Table of Contents

Audio BookCopyrightChapter One: The Pine TreeChapter Two: Sebastian the SquirrelChapter Three: The Bad NewsChapter Four: Olivia's StoryChapter Five: Knocking on DoorsChapter Six: The CircleChapter Seven: Trapped!Chapter Eight: Escape!Chapter Nine: Nets!Chapter Ten: A SolutionThe EndHappy New YearAbout the AuthorAudio BookBack Page

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Copyright

Christmas in the ForestBy Edward Alan Kurtz

Copyright Edward Alan Kurtz 2013

Published by Stergiou Limited

Suite A, 6 Honduras StreetLondon EC1Y 0TH

web: http://stergioultd.comemail: publications@stergioultd.com

Image cover

Konstanttin | Dreamstime.comPhoto Agency: Dreamstime

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Chapter One: The Pine Tree

Once upon a time, there was a very beautiful and special forest. Of course there werelots of trees in this forest, but there was much, much more. There were large areas of heathas well as pasture land. There were also several rivers that ran through the forest. Andthere were many birds and animals that lived in the forest.

In the middle of the forest was a pine tree. It was very old and quite tall. Its brancheswere long and they were full of soft dark green needles. It was a special tree, and all of theanimals that lived in the forest knew that this was the most beautiful tree in the forest. Thispine tree was the home to several animals, and other animals liked to rest on the soft pineneedles under the shade of the tree.

Near the top of this magical tree lived three birds. Their names were Wendy theWarbler, Wally the Woodlark and William the Woodpecker.

Wendy and Wally and William were best friends. They each had their own little housebuilt high on top of the old pine tree. The three friends met and talked almost every day,and they often got together for a cup of tea.

Wendy was a very smart warbler. Everyone in the forest knew her, and they allthought that she was a kind and helpful bird. If anyone needed any help, Wendy was rightthere, ready to pitch in and do whatever was needed to help!

The front door of Wendy's house was bright pink. Pink was her favourite colour. Andinside of her house there was lots more pink. She had pink rugs, and pink curtains and apink bedspread. And, if you were invited to tea, Wendy had a teapot and teacups that weredecorated with very pretty pink roses.

Wally was also a good bird and a good friend, but he was terribly disorganized. Helost things all of the time, and he was constantly late for appointments. If he wasn't late, itsimply meant that he had forgotten the appointment, and he would not turn up at all.

On the other side of the tree from Wendy's house was Wally's house. The front door ofhis house was bright blue. Blue was Wally's favourite colour. Although his house wasquite cluttered, you could still see bits of blue here and there in the mess. His walls werepainted blue, and he had a soft blue quilt on his bed. His fuzzy blue bedroom slippers satright next to his bed which was covered with a blue quilt. Wally kept his backpack next tohis front door, and, as you might guess, his backpack was also blue.

William was the most energetic of the three bird friends. He was always active, eitherdoing work around his house, or out playing sports. He almost never sat still.

William's house was inside the tree. What? How could that be?William was a woodpecker. And, as you know, woodpeckers like to peck holes in tree

trunks. William had pecked a hole in this old pine tree, and the hole was big enough forhim to go inside.

And there, inside the hole, he had made a house for himself. He put a door on the frontof the hole and painted it purple. Purple was William's favourite colour, and there were

many purple things inside his house. He had a purple table cloth on his kitchen table, and apurple lampshade on the lamp standing next to his purple reading chair.

One day, in December, just before the Christmas holidays began, Wally and Williamwere visiting Wendy in her pink house. The three friends were enjoying afternoon tea.

"Would you like another cup of tea?" asked Wendy.They were drinking some of Wendy's delicious tea. William had brought some

Christmas cookies along with him to add to the party, and Wally had made some brownieswith red and green icing on top. The three of them always pitched in and helped eachother because they were quite good friends.

"Oh, that would be lovely," answered William. He had a big appetite, especially withall that pecking into the tree trunks that he had done off and on that day.

Wendy put the kettle on and soon the three of them were enjoying another cup of tea.It was very peaceful and calm high up in the tree. At least it was calm this fine day inDecember. Sometimes when the wind was really strong, then everyone hung on for dearlife!

Eventually the three friends started to talk about the upcoming Christmas holidayseason.

"Do you think we will have a white Christmas this year?" asked William."Oh I do hope so," said Wendy. "That always makes everything so lovely.""Yes, and a bit of snow on the green branches of our tree always helps to get me into

the Christmas spirit," added Wally."Are you finished with your Christmas shopping yet?" asked Wendy."Yes," answered William. "Finally! The crowds in the shops this year were amazing!

I've never seen anything like it.""I think I'm almost finished," answered Wally."You think so?" asked Wendy."Well, I lost my shopping list," answered Wally. "But I think I have just a few more

gifts and then I'm done. How about you, Wendy?""Yes, I just finished yesterday," she answered. "Now all I have to do is wrap them and

put bows on each gift."They sipped at their tea and then they each had one last Christmas cookie. They had

already finished the brownies."I'm really looking forward to decorating my front door this year," said Wendy."I am too," said William."Me too," said Wally. "I can't wait!""I wonder who will win the prize for the best door decorations this year," said William.Each year during the Christmas season, there was a contest in the forest for the best

door decoration. Every animal decorated its front door and then crossed its fingers andhoped to win a prize. And the judges went from door to door to look at the decorationsand make their decisions. The first prize was always a surprise, and it was somethingdifferent each year.

"Your door was so pretty last year," Wally said to Wendy. "I can't believe you didn'twin first prize."

"Thank you," said Wendy. "Oh well. Whether we win or not, it's still fun to do, isn'tit?"

"Yes," answered William. "And with your door and Wally's door and my door, ourtree is always the most beautiful tree in the forest, no matter what those judges say."

"That's right," said Wendy. "Do we want to make wreaths like we did last year?""Yes," answered Wally. "Let's do that.""Yes," answered William. "Even though each wreath is different, it looks nice when

all three of our doors have wreaths on them.""I agree," said Wally."And lights?" asked Wendy."Absolutely!" said Wally."Yes" said William. "The strings of lights we put up around the doors really help to

bring out the beauty of our wreaths.""So we'll have matching wreaths, and bows in different colours: pink, blue and

purple," said Wendy."Good," said William. "Then that's all settled."The room became very quiet as they each sat back and thought about their doors and

wreaths and lights and ideas about how to make their door decorations extra beautiful."Oh, look!" said Wendy. "There are a few snowflakes!""Maybe we will have a white Christmas!" said Wally.Suddenly they heard a terrible racket outside."Whatever can that be?" asked Wendy. She got up from her comfortable pink chair

and peeped out through the pink curtains of the window next to her door."Oh my goodness!" she cried."What is it?" asked Wally.He and William peeped out of the window with Wendy.There, on the limb just outside of Wendy's front door, just beyond her pink welcome

mat, was a squirrel. It was their friend, Sebastian the Squirrel.He was flat on his back and it looked like he wasn't breathing!___

Image credit: Dnally | Dreamstime Stock Photos***

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Table of ContentsAudio BookCopyrightChapter One: The Pine TreeChapter Two: Sebastian the SquirrelChapter Three: The Bad NewsChapter Four: Olivia's StoryChapter Five: Knocking on DoorsChapter Six: The CircleChapter Seven: Trapped!Chapter Eight: Escape!Chapter Nine: Nets!Chapter Ten: A SolutionThe EndHappy New YearAbout the AuthorAudio BookBack PageBlank Page