Every Christmas, up in Santa’s headquarters in Snowland, they like to make sure that every needy, deserving girl or boy gets a Christmas tree. Most parents buy trees, and so do most orphanages and most children’s hospitals. It’s the job of the Christmas Fairy to flit round the world in a couple of magic thrice to spot all the truly needy and deserving little ones who appear set to go without a Christmas tree, and to report back to the Christmas Gnome. The Gnome is like a Christmas Quartermaster Sergeant in Santa’s Grotto – a huge store of good Christmas presents and merry-making goodies.
“Christmas Gnome,” says the Christmas Fairy one December, “I’ve found a really-truly-deeply needy and deserving boy in Walthamstow. Not only did his Mum die of diphtheria last year, but the poor little chap actually witnessed his dad being killed in a stampede at a zoo last September. He was already going blind and deaf – and the horror of his recent experiences seems to have all but shut the little angel off from the world.”
“Fair enough, Christmas Fairy,” said the Christmas Gnome. “He’ll get a tree okay.”
“But, Christmas Gnome, could you, just this once, for me, throw in some decorations for the tree? Like pretty balls and lights, and all that sort of stuff?”
“Don’t take this to create a precedent,” Christmas Gnome says, “but - as he’s so very deserving, and as you seem moved by his case almost to the point of being unprofessional – okay. Just this once mind you, Christmas Fairy, I’ll let him have a grade A1 tree, and I’ll throw in all the trimmings.” On Boxing Day, the Fairy comes back to the Grotto, bearing the splendid tree.
“Ooh, Christmas Gnome, what do you think happened?” the Christmas Fairy said. “The little boy was so very needy and deserving that all the people who knew him made an appeal for prezzies and good Christmassy things. So when I arrived, there were not just one but three lovely trees in his foster home already, and all three beautifully decorated. My problem now, Christmas Gnome, is what am I to do with this splendid tree? Where can I put it?”
