Once upon a time there was a lonely little Christmas Tree Toy. She was a pretty little thing; a beautiful red heart, which had been made with lots of love and care. But she was sad and lonely as she sat in a house all on her own …
She remembered the kind and happy old man who had made her. He’d taken so much care when he carved her from the huge plank of wood from which she and her friends had come from. She had no idea what had happened to all of her friends. The last she remembered of them, they’d all been hanging together on a branch in a shop. And then a lovely lady came along & gently looked at them all, before deciding to take away the beautiful red heart.
The beautiful red heart was happy and excited; she knew that she must be special. She was the Christmas Tree Toy that the lovely lady had chosen. And because she was such a lovely lady, the beautiful red heart felt safe in the knowledge that she would be going to a lovely warm home, to hang on a beautiful Christmas Tree and make lots of new friends with the Christmas Tree Toys already hanging there. She was wrapped up nice and warm and safe in tissue paper so the lovely lady could take her home.
But the beautiful red heart was disappointed when she got home with the lovely lady because she just put her to one side and left her there, and the beautiful red heart began to feel sad and lonely, wishing she was still with her friends in the Christmas shop. She’d been told to expect such delights when someone came along to take her to their home … but the beautiful red heart thought she must have just been forgotten about, cast aside in her Christmas wrapping …
And then one day, the beautiful red heart heard happy voices and her heart rose as she felt herself being picked up by the lovely lady and being given to a gorgeous girl. The gorgeous girl carefully opened the tissue paper in which the beautiful little red heart was nestled.
The beautiful red heart was feeling so happy and excited … what was about to happen to her? The gorgeous girl took one look at the beautiful red heart and her face lit up with a huge smile and she said; “You are so beautiful. You can have pride of place on my Christmas Tree this year!”
The beautiful red heart was so very happy to hear this. She knew that at last, she was going to find her home on a beautiful Christmas Tree full of friends …
But wait. No!! The gorgeous girl is leaving and she’s left the beautiful red heart behind. The beautiful red heart screams at the top of her voice; “Stop! Wait for me! You’ve forgotten me!”
But the gorgeous girl doesn’t hear her, and the beautiful red heart begins to cry as she realises she’s being left behind.
The gorgeous girl mustn’t want her after all. She’s not going to spend her Christmas on a gorgeous Christmas Tree after all. The lovely lady spots the beautiful red heart sitting on the side and carefully wraps her up in her tissue paper, and puts her to one side.
Back to being the lonely little Christmas Tree Toy without a Christmas Tree.
The lonely little Christmas Tree Toy spends a few days feeling sorry for herself, part wrapped up still in her tissue paper, wondering what fate has in store for her.
And then one day, she looks around and notices the lovely lady with a box full of Christmas decorations. She feels herself begin to get excited. Might she have a Christmas Tree to hang on after all?
She watches the lovely lady take a Christmas Tree out of the box. But this doesn’t seem right. It’s black. Aren’t Christmas Trees supposed to be green? And aren’t they supposed to be big and bold? This one is tiny. The beautiful red heart can see just how tiny it is when she sees the lovely lady’s cat sat next to it. The tree is no bigger than the cat! There’s no room for the beautiful red heart and lots of friends to hang on there. She watches the lovely lady put small, brightly coloured baubles and tinsel on the tree … but there’s no room for her.
The beautiful red heart’s excitement begins to fade as she realises, that this Christmas Tree isn’t for her.
Back to being the lonely little Christmas Tree Toy without a Christmas Tree.
The lonely little Christmas Tree Toy snuggles back down inside her tissue paper, dreaming of Christmas Trees and all the friends she was going to meet there. She thinks about all of her friends in the shop, all of the Christmas Tree Toys who were cut from the same plank of wood as she was. Where are they all now? “Are they still hanging in the shop?” she thinks. “At least they’ll still have each other and won’t be all alone like me.”
The lonely little Christmas Tree Toy spends a few more days feeling sad and sorry for herself. And then one day, the lovely lady picks her up.
“I wonder where I’m going now?” the beautiful red heart thinks. “I hope it’s somewhere nice. But what if it’s not? What if I’m just going to be thrown away? A lonely little Christmas Tree Toy without a Christmas Tree to hang on, isn’t much good to any one.”
The beautiful red heart was taken outside and carried by the lovely lady to a different house. And when she got there, she was surprised to see the gorgeous girl again. And as the lovely lady handed the beautiful red heart to the gorgeous girl, the gorgeous girl looked so happy to see the beautiful red heart again that her loneliness was swept away forever.
The gorgeous girl took the beautiful red heart carefully out of her tissue paper, and, as the beautiful red heart’s excitement built and built, she carried her into a lovely warm living room and there, there was the Christmas Tree that the beautiful red heart had dreamt about. She felt filled with such love and happiness that all of her sadness was washed away.
The gorgeous girl gently hung the beautiful red heart onto the Christmas Tree, and the beautiful red heart looked around her, she just knew that she was going to be very, very happy hanging here. There were lots of new friends just waiting to be made and she just knew, that she was the heart beating at the centre of them all.
Love, friendship, good luck and happiness would beat throughout that Christmas Tree that year and through everyone who was lucky enough to see it … with it’s beautiful red heart beating … beating at the heart of Christmas …
