Here's a little Christmas story I wrote. Enjoy.
THE LITTLE CHRISTMAS TREE
Leo was a little tree, just a foot high. He grew up in a forest and Leo was so excited that one day, he'd be big enough to be a Christmas tree.
"I can't wait to sit in someone's house and have presents all around me!" said Leo. "I want to be covered with lights and decorations and have boys and girls and moms and dads all look at me and see them get so excited for Christmas!"
Leo spent his summers spreading out his branches to soak up sunshine so he would grow big and tall and healthy. He drank water from the soil and let birds nest in him. Leo would whisper to the birds, "One day, I'll be a Christmas tree and I'll make people so happy!"
In the winter, Leo was covered with snow, but he didn't mind. "The snow makes me think of Christmas!" he'd say to his fellow trees. "And one day, I'll get to be a Christmas tree!"
The years passed and Leo grew taller and stronger. His branches grew and grew. His trunk was strong enough to hold up all those Christmas decorations. "I'll bet this is the year I get to be a Christmas tree!" proclaimed Leo.
One day, just after Thanksgiving, a man came walking up to Leo and his friends. The man was holding a saw, looking at all the trees. He looked left and right. He looked up and down. And then he looked at Leo.
Leo was so excited. Would he be chosen to be a Christmas tree? Could this finally be the year?
As the man looked at Leo, a smile crossed his face and he nodded his approval. Leo would be the perfect tree for the man and his family.
As the man came closer, Leo could contain his excitement no more. "I'm going to be a Christmas tree! This is the year! Hey everyone! I get to be a Christmas tree!
Leo watched with glee as the man bent down to begin cutting. Leo was smiling from limb to limb as the man drew the sharp saw across Leo's sturdy trunk.
As the saw sunk in, Leo screamed in agony. "ARRRGHHHHHHHHH!" cried Leo at the top of his lungs. "Oh my god! Noooooooo! That hurts so bad! ARRRRRRGHHHH!"
Of course, the man didn't stop until Leo fell hard onto the forest floor. Leo banged his top on the ground and broke several of his limbs, all the while confused and sobbing. "Whhhhyyyyyyyy?" cried Leo. "Whhyyyyyyyyyy?"
The smiling man picked up Leo and tied him to the roof of his car. The ropes were too tight and dug into Leo's bark. The ride to the man's house seemed to take forever and at 65 miles per hour, the wind chill was almost more than Leo could take. "I'm so c-c-c-cold!" he shivered, still suffering from his trunk being cut and his branches broken.
Before too long, Leo found himself in the man's house, his sore, sap-dripping trunk put into a stand full of water, covered with lights and decorations.
As the days went by and Christmas drew nearer, Leo settled into his new life as a Christmas tree. His trunk didn't hurt as much and he enjoyed drinking fresh water out of his stand. Leo even smiled as he saw the family put presents under his branches.
"Wow!" winced Leo. "So I really am a Christmas tree!" And when he saw the happy looks on the faces of the man, his wife and their children, Leo began to think, "Maybe it was all worth it to bring this family such joy. I think I'll like it here after all."
Christmas morning was the best day Leo ever had. The children laughed with delight as they reached under his boughs and brought out present after present. Leo smiled broadly as they took pictures with him. He was proud to be the family's Christmas tree.
That night, Leo slept soundly, dreaming of the wonder of being a Christmas tree and the cheer and wonder he'd brought to the faces of his new family. He was a Christmas tree. And he now had a family and a home.
Leo woke with a start. He felt a big THUMP and sharp cold air. As he opened his eyes, he didn't know where he was. He only knew he wasn't inside the warm house anymore. Leo wasn't sure where he was, but he knew he was outside. Outside, next to a street and a big blue plastic can filled with trash.
"But whaaa? Where's my family? Where's my stand? I'm so thirsty!" Leo croaked.
"Quiet down!" came a strange voice.
"Who's that? Who's there?" said Leo.
"It's me, the trash can."
"Oh help me! cried Leo. I need to get back into the house and back to my family!"
The trash can just laughed and never said another word. Leo lay in pain on the curb for days. The man and his family would back the car out of the garage and Leo's hopes would rise. "Pick me up! Bring me back inside! I miss you!"
But the family didn't seem to hear his cries.
"Well, back to the forest for me, I guess," Leo muttered sadly to himself, feeling thirstier than ever.
The next day, a man picked up Leo and threw him roughly into the back of a truck with many other dry and thirsty trees.
"Hey fellas!" said Leo, glad to be back among his forest friends. "Aren't you glad we're going back to the forest?"
But the trees didn't respond. They just laid there, quietly. Oh so quietly.
Leo never saw what was coming next, but he felt it. He screamed in pain as he was put into a wood chipper and scattered all over the recycling center.
THE END