A PINE CONE was once used to catching the attention of others, as it was the most impressive Christmas decoration in the whole household. So shiny and bright did it even look among the other ornaments on the platter, that there was a rumor among them that it was made of pure gold.

One day, however, the housewife decided to switch the Christmas lights on and place a golden star at the top of the Christmas tree. The pine cone was initially in awe, yet became jealous as soon as he realized he was no longer the center of attention. “I need to climb to the top!”, the pine cone exclaimed, then jumped out of the plate. Reaching the Christmas tree, he hopped from branch to branch, careful so as not to take any Christmas lights along. With much effort, he made it to the top.

“And now you can marvel at me once more!”, he exclaimed before the Christmas decorations of the house, kicking the star out of position. The ornaments were not amazed the least, however. “It’s not a very common sight, to have a pine cone sitting at the top of a Christmas… fir tree!”, they shouted from below and burst into laughter at his sight. Becoming red with shame, he gave a big jump off the Christmas tree and went outside to get some fresh air without saying a word.

He walked, and walked, until he ended up in a big town square, which humans had decorated with all sorts of beautiful fir trees, putting silver garlands on them, red balls and golden stars at the top of each so they would shine in the moonlight. “When will I shine?”, the pine cone wondered and became disappointed.

An old pine tree then caught his attention, which was cast aside and no one paid attention to. He took garlands and shiny Christmas lights, and after decorating it with much care, he thought of standing on top of its tallest branch. When the other decorative pine cones saw him from the windows of their homes, they all jumped out of their positions and ran to the square where they climbed the same tree and decorated the tree’s lower branches.

“What a truly original sight, a Christmas… pine tree!”, the humans exclaimed with excitement when they saw the pine cone’s creation. “And with a golden pine cone on top of it!”, they added and burst into applause. Along with them applauded the decorations of the other Christmas trees, which recognized the pine cone’s ingenuity and creative spirit.

So, our good pine cone realized that one doesn’t have to steal the glitz of others in order to shine, but to rather find their own.