Oskar, the Christmas Tree Elf: A Christmas to Remember

Chapter 3: Into the Woods

When they finished their drinks, Grandpa led Emma, Luke, Sue and Brad out the back door and into the field. "There are thousands of trees out here and one of them has been waiting many years to be our perfect tree this Christmas," he explained. Grandpa looked over the horizon towards the mountains. "There's a storm coming but I think we'll still have time to find our special tree. The best place for us to look will be at the edges of the field where the forest begins, as that's where the older trees live. We'll need a tree at least 12 feet tall," he said, raising a long pole that Papa Andrew made in 1925. "If you see a tree with a perfect top that's taller than that, we can cut it down and use the bottom branches for garlands to drape around the living room.

"Let's spread out. Shout out if you see a tree that's perfectly shaped on all sides and we'll all come and take a look," Grandpa concluded. "And make sure that the tip is perfectly straight!"

They all went off in their own directions and began exploring the edges of the field. Emma ran ahead, turning to enter into the forest. She went from tree to tree reaching into and pressing down on the branches to see how full and strong they were, just like Grandpa had taught her. She knew that the branches had to be strong because Grandma and Grandpa had a collection of old German glass ornaments, many of which were big and heavy. At each tree she looked up to see how tall it was, but they all seemed equally towering to her.

Soon, Emma began to worry that she would never find a special tree. As she started walking back towards her family in disappointment, she saw her cat come out from under a tree. "Gus?" she asked. "What are you doing here?" She crouched down to pick up the cat, but suddenly he darted away from her and ran up the hill.

Emma shouted and ran after Gus, but Gus was nowhere to be found. As she proceeded up the hill trying to figure out where her cat had gone, she continued searching for the perfect tree. She was approaching the top of a hill when she heard a strange squeaky voice call out to her. "Emma," it said.

She looked around but saw nothing but trees. "Who is it?" she asked.

"Up here!" said the voice. She followed the sound of the voice up the hill.

There, at the crest of the hill, Emma found the most beautiful tree she'd ever seen. It was huge; it seemed much bigger than Grandpa's pole or most of the other trees she had passed. The sun, piercing the clouds of the darkening sky, created a halo just behind the tree.

"Up here," said the voice.

She walked up to the base of the tree and squinted. "Where are you?" she asked.

"I'm inside the tree, on the trunk, right in front of you," said the voice.

Emma stepped toward the tree and spread open the branches. There, to her astonishment was a tiny, tiny man!

He had a long brown beard, coal black eyes and sharp white teeth exposed in a big smile. It looked as if he was wearing a big pinecone over his body, with only his tiny arms, his tiny legs and his tiny head sticking out. He was wearing little green pants and a tiny pointed cap that both seemed to have been woven out of moss.

Emma was wide-eyed as she stared at the tiny man. "Who are you?" she asked. "How do you know my name?"

"My name is Oskar," he replied. "I am a Christmas tree elf and this tree, the tree that your family is going to choose as its Christmas tree, is my tree. For the past four Christmases I've seen you running through these fields searching for a Christmas tree, and each time I've heard your family call you when you wander away as you did this afternoon. That's how I know your name is Emma."

Emma had a perplexed look on her face. "I've never heard of a Christmas tree elf."

"Well," said Oskar, "most people have never seen or heard of tree elves because most of us are afraid of humans. Usually we stay hidden in our trees.