Oskar, the Christmas Tree Elf: A Christmas to Remember

Prologue

On the top of a hill, down the slopes of which stretched an endless forest of young trees, stood a magnificent Noble Fir, and at its tip two elves stood and speculated. The morning was frosty; a winter storm at the edge of the horizon threatened to usher in a white Christmas. Every now and then, a strong gust of cold wind shook the tree, forcing the two elves to cling tightly to a twig at its trunk.

"Oskar," said Albert, "Tomorrow is Christmas Day, but still your tree is rooted in the frozen ground. At this rate, it will never realize its destiny as a Christmas tree!"

"I feel in my soul that this will be the year for my tree," replied Oskar. "After all, tomorrow is my 497th birthday."

"You keep saying that. You've been telling anyone who will listen that this will be the year your tree is finally cut down and taken into the great house, but you can see as well as I can that a mighty storm is coming in from the Pacific! That's going to make it hard for anyone to get up here, let alone cut the tree down. By Christmas morning there will probably be more than a foot of snow on the ground!"

"Once they behold my tree, every other tree they've seen will disappoint them. They'll choose it no matter what it takes."

"But your tree must be at least 20 feet tall by now! It's far too big to be used as a Christmas tree. Don't get me wrong, I think it's magnificent. But I just can't see the family choosing it for Christmas."

Oskar leaned in close to make sure Albert could hear him over the rush of the wind. "I'll bet you a hundred pine nuts that my tree will be inside the Krupzer Family house on Christmas Day and I'll be in there with it," he answered with confidence.

"It's a bet," said Albert, and they shook hands.

"I just need to figure out how I'm going to enlist the aid of that little girl and her cat."

"Good luck with that. If you're counting on the cat, you're going to need it. That cat is not to be trusted. Two years ago, when it was my tree in the family's house, he chased me right up the trunk and I must have spent half of Christmas hiding in its branches! Of course, he never had a chance of catching me, but that doesn't mean he didn't scare the life out of me!"

"I'll handle the cat. It's the girl and her grandmother that concern me."

"Well, you'd better hurry," replied Albert. "That storm will be here before you know it."