The Christmas Tree Train

There is a small-town way up north in a mountain valley where it snows a lot in the winter months. The people that live here love Christmas; so much that Christmas is everywhere all the time.  Silver and gold, red and green, and lights and tinsel. 
How can you have Christmas all year long, you ask?  Well, it’s in their hearts and how they live. 
Christmas Day is the big day of celebration for these folks in this snowy mountain town.  The week before Christmas, the best fir trees are brought down the mountain pass from the forest many miles away, on a big locomotive train. 
The best shaped, most fragrant trees are dug with their roots in a burlap ball, loaded onto the train and begin their transit through the mountains to the town. 
All the people gather in the town square to celebrate the coming of the Christmas Tree Train.   There’s ice skating, bands, booths selling hot chocolate and cookies, candy canes and cakes.  There is fun, laughter, and good people everywhere.
One year, a blizzard hit the mountain range.  Winds howled, the snow came down so thick one couldn’t see 20 feet in front of them and drifts piled high in no time. 
Down in the valley it wasn’t so bad.  The Christmas celebration went on as scheduled.  People were worried that the train wouldn’t be able to make it through the pass to bring their Christmas trees. 
No one heard from the station from where the train left or from the train.  Where is the Christmas Tree Train?  Will it arrive safely? 
Despite the celebration, people were worried.  The engineer and his crew were expert trainmen, yet the weather was so bad.  People kept asking the young fellow who was the lookout if there was any sign.  Sadly, he shook his head.  Nothing yet, he replied. 
Later the night crept on. The train should have been here hours ago.  The festive mood from earlier that evening began to turn somber. 
There was talk of sending some men up the track to see if they could get to the train if it had become stuck.  They were ready to head out with supplies when in the distance came a faint sound of a train whistle. 
Someone yelled, “I see a light!  There’s a light up the track!”  Very dim in the dark snowy night there was a light moving slowly down the pass. 
Closer it came and there was the sound of the train puffing away.  The Christmas Tree Train.  It pulled into the station of the Christmas town and people cheered. Everyone was safe.
The engineer and his men were cold, wet, and tired. Mugs of hot chocolate were placed into their hands and they drank thankfully.  The trees had come safely.
Everybody went into the town hall and celebrated the safety of the men through that snowy night and the arrival of the Christmas trees for each and every family to decorate for the Christmas holiday.
Haslem writes from North Cape May.