The Ugly Christmas Tree and Rosco the Reluctant Rabbit

- The First of the Grandfather Stories By David M. Pain Beside the red glow of the fireplace, the elderly man steadied himself on his cane, and with his other hand, places the last pieces of tinsel onto the Christmas tree. He finally emptied his hands and hobbled back a few feet to look at the finished tree. With a slight sigh of contentment he turned and settled back into his favorite rocking chair and slowly nodded off to sleep. The sound of two children arguing grew louder and louder as they entered the family room. They did not see their grandfather sleeping in his rocker and their argument quickly became a screaming match. “It is, too!” shouted the boy. “No, it’s not,” the girl squealed. Grandpa was startled awake. Pointing to the tree, the boy continued, “It is sooooo ugly!” The girl pushes her brother’s hand down. “You don’t know anything. It’s a pretty tree.” “Ugly, ugly,” he taunts. “You’re just jealous because you didn’t get to pick it out,” and with that she stomps her foot. Her younger brother knows her side of the argument is over. He reacts with clenching fists and with all the air he can place in his lungs, yells at the top of his voice, “UGLY!!” Grandpa jerks back with the sound of the boy’s yell and the rocking chair rolls with him. “What on earth is going on here?” he asks sternly as he regains his balance. “You tell him, Grandpa. We do have a pretty Christmas tree. He didn’t go with us to pick it out, and he’s just a spoiled brat...” “It’s ugly, it’s small and has broken branches. She picked it out and she got an ugly one,” he replies. “Jealous!” the girl shouts. Grandpa raises his hands to put an end to the arguing. “It’s almost Christmas. Seems like you’d have better things on your mind. It makes me wonder if you even know where Christmas trees come from.” He looks at one and then the other, and with a hand gesture seats them on the floor. “From Mr. Murphy’s tree lot...?” the boy asks. “From a seed planted in the ground...?” the girl adds. “Well, you’re both partly right, but I mean where do they ‘really’ come from? The children anticipate another one of grandpa’s tales and became quiet as he starts his story. A long, long time ago, before any of us can remember...” Grandpa pauses, wrinkles his forehead, and continues. “It was just one big forest around here. Not like it is now. They didn’t have clocks or calendars. The only way you knew that Christmas time was approaching was by watching the trees. They were always the first to announce when Christmas was near. When they changed their leaves to brilliant shades of red, gold, purple, the other forest creatures knew that Christmas would soon be here.