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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Christmas (04/25/05)
O Christmas Bush



It was a bush. Short, squat, with long creepy needles that didn't smell right. It was green...sort of...but a faded, pathetic green that didn't even look real. And it was stuck in a metal bucket of reddish-brown mud that was slowly leaking onto the old shag carpet. It was the worst Christmas tree I had ever seen.
My sister and two brothers stood in the center of the room and stared at this bush that Mum was wrestling into the corner. It was the second Christmas after my father had left, and nothing seemed to be getting better. Our large home had become a tiny basement apartment - two bedrooms for five people. Santa was going to have to come into the house from the apartment upstairs, because we had lost our fireplace. Our Christmas dinner was going to be quite a bit smaller. And Mum had already warned us that Santa couldn't bring as many gifts as he once had.
We were young - I was twelve, the oldest, and the youngest of us was six - and to us Christmas meant candy and gifts and a pretty tree. It felt like Christmas was being taken away little by little, and this was the last straw. My little brother slipped his pudgy hand into mine and tugged. I looked down into his big brown eyes and then bent down to hear him as he whispered, "I don't think any presents can fit under there."
I looked at the bush again and a lump formed in my throat. He was right. The branches reached up, swarming around this center stick, and they started just inches off the ground. "Mum," I said. "Where did that thing come from?"
Mum huffed out a breath and shoved the bucket farther back. Mud slopped out over the rim. "Richard from the church gave it to us. He wanted...well, he thought it would help us out with Christmas expenses."
"It's ugly," my sister said.
"There's nothing wrong with it," Mum said, an edge sharpening her voice. She stepped back and sighed when one of the needles snagged her sweater. It took her a moment to untangle the hideous thing.
"Yes, there is," I said. "It's awful. Mum, it's awful."
"It doesn't even look like a tree," my sister said.
Mum stepped forward, and touched the needles once with her small, reddened fingers. Then, to our surprise, she hauled the whole thing out of the bucket and threw it up onto the table. It slid the length of the table, scattering needles and mud everywhere. "I thought this would do," she said, and her voice cracked horribly, "but if it's not good enough I'll find something else."
"That's not it, Mum," I said. "It's just that it's a bush, it's - "
Mum raised her hand, her lips pressed tight together. A single tear escaped and trickled down her cheek. "I'll go get something else."

I wish I could say that the four of us repented and accepted the hideous bush as our tree instead, but we were real kids and it was a really ugly bush. We did work very hard to get the new tree set up and the house decorated, trying to help Mum as much as we could. The interesting thing about this is how the Christmas Bush has become one of our favorite (and most entertaining) family stories. We remember that Christmas as one of our best, for by working together to make up for that bush we learned what joy comes from the real Christmas - the one behind the tinsel and the gifts. By losing our house we realized that you don't need a house to be a family. By losing the fireplace we placed more emphasis on the Christ child than Santa Claus. By having fewer gifts, we found we gave more away. And even now, almost twenty years later, we still gather as a family and sing our special version of an ancient hymn - "O Christmas Bush."
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This article has been read 1101 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
vicki mccollum
05/02/05
This is a beautiful story. There's alot of power in your expression.
Anthony Tophoney
05/02/05
I like your writing style. It is descriptive without being cumbersome. Encouraging message too. Very easy to relate to. Well done!
Delores Baber
05/02/05
You're story was a blessing. Sometimes God has to take all the traping away so we can see the real Christmas star.
Jess Godwin
05/03/05
Great story! I kept thinking of the time my friends tied two pine branches together as their Christmas tree. It took up an entire wall of their living room because it was so spread out. But it was so thin that you coudl see right through it.

Loved it!
Kathy Warren
05/03/05
Your story reads very well. It is very descriptive. I could feel the children's frustration and struggle as well as the mother's. Great story, well written.
donna robinson
05/03/05
There is one line here that tagged me immediately even though it was not meant to be a tie in for the "inside story". I thought about the person at church who thought that would help! It reminded me how we forget that if we are to give to those less fortunate, it should represent the best as how else do we show how important their lives are to us? I know how Christmas with limited funds often turn out to be the ones we remember. Yet, still the thought that hit me the most was remember how to give as christians. I liked the fact it made me think.
Leticia Caroccio
05/05/05
This was a great story of childhood innocence and painful truth. It brought back memories of my childhood, remembering a Christmas tree that was cut in half to share with someone else. We got the bottom half. We still talk about our Christmas shrub and the angel that had to lie down because there was not center branch for her to stand on.

Your story was simply written and because of its simplicity it touched the heart. Wonderfully written.
Suzanne R
05/07/05
Catchy title, too.
Deborah Porter 
05/09/05
Angela, Congratulations on such a fantastic start at FaithWriters. Quite an achievement to not only place 3rd in the Level 2 Challenge, but also, place 4th in the Editors' Choice. Even though you've only been here a very short time, it's time for you to jump up to Level 3. You are definitely ready for it. With love, Deb (Challenge Coordinator)

Lois Jennison Tribble
05/11/05
Angela,
I enjoyed your story, with its realistic, earthy flavor. Praise God for bitter circumstances that bear such sweet fruit in our lives! Welcome to FaithWriters, and congratulations on winning with your first entry!