The conceited garland’s lesson

A GOLDEN GARLAND that once lived on a Christmas tree thought of herself as better than the other garlands, the green, silver and purple ones. “I’m not a Christmas decoration like you, but rather an accessory for an expensive suit”, she told them. Thinking her vain, they rather laughed at her. “How come you’re not decorating some store window then?”, a silver garland told her one day.

 

 

When the housewife was not looking, the garland grasped on the opportunity and climbed down from the tree, then hanged herself from the coat rack where a fur coat was to be found. As soon as the housewife saw her, however, she got annoyed, as she was already exhausted from cleaning the house. “How did this end up here?”, she murmured and threw her into the trash can.

Yet, the garland was not let down: she opened the garbage bag inside which the housewife had dumped her and escaped. The more she walked around town, the more excited she got by  looking at the various shop fronts, until, in the end, she came across one in which the most expensive and stylish clothes were on display. After making sure no-one was looking, the garland sneaked through the shop’s front door and sat on the shoulder of the mannequin that wore the most impressive dress of all.

“This is no carnival costume!”, the store owner shouted at the clerk as soon as he saw the garland, thinking she had placed her there intentionally to have fun. She, then, angrily took the garland and threw her once more into the trash can.

“They have no taste for fine clothing”, the garland thought and then kept wandering around town, looking at the storefronts to find something to her liking. This time, she ended up searching for many days, until the days became weeks. In the end, she sneaked inside a toy store the bright lights of which made her eyes blink.

“Maybe I can find something worthy of me here”, the garland exclaimed with enthusiasm and started searching around the corridors of the store. When, at some point, she caught the attention of a clerk who ran behind her, she took a turn towards the carnival apparel section. “She would be a perfect match for that section!”, the clerk remarked as he picked her up forcefully and placed her next to a black hat and a wand.

“So be it…”, the garland thought, realizing her quest to find other clothes to match her was futile, and she always ended up being thrown into the trash can. And so, her quest ends, as it so happened a few months later that the housewife’s daughter picked her up along with the hat and the wand, and dressed up for a carnival party thrown back at the house where it all started.

“It took you quite some time to realize you’re fit for a carnival costume!”, the other garlands that were green, silver or purple, told her as soon as they saw the housewife’s daughter wearing her and burst into laughter. She, on the other hand, simply smiled and enjoyed the party, as she had managed to make her dream a reality.