dont think it would kep my 1,2 and 3 year olds attention! But you got mine! I really enjoyed the stopry- althogh for a younger child, maybe shorten it a bit. Let me know when you finish it, I would love to read the finished version!


  • tonialoise
    December 10, 2008
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    not done yet??? You got me really excited to read about the kid's reaction to her. The description of the journey to the house was a bit long and I started to lose interest slightly. Otherwise it was well written and I didn't see any mistakes. Let me know if you do add more before the end of my contest.


  • JC Jimmy
    November 10, 2008
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    Hehe, nice little story here with a very different point of view. You know, I read a cartoon with a story similar to this when I was very young. A little tree wanted to be a christmas tree and get's it's wish, but ends up being burnt as firewood lol.
    Anyhow, well done and thank you for entering! I'm very glad that you added in a good winter setting!

    Good luck in da contest !

    JC


  • Dawn Bon
    November 5, 2008
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    this is so cuteeee! i could never express tree feelings such as you did! good lyuck in my contest!!


  • Artificial.Smiles. gold member
    October 30, 2008

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    so cute!

    im always up for a little personification(:
    i thought this story was so cute!
    i felt so bad for the little tree, but she finally got what she wanted!!!

    Good Luck in my Contest!


  • Toxic Paradox silver member
    October 3, 2008

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    This had so very many good points, but I'm going to mention the bad first (sorry, that's just my way). There were a couple of minor mistakes, nothing serious, but "rhythmatic" should say "rhythmic" and in the last paragraph you refer to the man-with-the-axe as 'her', which is confusing.

    Otherwise, I would have liked to have seen a little expansion on the pain of the little tree being chopped down. I'm not being ghoulish, I just think that could be a truly magnetic piece of the story, if there was more description of the pain the tree endures, the agony of the birds watching who have seen it every year, etc...

    Also - the ending doesn't seem to end properly. I would have liked to have seen the children's beaming faces when their perfect tree is revealed, so that the little tree feels validated for being the last resort for their father. Some minor description of the baubles and tinsel lying around to dress the tree - and an end feeling of fuzziness might follow.

    Otherwise, I really loved your story. It had heart, it was a familiar storyline with a twist, your imagery was subtle, but still there...

    I would quite happily put you in the finalists box if it weren't for the fact that you haven't told me who else's story you have commented in, as I asked in the rules. Please do so as soon as possible, or I may have to disqualify you, and I wouldn't want to do that.


  • skyblu
    December 14, 2007

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    Hi, I've only noticed a few mistakes but most of them are typo's.
    In paragraph 10, you put 'squarrels screeched' I think you mean, squirrels.
    In paragraph 15, you put 'the men came into the clearing, carrying his glinting saw', it should be, 'the man'.
    I've just finished it and I thought it was brilliant, so thoughtful and suprisingly, quite emotional. It reminded me of how society is today, the way some people are always left and forgotten about because of how they look. But it was very light and sweet, a perfect christmas story!
    Good luck!


  • I Dare to Dream
    December 14, 2007

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    Yeah, it really is! A sweet little story, and perfect for the season. I love how you described the tree's emotions so well, as if it were human.
    Great work and good luck with the contest!

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