Today we are featuring Inklings Book Contest 2016 finalist, Aditi Biswas! Aditi is going to start 5th grade next year. Today, she is giving us the gift of Christmas in July with her short story all about a Christmas tree named Holly. We were especially impressed by Aditi’s skillful descriptions of her main character’s thoughts and feelings. Enjoy!
Holly, The Christmas Tree
by Aditi Biswas
“Oofh!” groaned Holly, a Christmas tree. She was being tossed around in a truck like a pancake in the air. Mr. and Mrs. Nimh had bought Holly from Mr. Frisby’s Christmas Tree Nursery. Holly was confused when Mrs. Nimh said, “Let’s buy that tree. It’s just the perfect size for our living room.” And with that, Holly was picked up and loaded onto a white truck. Holly replayed this moment in her mind over and over again. She still couldn’t understand why Mrs. Nimh said, “It’s just the perfect size…”. All of a sudden, there was a jolt, as if an earthquake had happened for two seconds. Holly didn’t know this, but the “mini earthquake” was actually a speed bump, indicating they were in a parking lot. Struggling, Holly got a glimpse of her surroundings. There was a supermarket called, “Betsy’s Groceries”. A while ago, Holly was waiting for someone to buy her. Now, things were different. At last, she was going somewhere.
After this long and boring supermarket visit, the Nimhs and Holly reached their destination, the Nimhs’ home. When Holly got unloaded from the truck, she was carried into their living room. The living room had a rich red and gold carpet that covered the entire floor. There was a black leather sofa with striped and embroidered pillows. Next to the couch, was a small side table. There was also a TV. The dining room was right next to the living room, so they could see the dining table. Mr. and Mrs. Nimh were whispering about something. Holly could barely hear what they were saying over the chirps of the birds and the wind.
“Let’s move that flower pot near the side table,” suggested Mr. Nimh.
“The flower pot looks just fine where it is.” protested Mrs. Nimh.
“Don’t worry, it’s only for 3 days,” Mr. Nimh said, “After that we’ll throw the tree out anyway. Then you can put the flower pot back there.”
“Fine.” Mrs. Nimh said angrily.
Holly was placed near the entrance door and the flower pot was moved next to the side table. Standing upright, she was six feet tall. She had dark green leaves. A string of Christmas light was draped around her. Then another string. Then, another followed. Soon, there were ten strings on Holly. She wondered if the lights would ever be comfortable. But by “lights out” time, Holly had grown used to them. She felt homesick, even though she never actually had a home. She had always been moved from one place to another. However, Holly had a feeling that she would never be moved again. She wondered if she would ever get accustomed to her new life. Holly thought and thought throughout the night. Finally, after she thought for five minutes, she fell fast asleep (she was tired from all that thinking).
The next morning when Holly woke up, she saw two girls surrounding her. “What on Earth are those girls doing?” pondered Holly. Turns out, the girls, named Lavender Nimh and Matilda Nimh, were hanging ornaments on Holly. The ornaments were gold and silver with glitter, and red and green. Holly felt a rush of happiness washing over her trunk and leaves. It was actually Christmas Eve, so in the evening, the whole Nimh family gathered around Holly and sang Christmas carols. Some of the songs they sang were “Jingle Bells,” “Let it Snow,” and “Joy to the World.” After dinner and singing, Lavender and Matilda wrote their wish lists to Santa.
Lavender’s wish list said she wanted…
1. The Complete Guide to Flowers
2. Lavender scented candles
3. A rainbow bracelet
Matilda’s wish list said that she wanted…
1. Matilda by Roald Dahl
2. A photo frame
3. A rainbow ink pen
After writing their wish lists, the girls hung their red and green stockings. For some reason that night, Holly could not sleep. Every time she was about to doze off, something would catch her attention and snap her back into alert. Holly predicted this was happening because she was not used to being in the dark without any other trees. Then, at midnight, Holly heard a strange noise. It sounded like bells, one of Holly’s favorite sounds. Suddenly, a big fat man with a white beard, red coat, and red cap came into the room! He was carrying a brown sack. Then, he walked towards Holly and put gifts underneath her. Holly didn’t have the foggiest idea of what was going on, so she just stared at him. The mysterious man waddled over to the stockings hanging by the fireplace. He read the wish lists, opened his brown sack, and filled the stockings with presents. Then, the man ate the cookies and drank the milk that was on the dining table. How did he know it was his? Because there was a name tag next to the cookies and milk! Since Holly knew how to read, she read the name tag. It said, “ Santa Claus”. Holly inferred that the funny dressed man was called Santa Claus. She thought that the name was as weird as being draped with lights that glowed red, green, blue, and many other colors.
When Santa left, Holly could smell lavender. “It’s probably Lavender’s lavender scented candle,” Holly told herself.
But still, Holly was scared to the bone. Also, chilled to the bone. It was freezing cold outside. After all, it was winter. Finally, after what felt like 99 million hours, Holly fell “fast” asleep. Except it didn’t happen quickly. When Holly woke up the next morning, the sun was already up. She checked the clock. 7:30, it read. Holly knew that the Nimhs woke up at 8:00, so she had to wait for half an hour. Although Holly had been here for a day, she hadn’t bothered to look around, which was strange. Holly decided this was the perfect time to explore her vicinity. The only change to the room were the presents placed below her. Surprisingly, looking around took 30 minutes. Holly saw Lavender and Matilda climb down the stairs and rush to see their stockings. They were super excited. Finally, Christmas had
arrived! Merry Christmas! After a few seconds, she heard squeals of delight as the 10-year-old girls opened their gifts. Then, they ran to Holly to unwrap their presents. Mr. and Mrs. Nimh got presents too. Mrs. Nimh got a charm bracelet and Mr. Nimh got an iPhone 6S.
Later that afternoon, the Nimh family got dressed and headed out the door. They were invited for a Christmas dinner at Lavender and Matilda’s aunt and uncle’s house. When they were gone, Holly tried to remember all the things that made her cheerful. All of a sudden, Holly remembered the grim conversation Mr. and Mrs. Nimh had discussed two days ago. Holly recalled Mr. Nimh saying after Christmas she would be thrown away. Holly could feel it echoing through her mind.
“No,” she whispered. “It can’t be true.” Holly shivered at the thought of it. But even as she reassured herself, she knew what was coming. All she could do is wait.
Around 11 o’clock that night, the Nimhs came back home excited but drowsy. They went upstairs and fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow. Holly did the same despite her worries. The next morning, Holly saw the family gather around her. They were removing the Christmas lights from her. Holly’s fear started to turn into reality as each string came off. Finally, when they had taken off every string and decoration from Holly, they picked her up and carried her to the white truck. As the truck started to move, Holly became more and more scared. Suddenly, the truck jerked and came to a halt, as if a giant had stepped in front of it! Then Holly got unloaded. She had expected to see some dumpster with dead trees, but instead, she saw a friendly looking woman.
Out of all the things Holly didn’t know, one of them was this woman named Jessica Stevens, an artist. She had called the Nimh family in the morning to ask if they would give her their tree. Though they were curious to know what she would do with the tree, they happily agreed to this offer because they wouldn’t need the tree anymore. But why did Miss Jessica want Holly? To snip Holly into a… tree! Holly was very happy and relieved when she realized she wouldn’t be thrown away.
At the city park, Holly was placed on a marble podium. On it, were engraved the words, “Here stands a Christmas tree to remind us how much nature gives us.” Ever since, Holly has been living happily with lots of tourists visiting her.
