Once upon a time, there lived a joyful baby blue spruce tree on the island of Fiji.
He grew up right beside the waters, next to the best snorkeling spot on the island. In fact, every afternoon at 2 o’ clock sharp, he would lean his branches over the waters, swaying with the wind while he leaned over), just to catch a glimpse of the blissful humans enjoying his pet fish.
“Oh, how sweet! They’re meeting Sonia the starfish! I do hope they love her as much as I do. Look! there goes nelly the clownfish – such a people person – maybe getting a little too close to the grandma snorkeler. Goodness gracious! There’s penny the blowfish about to pop!! Hurry!!”
Sometimes he would forget that no one could hear him… nevertheless he continued to talk with the local tourists – what else was he to do? All he seemed to be good at was growing tall and making acorns. Every once in a while, sweet old Bernadette from the local jewelry shop would come and collect acorns from his feet (it was always his favorite because he never liked to make a mess for the snorkelers!) She would then come back with an acorn necklace to hang on his branches, or a slice of her famous acorn cake that she always made for her 13 grandchildren.
As the usual routine went on, he would look forward to her visits every month or so. He would even begin to countdown the days until he would see her next. He wished he had a family like that – but there would never happen for him. He remembers his journey to Fiji like it was yesterday… Someone from Colorado had come over to snorkel the crystal-clear magical waters of Fiji decades ago, carrying him on their necklace. After taking their necklace off, he found himself left on the beach. Well, one thing led to another and the first spruce tree of Fiji Island was born just a few years later.
But that was the past. No time to think about that now, right? There was so much to look forward to, so much to focus on! It was almost the peak of tourist season for the island, which meant endless snorkeling, and for goodness’ sake! Penny the blowfish was about to have kids! She would definitely need his help in keeping an eye on those little guys.
As Baby Blue straightened his branches for the oohs and ahs of the tourists rolling in e heard an “EEEP!!” suddenly on guard, he turned side to side to listen to where the noise was coming from. “EEEEP!!” there it goes again – and he saw nothing.
Suddenly, he looked down to see a 4-year-old little girl with big baby blue eyes looking right back at him, and with a big smile on her face, pulled out what looked to be pieces of coral reef. They were bright, shiny, and all different shapes. But those were far too perfectly round to be coral reef, right? Were they seashells? No. At this point, all he could do was to stay still and wait to see what would happen next.
“Daddy! It’s the famous Christmas Tree!! Can we decorate it?? Pleeeeaasseee?? Momma said I could if I brought the ornaments, I made in art class. Pretty pleaaaasseee??”
A warm feeling spread through baby blue as he realized he was in fact the “Christmas Tree” this crazy little girl was referring to decorate.
Me? A Decorated Christmas Tree? He thought. I don’t know if I could play the part…
But it was too late. All the while he was contemplating if he could become a Christmas tree, the little girl and her dad had gone to work. When we opened his eyes, he saw a crowd of snorkelers gathered around, suits and all. They all began to stand around him, and with a deep breathe the littlest girl of them all, the one that brought her ornaments all the way from her home, began to sing.
“Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree….”
Some snorkelers were even singing through their breathing masks! It was a sight to see, and it was the day that Baby Blue felt like he was truly at home.