The Christmas Tree

"Ray: We come from the mayor's."

"[first lines] Narrator: Yes, yes, there are many, many stories about this special holiday named Christmas. [the book opens itself] Narrator: If you look in this book alone, you will find lots of... Oh, yes, here we are. This is today's story. It's a delightful Christmas story. Everything happened somewhere far, far in the north in a small little town. Our story takes place in an orphanage with some children, and a pine tree. [We first see Mrs. Mavilda, who orders the children to do chores] Narrator: The orphan children lived under the control of the evil rules of a lady named Mrs. Mavilda. The little ones were always forced to do heavy work by the wicked woman. [the children are disgusted by the gross-looking food, while Mrs. Mavilda are enjoying some ham, chicken and fruits] Narrator: The children never had toys, new clothes, or anything... but they had a friend, the pine tree, they named Mrs. Hopewell, because the kids believe that the tree was magical. It somehow was going to bring them a mom and a dad to adopt and take them away from the unbearable Mrs. Mavilda. [We later see the Mayor showing two money bags to Mrs. Mavilda] Narrator: Mrs. Mavilda was a very tricky person. She didn't really take good care of the children, but she made people think she did. For example, she had a pretty dress with bows and mace and a new pair of pants and a sweater to put on whichever child she was going to show off to the Mayor. This way, every time the Mayor came by, he always thought that Mrs. Mavilda was taking good care of her children, but after he left a donation collected by the townspeople for the orphanage, Mrs. Mavilda would immediately take off the child's clothes and put them away in a closet for the Mayor's next visit. Poor children. Once more, the victims of her numerous selfish tricks. [We then see Mrs. Mavilda and her friends playing cards] Narrator: She used all that donated money in an irresponsible way. She would have her nasty friends over and gamble all night long, while laughing and drinking and playing cards. "There goes the children's bread for the week!", so said Mrs. Mavilda laughing with her friends every time she played a hand. Many times, the children went to bed without food for one reason or another. For example, if she caught them sneaking in the street dog and the children named Licorice. Poor Licorice. He was a fine dog, but he was as an abandoned as the children were."