I am a small Christmas Tree and I live with Mr. and Mrs. Blair in Cochrane. I’m happy now, but what a journey I had to end up here.
I was created by Ming Jun in the Great Holiday Factory in Jinan in the Shandong Province of China. Her small and gentle hands put me together and then set me in a cart along with other little trees that looked a lot like me. Afterwards we were bundled into a big cardboard box and that was the last light I saw for a long time.
When I did, I was in a big warehouse in some very strange place where at first I didn’t understand the language, but I soon figured out enough to get by. I was put into another, smaller box with many other things that looked like decorations, then everything went black again.
That smaller box was opened in a place that I learned was a Canadian Tire Store in a town called Cochrane. I was put on a shelf so people could see me. Many looked at me, picked me up, poked at my branches, but then put me back on the shelf. I kept hoping someone would take me with them, but nothing happened for weeks.
Finally, an old guy with grey hair picked me up and poked at me like the others, but then he put me under his arm, paid for me, and took me to his place. At his place that he called ‘home’, he set me on a table in a room where there was another tree that looked like me, but was twenty times taller and covered with glittering balls, tinsel, and lights. It looked beautiful. An angel was perched on the top and seemed to be looking right at me.…constantly. She made me nervous.
It was when I heard the man and woman in the house talking that night that I learned they were Jack and Leslie, this was their home, and the house was decorated for a celebration they called Christmas.
Time passed, people came and went, some stayed for a meal, and some for something called Scotch. Goodness knows what that was, but the visitors sure liked it, as did Jack. Then it all stopped. The big tree lost all its decorations and lights, and was put into its own, big box. Later, the Blair’s son came to the house and took the big tree in its box along with a box of those decorations and lights, and he left. That night the Blairs sat quietly and stared at me for a while before they started talking.
“For next year, we’ll have to get some decorations for this little tree,” Jack said.
“Yes, and they’ll have to be small, that’s for sure,” replied Leslie.
Then they put me in a suitable box which, by the way, was comfortable. Jack then closed the lid and carried me downstairs. There I lay for what seemed like an eternity. Finally I, along with other decorations, was carried upstairs again.
There was no big tree at the end of the room and I was given a place of prominence on a table where the big tree used to be. Then I was decorated. I got some lights, then some little shiny balls and finally some pretty tinsel. I now feel very dressed up and I’m happy about that. What’s more, the Blairs seem to like me. I’m only a foot and a half tall, but I have a big presence. I hear them talk about being glad that the big tree went to live their grandchildren and now they have me to help them celebrate Christmas in an easier and simpler way. What a wonderful time this is. I’m not going to mind going back in the box after Christmas, because I know th
at next year I’ll again be front and centre in the room and the Blairs will look at me and be happy.
I just wish those guests we had last year would come around again. I don’t know why they aren’t. Come to think of it, nobody except the Blairs have been in this house since I was brought upstairs and decorated. Ah well, I’ve got Jack and Leslie, and that’s pretty good. By the way, I’ve got my very own angel now. She says she’ll look after me…..forever.
Yorumlar