The Happy Little Christmas Tree by Eileen Rolland

The Happy Little Christmas Tree

By Eileen Rolland

Little Tree lived on a roundabout at the end of a culde-sac. All the children who lived nearby walked down the street, across the roundabout and along the path that led to their school. Most of the children were too busy running, or playing, or talking to their friends to notice Little Tree. Holly had just started Playgroup. Granny brought her to the school in the morning and picked her up again at lunchtime. Every time they walked past Little Tree, Holly went over to say hello. Little Tree liked that. “Is Little Tree a Christmas tree?” Holly asked one day. “It’s like a Christmas tree,” Granny said. “It doesn’t change colour or lose its leaves so it’s always green.” Little Tree didn’t know what a Christmas tree was but it sounded very grand. The days got colder and Christmas was getting near. All the children were busy doing things before the holidays. Some had made pom-poms with different colours of wool and used them to decorate the

school fence. The houses were changing too. Some even had coloured lights that lit up the whole street when it got dark. Little Tree liked that.

One day Little Tree looked up and saw the biggest tree ever. It was covered with sparkly lights, colourful baubles and strings of glittery garlands. It looked amazing but...it was inside a house. That couldn’t be right. Little Tree looked around the street. All the houses he could see had beautiful, colourful, decorated trees inside and even outside in the garden. Little Tree wanted to be one of those trees but they were big and he was only little. Holly and Granny came by on their way home from Playgroup. Holly stopped to talk to Little Tree but she knew something was wrong. “Why are you sad, Little Tree?” she asked. “It’s nearly Christmas and you’re a Christmas tree.” Holly looked around and saw all the decorated trees in the houses and she had an idea. Some of the wool had come out of the pom-poms the older kids had made and little bits of it were lying on the ground. Holly picked up a few pieces and gently placed them on Little Tree’s branches. The next day at Playgroup, Holly told her friends what she had done. They all wanted to do something too. Lottie made some card decorations and coloured them with felt pen. Noel found some pine cones and placed them on Little Tree’s branches as he walked home. Billy’s Mum let him bring some tinsel to wrap around Little Tree. Other children saw the decorations and brought ribbons, streamers, flowers and chains of colourful beads.

Little Tree liked all the bright colours and the decorations but most of all Little Tree liked having the children around, laughing and talking and playing. When the holidays came, the children didn’t have to go to school. But some of them came specially to see Little Tree and say hello. Little Tree liked that.

On Christmas day, after all the presents were opened, Holly went out for a walk with her family. As they got near the cul-de-sac, Holly began to run and her family followed her. When they got to Little Tree, they all stopped and looked. There on the very top branch was a shiny gold star. Holly bent down to Little Tree and said, “You might not be the biggest Christmas tree in the street, but you are the most beautiful.”

Little Tree was also the happiest Christmas tree in the whole street, maybe even the whole world.

Over the years Eileen Rolland has written for many voluntary organisations and community groups in addition to work related writing and, of course, her own work. She’s led writing groups and participated in training courses such as Communication Skills (HND) and Professional Writing (HNC). For years she ran a complementary therapy business and taught classes in Tai Chi and Qigong (Chi Gong). She joined the University of the Third Age (U3A) and ran a Writers’ Group and Qigong (Chi Gong) class for five years. Learn more on her website: https://eileenrolland.com/