Once upon a time, there was a land, ruled by a queen. She was a perfectionist and if anything in her queendom was not exactly how it should be, it was disposed of.
When Christmas rolled around, she would only take the best, straight
est trees. If there where any trees that where bent or crooked in the slightest way, they were chopped into fire wood.
So, when Christmas came, all the trees made their branches as straight and their trunks soar into the air. For they all wanted to be chosen to go into the queens hall. That is, all except one. He was very small and knew he would not be picked. All the other trees teased and taunted him. This made him very sad.
Soon, it was almost time for the queen to come to the grove and choose a tree for her grand hall. But then, the night before she arrived, a HUGE blizzard blew threw the town. All the trees were very cold but dare not bend their branches, for they could get stuck that way in the cold and icy air.
Soon, a little mouse, shivering in the cold, scurried into they grove. "May I please shelter within your branches?" He asked. "No." said the trees. "You will make my branches move out of place." The little mouse was saddened by this and began to scurry away again.
"Wait." Said the littlest tree. "You may shelter within my branches." The other trees scoffed and scorned. The mouse quickly scurried under his branches in an effort to get out of the cold."Thank you Very much Mr. Tree." Said the mouse as the tree closed his branches around the mouse to keep out the wind. "Of course, Mouse, its no problem at all."
And so, the tree protected the mouse from the storm.
Soon, a rabbit hopped into the grove. "May I shelter in your branches?" He asked with a shiver. "No." Said the trees. "You will surely ruin all the work we did on our roots." So the rabbit began to hop away to find other shelter.
"Wait." Called the littlest tree. "You may shelter in my branches." The rabbit was very grateful for this and hopped underneath. "Thank you very much Mr. Tree." He said as he huddled with the mouse. "Of course. Its no problem at all."
And so, the tree protected the rabbit.
Soon, a fox came along. "May I please shelter in your branches?" He asked. "No." said the trees. "You surely seek to cause mischief and will ruin our precious trunks." So the fox started to trot away.
"Wait." Said the littlest tree. "You can shelter in my branches." So the fox trotted up and slunk underneath the tree. "Thank you very much Mr. Tree." Said the fox as he curled around the rabbit and the mouse to stay warm.
Throughout the night, the storm gradually started to wear off. By morning, a clear blue sky was to be found. But the blizzard had frozen his branches and he was sucked in a hunched over position with curling branches.
The queen rode up in her sled with the owner of the grove. She scanned over the trees with satisfaction. "You've done a good job. These trees are perfect." Said the queen.
The queen got out and started to look at the trees closer up. In the middle of the grove, she saw the littlest tree and flew into a rage. "What is this disgrace doing in my grove!?!" She screamed. "Get your men down here and have it cut down right this instant!" So the man sent back to the logging shed to cut it down.
The littlest tree had known this was going to happen and accepted his fate. It was then that the queen noticed the paw prints leading away from the tree, for all the little animals had left when the storm ceased.
As she got closer, she saw the little nest the animals had made. She realized what the little tree had done for the small animals.
When the men got back with their tools, she had them stop. "I want you to dig up the tree with its roots intact and put it in a nice big pot. We will transport it to the royal gardens."The men were very much confused by this. "But my lady," Said one. "It's so crooked and stooped. Why would you want it on display?"
She smiled a small smile at this. "Because, my loyal subject, this tree has done a great deed. It saved other creatures at the risk of its own life. If that isn't worth a reward, I don't know what is."And so It was, that the littlest tree was taken to the gardens and eventually grew into a tall, proud tree. Although, he still provides shelter for all who need it.
