A short story to Catherine, niece Claire and nephew Tom. December 1988
Bruce the Christmas Spruce
Christmas is coming, Christmas is coming, Christmas is coming!
So the words whistled in the wind around the forest, high up in the glen.
Bruce the Scottish spruce knew as well as any, having seen it all before,
but this year he had a feeling things were going to be different. Standing ten
feet tall he was truly a fine pine, braving the worst storms and providing shelter
for creatures below.
Bruce could now see the workers approaching armed with saws and spades,
ready to take the Christmas stock of trees. A hush fell upon the forest and a sapling
was heard to say to his older neighbour,
‘I don’t want to go, don’t let them cut me down’
‘Stop pining!’ Came the reply, ‘this
is what you were planted for!’
Bruce had his needles crossed as the men worked nearby. The sound of
the saw sent shivers down his pine, and yes he was right, it was going to be
different this year….it was his turn!
The saw was put to the bottom of the tree and Bruce closed his eyes in despair
for what was to come.
‘Don’t cut me down, don’t cut me down’, he cried.
At that moment the man stopped as though someone had spoken to him and he
put the saw down, picked up a spade and dug Bruce up roots and all!
Bruce could not contain his relief and thanked the man for the chance
to live.
It was a bumpy journey in the back of the trailer with all those Christmas
trees- it gave him pins and needles, Soon,however, Bruce could see the town
lights and the hustle and bustle of Christmas shoppers.
‘Where am I going, who is going to buy me, oh I want to live’. These
were the thoughts that filled his mind.
‘£10, huh, I thought I was worth more than that, still I’ll be a bargain
for someone’.
And no sooner had he said this than a couple picked him up and put him
in the back of their Land rover. On the journey Bruce had company too. Claire
and Tom talked excitedly of how they were going to decorate the tree. They were
really nice; perhaps things were not going to be so bad after all.
Bruce looked a picture in the drawing room even though he didn’t
believe in fairies and would have preferred an angel on top. The white lights
sparkled and really set him off. For a moment he saw himself waltzing across the
floor with Ruth, an old friend in the forest- what a sweet fragrance she had!
Soon the Christmas festivities were in full swing and Bruce loved every
minute, especially covering up the presents on the tree with his branches so that
Claire and Tom had difficulty finding them.
On New Years day though Bruce felt really unwell and it wasn’t due to
too much Christmas pudding that was for sure. His needles were dropping like
nine pins and he needed water quickly if he was to survive- had the family
forgotten he was alive?
Bruce started counting the days of Christmas on what was left of his
needles, but his pining must have been heard for as the family sang ‘On the 12th day of Christmas’,
Claire said
‘Come on we’re going to plant you outside and watch you grow!’
Bruce’s face unknotted and his shrivelled trunk creaked with sighs of
relief,
‘A chance to live, but can I survive after losing so many needles?’
Luckily the family were keen gardeners and gave Bruce FIRst Aid and he not only survived but grew into the finest Scots Pine in the land.
Birds and small
creatures would come from afar just to nest in his branches, and what he loved
more than anything was when Claire and Tom climbed right to the top of the tree,
that really tickled. But little did they know that as the children looked out they
could see the forest he came from, and his heart went out to that place.
One night Bruce had a dream that he was back in the forest with his friends
and it was Christmas again. This time though he didn’t hear the whistle in the
wind…
Christmas is coming, Christmas is
coming, Christmas is coming!
No, it was a new sound, that was vibrant and exciting….
Jesus is coming, Jesus is coming, Jesus is coming!
Then the trees started singing with joy….
(Isaiah 55)
‘Oh he comes to judge the earth
He will judge the world in righteousness
And the peoples in truth
(Psalm 96:12)
The noise became louder and louder as a mighty wind blew through the forest
causing the branches to rustle with joy. A shout went up and then Bruce saw an
amazing thing….the trees actually started to clap their branches, singing again
and again the words he had heard, as they swayed together in the wind. ‘Oh he comes to judge the earth……’
Bruce was so excited his needles stood on end and he just felt he had to
join in, swaying to and fro. Oh how he wanted the dream to go on forever.
Suddenly he stopped… and realised it wasn’t a dream at all… but that it
was actually happening. He knew then that it really would go on forever and
ever.
(Finish with chorus- You shall go out with
joy and be led forth with peace and the mountains and the hills shall break forth
before you. There’ll be shouts of joy and the trees of the fields shall clap, shall
clap their hands.
And the trees of the field shall clap their
hands and the trees of the field shall clap their hands, and the trees of the field
shall clap their hands, and you’ll go out with joy. Songs of Fellowship 640)
THE END
No comments:
Post a Comment