It
was a frosty winter’s day, clear and sunny, but because of a snow the night
before, there was a white blanket covering the ground. Most of the animals of
the forest were slow to come out into the cold. But the Squirrel in the big oak
was already out dusting the snow from his porch, high up among the branches,
and getting ready for the day. He had a mission. Today was the day of the big
Christmas party for his family and friends. So much needed to be done, but
first he had to find that wonder of the season—the pinecone Christmas tree. He
really wanted it to be fresh, so he had gotten up early to select the very best
one.
All of his
family was asleep, later they would get up and visit friends. It was his job to
get the pinecone Christmas tree and get it in place by the time they got home,
so they would have this wonderful pinecone to see and then eat later that
night.
So off he went, out into the forest to find the best
pinecone he could. As he was leaving his tree he could see the chipmunks next
door already outside washing their whiskers in the snow.
“Those
chipmunks are so strange,” he muttered to himself. “Look how they rub snow on
their whiskers. Squirrels never do that. How very strange they are. They are so
different—I don’t like them.” But he didn’t
spend much time thinking about them. He still had his mission. 1
Normally he would just stay in the general
area of his tree, but today he went further than he had ever gone before. It
seemed that each pinecone he inspected was not quite right. Either they tilted to one side or the other,
or were rotten on this side or that. And,
none of them were big enough. He wanted
the pinecone to be so tall that it touched the ceiling this year. So he searched further and further from his
home. By around noontime he was quite far from his tree.
He had not
been paying attention to the time. The
Squirrel just kept thinking, just a little bit further and I will find it. So he wandered farther than he ever intended
to. He had never been in this part of
the forest before, and he was starting to get a little scared.
It was not
that he was lost or could not find his way back home. It was just that the pine trees in this part
of the forest were so big that they blocked a lot of the light coming from the
sun. So even though it was noon , it seemed like it was almost time
for the sun to go down.
What
stopped him from turning back was that the pinecones were getting bigger
too. He had found quite a few that would
do nicely, but each time he went to pick them up, he would find an even better
one just a little further away. 2
It was not
long before it was almost too dark to see.
The Squirrel was just about to turn back, when he saw a beam of light
shining straight down through the forest.
As he followed the light down to the forest floor he saw a blazing flash
of light where it struck the ground.
Amazed, he
crept closer. As he got nearer to the
glowing object, an old fallen log blocked his view. When he jumped up onto the log, he was hit by
a light so strong, it was as if a star had fallen to the earth.
The
Squirrel stood staring at the object with awe.
Right there in front of him was the most beautiful pinecone he had ever
seen in his life. Not only was it huge;
much taller than the squirrel, but it was a shimmering silver color.
It
glistened in the cold mountain air; the color seemed to wink in and out, as if
it had stars attached to its surface.
The Squirrel had to rub his eyes to make sure he was seeing correctly. Wherever the light struck the pinecone it
glowed with a luster that was dazzling to behold. Even the snow around it sparkled and shined.
The
pinecone was sitting straight up in the snow, as if it had been planted
there. It was a moment or to before the
squirrel could move at all. When he
finally did move, he stepped toward the silver pinecone slowly, making sure
that no one was near him. 3
“Hello?”
the Squirrel said softly. There seemed
to be so much life in the grove of trees that it felt like someone was
there. There was complete silence,
nothing moved or returned his greeting.
After he
had spoken he felt a little silly. “Of
course no one is here,” he said to himself, “I am all alone.”
He looked
at the pinecone very carefully. It
looked like a real pinecone. The
Squirrel lifted it up. Although it was
heavy, it was not attached to the ground.
He nibbled on the bottom. It was
wonderful—the best pinecone he had ever tasted.
“My family
and friends will be so excited,” he said dancing around the silver
pinecone. “I cannot wait to get it
home.”
So, the
Squirrel backed up to the silver pinecone, reached behind him, and lifted it
onto his back. “Oaf,” he said as the
weight of the pinecone rested on his back, “This certainly is going to be slow
going.”
In spite of
the long walk back to his home, the Squirrel was determined to get this
wonderful pinecone back to the house in time for his Christmas party that
night. He groaned as he jumped back up
onto the log on his way back the way he had come. But on he went, heaving the pinecone with
him. He had started on his course and
there was going to be no turning back. 4
At first he
made good progress, but soon found he would need to take rest breaks if he was
going to get the pinecone back home. The
closer he got to his home, the heavier the silver pinecone seemed to get. After a while it felt like it weighed twice
what it really did.
During one
of his rest breaks he heard some chattering coming from above him. When he looked up he could see two bright red
cardinals sitting on a branch above him.
“Hello,”
said one of the cardinals.
“Hello,”
said the Squirrel between great gulps of air.
“That is a
beautiful Christmas pinecone you have there,” said the Cardinal. “I don’t think
I have ever seen one more lovely.”
“Yes it
is,” said the Squirrel. “I found it
myself, and I am taking it home.
“It seems you are in need of some help,” said
the Cardinal. “My brother and I will be
happy to help you,” he said pointing to the other Cardinal.
The
Squirrel found it very strange that someone he did not even know was willing to
help him.
“No thank
you,” he said narrowing his eyes. 5
I’ll bet those cardinals are just waiting to fly away
with my beautiful silver pinecone, he thought to himself.
“Oh let us help you,” said the Brother Cardinal. “It looks awfully heavy.”
“I can do it
myself,” said the Squirrel quickly.
“Suit
yourself,” said the Cardinal, then he and his brother flew away.
“I could
see how they were looking at my pinecone,” said the Squirrel to himself. “They are just jealous that I found it
first. They probably wash their whiskers
in the snow, just like the chipmunks.”
It did not
seem to matter to the squirrel that the cardinals do not have whiskers. To him they were just as strange as the
chipmunks, and different people were not to be trusted.
So back
onto his back went the silver pinecone, and he moved forward, slowly. He had gone no more than a dozen steps and he
was tired again. He still had quite a
ways to go, but he was becoming tired, and the pinecone was starting to dig
into his back. The Squirrel put it down
again. He was breathing very hard and
was not sure he was going to be able to get the pinecone back to his house.
It was at
that moment that he had an idea. He
would run home, get some help from his family, and be back in no time at
all. The surprise would not be as good
as if he had everything set up, and then called everyone out to see the
beautiful pinecone shining in all its glory, but it would still be a surprise. 6
He put the
silver pinecone down under a big pine tree, put some small branches over it to
hide it, and ran as fast as he could to get home. Even though he was tired, it was not very
long before he had arrived at his home.
Just as he was walking up to his tree, the chipmunks from next door came
up to him.
“Where is
your Christmas pinecone?” they both asked together. “We thought you would be dragging it back
long ago.”
“If you
must know,” said the Squirrel, “I found the most beautiful silver
pinecone. It is so big I had come home
to get my family to help me bring it back.”
“We will help
you,” said the chipmunks, “Just tell us where it is.”
“It is
hidden under some branches under the big pine tree; a little ways back,” said
the Squirrel. Then quickly added, “But I
don’t need your help.”
The
Squirrel saw a flash of red out of the corner of his eye. He looked up just in time to see the two
cardinals he had met earlier that morning flying back in the direction he had
just come. 7
“Oh no!” he
said and started running back to where he had hidden the pinecone. The Chipmunks just stood where they were
wondering what was going on.
As the
Squirrel ran, he chattered angrily. “I
just know those cardinals are going to steal my pinecone. If I run fast enough, maybe I will be able to
get there first.”
So on he
ran, jumping over logs and rocks, and even small trees. He ran so fast that he thought for sure that
he had beaten the cardinals. But as he
got to the tree, he could see that his beautiful silver pinecone was gone.
The
Squirrel danced madly around the tree chattering, and saying bad things about
the cardinals. He was very angry. It took quite a while before he was calm
enough to stop.
Once he had
calmed down he became very sad. Now his
Christmas was going to be ruined. He
slowly began the walk back to his house.
After carrying the pinecone, running home, then racing back to the
pinecone, the Squirrel did not have very much energy left.
He began to
cry. Not only did he not have the silver
pinecone; he had no pinecone at all. And
as he looked at the sky, he could see it was becoming dark. His family was going to be so disappointed. 8
By the time
he got back to the tree where he lived, it was very dark. He climbed the tree, and after taking a deep
breath, he stepped inside to face his family.
No one was there, no family, no friends, no one.
“They must
have thought I had forgotten to get the pinecone and make the feast,” he said
to himself. “They have gone to a
friend’s house for dinner. I am truly
alone.”
The poor
squirrel sadly climbed back down the tree and sat in the cold snow. At that moment he felt very unloved.
Suddenly
the moon came out from behind the clouds, where it had been hiding. Light streamed down on to the snow
below. It sparkled and glittered. Without warning there was a flash of light
and the Squirrel was blinded for a moment.
He put up his paws in front of his face to shield his eyes.
When he
opened them again, right in front of him was the silver pinecone, glowing and
shining. It was even more beautiful that
it had been earlier that morning.
“Surprise!” All at once he was surrounded by all his
family and friends, laughing and hugging him.
He could see the cardinal and his brother standing by the side of the
Pinecone smiling. 9
“Isn’t this
wonderful,” said his wife kissing him on the snout. “The cardinals went back and got the pinecone
for you, and the chipmunks have prepared a huge feast for everyone.”
The
Squirrel looked around. He saw the
chipmunks happily handing out acorns, seeds, and nuts of every kind. All of a sudden it was as if a veil had been
taken away from his eyes. He instantly
felt very silly to have thought poorly of people before he had a chance to get
to know them.
And from
that moment on, he vowed to expect the best out of people and treat them well,
until they showed that they did not deserve it. He smiled and laughed, kissed his wife and
children, then went to wish his new friends Merry Christmas.
It was a
wonderful party, and everyone had a great time.
The Silver Pinecone was unbelievably delicious. The Squirrel was hailed as a hero for finding
it. That night’s party became a legend
that was past down from generation to generation.
A silver
pinecone was never found again, although a search was made every year
afterwards. It became a tradition that
everyone in the forest observed from that year on. In truth it became a fun frolicking romp that
everyone seemed to enjoy for its sake alone. Somehow that silver pinecone
brought all the families of the forest together. They truly became a community. 10
A great
many lives were changed from a couple of simple acts of kindness. But everyone agreed that the greatest change
of all occurred in the Squirrel. It was
not that he was a bad person before, but after that night the Squirrel became
the most friendly and helpful neighbor in the forest.
He was always
willing to help out people in need, even if he did not know who they were, at
any time of the year. In wintertime, if
you needed his help, you could find him in front of his tree every
morning—washing his whiskers in the snow.
