Little Ted had spent many hours lying next to the Christmas tree exploring the presents underneath it. He liked all the brightly coloured paper and strange shapes and he enjoyed searching to see which presents were for him and then trying to work out what was inside them. Every day for the last week, Little Ted had got more and more excited as the pile of presents grew – he couldn’t wait for the big day.
“Is it Christmas yet?” Little Ted had asked his Mummy again and again.
“No, not yet, five more sleeps” and so it had carried on as they counted down to Christmas day. To help Little Ted understand when it would be Christmas they had a wooden countdown decoration hanging on the tree with the date, and every morning Little Ted would change this, double checking to see if it was a 2 and a 4 because that would mean it was Christmas Eve and that Christmas was the following day.
By the time it was Christmas Eve there was no room left under the tree and it overflowed with gifts for all the family.
“Look at all these presents” Little Ted said “I think that big one is for me. I hope it is a yellow digger. Or a tractor. “
“Well you’ll just have to be patient for a little longer and see what’s inside the wrapping paper tomorrow. It’s meant to be a surprise Little Ted so stop trying to feel the presents, you’ll put a hole in the paper. All will be revealed tomorrow.”
Christmas Day itself had been a whirlwind of activity filled with excitement, presents and eating. The big present turned out to be a JCB bulldozer from his Uncle Ian and Little Ted had lots of fun scooping up his toys, then tipping them back on the carpet.
And now it was the day after Christmas. While there was still lots of food and fun, Little Ted thought the Christmas tree looked sad because it no longer had presents underneath it.
“I think the tree is sorry that Christmas is over” Little Ted said. “It still has all the lights and decorations but I’m sure the branches are drooping and the floor underneath it looks really bare.”
Little Ted’s Daddy looked over at the pile of opened presents that Little Ted was playing with and didn’t think that the floor looked bare. In fact, he had almost stepped on a piece of Lego this morning and had spilt his coffee trying to avoid it.
“I think we have just relocated everything from under the tree to your pile under the window” said his Daddy. “And the tree still looks very festive. If you wanted to cheer it up you could wrap some of the old wrapping paper around the base.”
Little Ted thought that this was a very good idea and he set to work winding the brightly coloured paper around the bottom of the tree.
“There you go Mr Christmas Tree” Little Ted said when he had finished“You won’t have cold feet anymore.”
And as he brushed against the tinsel Little Ted thought he heard a very quiet “Thank you” and the bell at the top of the tree gave a happy ting.
The End