21 December 2017
A Tree In Fairyland
A matter of position.
By Scrooge
It was Christmas Eve in fairyland and one of the fairies was busy putting up her decorations. Actually she wasn’t doing it herself because that was the work of the elves. Still, she stood around and gave directions so that she could fairly say that she had been working hard too.
This year the tree was a big one and the elves spent a lot of time getting it to stand up straight. They put it in a big bucket full of bricks, which took quite a long time. Then they had to go up ladders to fix on the lights and decorations. The result was quite good but the fairy wasn’t satisfied. “I think it would look nicer half way up the stairs” she said.
The bucket full of bricks was much too heavy to move, so the elves took the lights and decorations off again and then emptied the bucket. Of course everything had to be carried up the stairs, but after half an hour or so they put it all together on the landing and the lights were turned on.
“You know what,” said the fairy, after thinking for a bit, “it really was better back on the ground floor. Let’s try it by the window”. The elves were disappointed by this, especially as they had quoted a fixed price and the fairy was known to be mean when it came to tipping; still, they had promised to do the job, and even if it was eating into their lunchtime they wanted to get it finished. So down came the decorations and lights. Out of the bucket came the tree and the bricks and, after carrying it all downstairs, everything was reassembled by the window. “That looks better” said the fairy, but at that moment there was a ring on the doorbell. It was one of the fairy’s artistic friends.
“Oh no, you couldn’t” said the artistic friend.
“Couldn’t what?” asked the fairy.
“Put it there” replied the artistic friend. “It should be on the big coffer in the hallway. Just get them to move it up there.”
“Yes, you’re right” said the fairy, but then, aware that the elves were looking a bit surly, she decided to be inclusive and tactful.
“Where do you think it should go, Mr Elf?” she asked the foreman. “I’ll do whatever you suggest.”
And that is how the fairy ended up on top of the Christmas tree.
