CHRISTMAS IN MAGICAL WOOD

Christmas is a very special time of year all over the world. But Christmas in Magical Wood is, well, magical! The Wood is covered with a blanket of pure white snow that glistens in the sunlight and sparkles in the moonlight.

All the animals that live in the Wood wear their finest winter coats as they scurry about, preparing for Christmas.

Papa and Mama Bunny have lived in the Wood for a long time and Bitsy, their little girl bunny, thinks it’s the best, most exciting place to live in the whole wide world, especially at Christmas time.

But Christmas had not always come to the animals of Magical Wood. In fact, at one time, the little animals had not even known who Santa Claus was!

One winter night, a long time ago, there had come a terrible snow storm. It was just one night before Christmas Eve. The wind had howled all night long, and it seemed as if the snow would never stop falling.

In the morning, once the storm had passed, the animals awakened to find that the wind had brought something new to their pleasant forest home. The biggest, oldest tree in Magical Wood grew tall and straight in a clearing. It was a Fir tree. That’s the same kind of tree many of us like to decorate at Christmas. On that particular morning, the animals had found the wild Fir tree gaily draped with long, beautiful lengths of shiny silver rope! Since they lived deep in the forest, the animals had never seen anything like this before!

The forest animals didn’t know that someone had decorated a great big Christmas tree in a town square far away. When the storm came, the mischevious wind had come upon a box containing a forgotten length of silver garland, and merrily claimed the sparkling treasure as its own.

The playful wind had tossed the garland aloft, flinging it to and fro amidst the snowflakes, until at last, the garland broke free of the wind and drifted to earth, settling on the Fir tree in Magical Wood. The animals thought their tree looked so beautiful, they left the shiny silver ropes right where they had fallen. And so, on Christmas Eve, the garland on their forest Fir tree had gleamed brightly in the moonlight.

The next morning, Christmas Day, as the animals were scurrying about, just like any other day, they discovered something wonderful. Under the tree in the clearing were presents for all the animals, and a note from Santa himself! The note read:

To my little friends: Ho, Ho, Ho! Your tree was so shiny in the moonlight, it was very easy to find you. I’m sorry I have not come before, but I didn’t know anyone lived so deep in the Wood. If you decorate your tree with the shiny silver garland every Christmas, I will always be able to find you. Merry Christmas! Love, Santa

That was the very first time Santa had visited Magical Wood!

So, each year afterwards, the little animals carefully placed the shiny garland on the tree so Santa could find them. The animals also made little decorations each year to put on the tree. Little acorns tied with scraps of ribbon, pine cones, even little wreaths made from twigs. Finally, there were so many decorations, each family was put in charge of one box.

After breakfast one Christmas Eve morning, everyone gathered at the clearing. Each family was carrying a box of ornaments for their Christmas tree. Papa Bunny kept a list of who had which decorations, so they were sure not to forget any.

One by one, each family put their decorations on the beautiful tree. Finally, all the boxes of ornaments were empty, and everyone stood back to admire their work. But something was missing!

Papa Bunny looked at his list and said, "Well, we’re almost done now! As soon as Mr. & Mrs. Fox and little Alfred arrive with the silver garland, we’ll be done. I guess they’re running a little late this morning."

"Oh my gosh, Papa!" exclaimed Bitsy Bunny, "Alfred Fox and his family moved away during the summer!"

"So they did," replied Papa, "Now then, who did the Foxes leave the silver garland with when they moved?" No one answered.

"Surely they must have given the box to someone before they left," said Grampa Squirrel. "After all, the garland is the most important decoration we have. Without it, Santa will never be able to find us."

But the Fox family had not given the box of garland to anyone! They must have forgotten all about it!

"Well then," said Papa Bunny, "We need to find something that will light up our tree in the moonlight just as the silver garland would have. If we all start searching now, I’m sure we will find something. We don’t have much time, though, so let’s get going!"

Bitsy looked very upset, so Mama Bunny gave her a hug and said, "Bitsy, don’t be sad. I’m sure that one of us will find something bright enough to light up our tree so that Santa can find us."

"Oh Mama!", cried Bitsy, "That’s it. Lights, Mama, lights!" Bitsy was very excited. "Santa will find us Mama, but I have to hurry, before it’s too late!" "Bitsy, wait!! What do you mean?" called Mama. But Bitsy had already scampered out of sight, and was heading towards the pond.

When Bitsy got near the pond, she began searching for something. "Now, where is it?" she wondered.

"Wait, there it is-- that’s it!" she exclaimed, and hopped over to a small stump near the edge of the water. There was a faint glow coming from inside. The tree stump was the winter home for all the fireflies in Magical Wood!

Bitsy was so excited she began to hop up and down. "Oh, they must help, they just must!" she whispered to herself as she knocked on the fireflies’ door.

A moment later the little door swung open, and Bitsy explained to Mrs. Firefly that the silver garland was lost and asked if the fireflies would be willing to lend a hand.

Back at the clearing, all the animals were slowly gathering around their tree. No one had been able to find anything that would glisten in the moonlight as well as the silver garland. They all looked so sad.

Suddenly, they heard a thumpity-thumpity-thump tearing down the forest path.

It was Bitsy, hopping just as fast as she could. And, behind her, flew hundreds and hundreds of fireflies!

Bitsy pointed to the tree and her little friends did the rest. Each firefly chose a branch to settle on, and as they landed, they began to blink and glow!.

There was no way Santa was going to miss them now! The tree was brighter than 100 pieces of silver garland! The little animals had never seen anything so bright and beautiful!

It was beginning to get quite dark, so it was time for the younger animals to scurry off to bed. They waved goodnight and called "Thank You!" to the fireflies, then hurried on home.

After dinner, Bitsy’s Mama and Papa tucked her into bed and kissed her good night. In the distance Bitsy could hear the fireflies as they began to sing their favorite Christmas Carols.

Bitsy slept very soundly, and awakened only once, when she heard the sound of sleigh bells coming from the clearing.

The sleepy little bunny smiled happily, and then snuggled back into her soft, warm bed.

Once again it was Christmas in Magical Wood.