“The Little Girl Who Stood Gazing at the Christmas Tree”
A story by RoseBloom 🌹
Yesterday, I walked into an AVA shop.
A shop assistant was standing on a ladder, decorating a Christmas tree. Tiny lights sparkled among the branches, and Christmas baubles lay everywhere, waiting to find their place.
I stopped.
Just like that, in the middle of the shop.
I watched the woman on the ladder, the twinkling lights and the beautiful baubles. And suddenly, in my mind, I was no longer that woman.
I was that little girl from long ago.
Two houses away lived Yvette and William, together with their daughter Kelly. In front of their house was a lovely little garden, with small posts, a lawn, flowers and shrubs.
And behind that low window stood something every year that I simply could not take my eyes off.
A Christmas tree.
With garlands, beautiful baubles and lights that sparkled so wonderfully.
As a child, I would stand outside that window, gazing at it. I admired every decoration, every colour, every little light.
And deep inside, I would think:
If only we had one of those at home.
I couldn’t understand why we didn’t have a Christmas tree. Why there were no lights shining in our home like there were at Yvette and William’s.
It wasn’t a longing for expensive things.
I simply wanted a tree like that too. Something beautiful to look at. Something that would make our home feel a little more festive during those dark winter days.
And yesterday, so many years later, I found myself standing in front of a Christmas tree once again.
This time, not outside my neighbours’ window, but in the middle of a shop.
I looked at the baubles and thought:
I have those too. And I have that colour as well.
Today, I own Christmas decorations in every colour. The most beautiful baubles, the loveliest lights. I can decorate my Christmas tree exactly as I wish.
But do you know what touched me most yesterday?
It wasn’t how many Christmas decorations I own today.
It was the realisation that, despite all the years that have passed, I can still look at a Christmas tree with exactly the same sense of wonder.
The little girl who once stood longing outside that window has never entirely disappeared.
Yesterday, she was simply standing beside me again.
Right there, in the middle of AVA.
And this time, in my thoughts, I could tell her:
“Look, little girl. Everything you wished for back then, you have it all now.”
RoseBloom 🌹 Copyright © 2026
