Spruce

The finery of Christmas only lasts a short while.

The excitement fades and the children lose interest in the little tree. It now longs for the life it had before. It realises that being amongst nature even in all sorts of weather was far more rewarding that being stuck indoors. And it would have had an advantage over the other trees; it would have remained while they lost their leaves in the autumn.

Now, though, the warmth in the house has made it shed most of its needles and it is confined to a dustbin. Yet there is hope. One of the children finds a way of being kinder to its nature.