Little Pine’s breakfast was waiting for him on the table when he got up, and his mother seemed to be bubbling with excitement. “Good Morning, Mother,” he said, wondering what was going on.
“Good Morning, Little Pine. You need to eat your breakfast quickly. A blue jay stopped by with a message from the elves. They have a surprise for you, and they need you to meet them at the end of Holly Trail as quickly as you can.”
“The surprise!” Little Pine said, taking a big bite of his winterberry muffin. “I’d almost forgotten all about it! What do you think it could be?”
“Well, with your little elf friends, I suppose anything is possible,” Mother Pine said.
Little Pine quickly finished his muffin, took a big swig of spruce juice, kissed his mother on the cheek and ran out the door.
Holly Trail was a long trail, weaving up and down through the wooded hills. But Little Pine was so excited that he felt as if he was flying as he ran along. As he neared the end, he saw twinkling lights and bits of bright colors shining through the trees. “They must have decorated a special one,” Little Pine thought, racing over the last few bends in the trail.
“Oh!” he gasped when the tree came fully into view. It was the most spectacularly decorated tree that he had ever seen. Just then he heard the elves calling his name.
“Little Pine! Little Pine! Come see!” they called.
He ran toward their voices, and then all of a sudden he came to a screeching halt and his heart pounded with fear. Right there on a tree branch sat a small white-bearded human. “Oh, no!” Little Pine thought. “He must have seen me running!” He had broken the Number One Rule.
The elves burst into gales of laughter. “It’s okay!” the youngest elf called. “He’s not a human. He’s our Grand Old Elf, our Elf King. He just wears a human disguise because the humans love him. He’s famous among their kind. They know him all over the whole world!”
Little Pine stood stark still as the little elf’s words sunk in. “Are you sure?” he gulped.
“Hello, Little Pine,” the bearded figure said in a surprisingly warm, deep voice. “It’s true. I’m an elf. One of the oldest in the world. I’m known by many names, but in your part of the world, they call me Santa Claus, and so may you.”
Something in the old elf’s voice assured Little Pine that he was telling the truth. Little Pine stepped nearer and with a little bow said, “I’m so pleased to meet you, Santa Claus. It’s such an honor that you would come to our Festival! Welcome!”
“The honor is mine,” said Santa. “Your Festival has quite a reputation. I understand that it’s one of the most joyous and sincere Festivals anywhere. Besides, I had a couple tasks to do here.”
“Tasks?” said Little Pine. “Can I help you with them in any way?”
“Ho-ho-ho!” laughed the old elf. He turned to the oldest brother. “He’s just like you said he was!”
Little Pine wondered what his friend had told Santa. But it wouldn’t be polite to ask.
“Little Pine,” his friend said, “we first learned that Santa would be visiting when the bears started coming. See, every year on Festival Day, Santa flies around the world leaving gifts for everyone—for the humans and all the other creatures of the earth, to remind them that they are all dearly loved. He needed to check his list so he would know which bears had come here so he could deliver their presents to the right place. We were just going over it with him to be sure it was complete.”
“You mean this is the REAL Santa? The one who leaves gifts for us all? Wow! I never dreamed that I’d get to meet you in person!” he said to the Elf King.
Santa laughed his “Ho-ho-ho!” again and said, “My second reason for coming here does involve you, Little Pine. When your elf friends here learned that I was coming, they asked if you could meet me and if I would bring you something special. They told me you were the finest of friends, not only to them, but to every creature in the woods. You are always kind, willing to lend an ear and a helping hand. And not only that, but you bring happiness to everyone you meet. They said you are a Prince among trees.”
Little Pine didn’t know what to say. He never thought of himself as being any more special than anyone else. And all of his friends brought him as much happiness as he gave to them.
“So,” Santa Claus continued, “At the request of your elf friends, and because I can see that everything they have told me about you is true, I have a special gift for you.” He reached into a big bag that was balanced on a branch near where he was sitting and rummaged around in it a bit.
“Ah, here it is!” he said, pulling out a beautiful golden star with blazing streamers falling from each of its points. “Come stand in front of me, Little Pine, and bow down your head.”
Little Pine did as Santa instructed. “In the name of the Love that is Friendship,” Santa said, “by the powers vested in me as King of the Elves, I hereby grant you the title of Prince Little Pine, Ambassador of Friendship to all.” With those words, he fastened the star to Little Pine’s head, and the elves flung glittering confetti in the air and whistled their very best song. And Little Pine’s heart filled with joy.