The Christmas Tree
The Christmas Tree book series that I’ve written are for young adults. But anyone with a great sense of humor and an adventurous spirit will enjoy them. I wrote them to teach people about the importance of Baptism and Faith in God. You can find the books at Amazon.com - type in the Christmas Tree by John Saccone and the books will magically appear. All the books have free sample pages.
The Christmas Tree 2 is the second book in a series about a young girl named Margaret who receives a magical Christmas Tree, with magical decorations, from a stranger. Whenever she taps the Angel on top of the Tree, she is teleported to different Biblical places. And she also receives special powers that make her run faster, jump higher, and swim as good as any fish in the sea. She gets to meet Jesus, Moses, Jonah and the whale, and other Biblical figures. But she would rather meet Santa and Mrs. Claus, the elves and Rudolph and the reindeer. She thinks the Angel is defective and doesn’t know anything about the real meaning of Christmas and keeps sending her to the wrong places. The Christmas decorations also come to life for her. And she can see inside them the magical world of Elves and Hrinoffs, and many other enchanted places.
In the Christmas Tree 2 Margaret learns more about the Elves and Hrinoffs, and their long feud over who makes the best Christmas toys. She also finds Jesus feeding a crowd of people with only two fish and five loaves of bread and winds up on a boat in the middle of a storm and watches as Jesus walks on water. Margaret also meets Jonah, and they are both swallowed by a big fish.
The following excerpt is from the Christmas Tree 2. It takes place as Jonah and Margaret are spit out of the belly of the Whale.
The big fish burped, and Margaret and Jonah were thrown onto dry land. Margaret cried out to the fish, “Come back, come back, I want another ride.” But the big fish didn’t listen. Margaret jumped into the water and swam after the big fish. The big fish started plummeting to the depths of the sea, and she followed. Margaret started seeing fish that she didn’t know even existed before. They were all sizes, shapes, and colors. Some of the fish's colors were so pretty that they looked like swimming anemones. Some had long noses, and some had a big mouth. She almost collided with a fish with a long nose. They almost bumped into each other's noses. “Sorry, Mister Fish….”
Margaret saw one fish gobble up another, and it brought her back to reality. She was no longer daydreaming. She cringed. She saw another fish escape that same fate. There was one fish with really bad teeth, and it looked like it needed a dentist. As the big fish continued its descent, and Margaret continued following, she noticed it was getting darker and darker and more ominous. The further she was from the surface and the light, the darker it became, and the night embraced this shadowy underworld. The creatures below started becoming much scarier. And then the big fish started to ascend to the surface of the water, and into the light. It was going with such velocity and force that it broke through the surface and flew into the air. Margaret followed the big fish. She was going with such velocity and force that she also broke through the surface and flew into the air. And then, like the big fish, she dived back into the water. She was having so much fun that she kept doing it over and over again. She even started doing backflips as she descended back into the water and barked like a seal.
On her last dive she descended very deep in the water, and the darkness enveloped her. Was she in a trance? There was darkness everywhere. There were no joys in this netherworld, and she knew she wasn’t alone. And there it was … the serpent. The beast thrived in the netherworld. This was its domain. She saw for the first time its soulless eyes. The serpent had no love for Margaret, and she knew she was powerless to defeat it. She had only one chance. She only had one chance to save herself. Up above, a column of light streamed from what looked like a breach in the darkness; it looked like a narrow gate that the light poured through. Hurtling upward, she was determined to leave this darkened world behind and its shadowy engulfed creature below. She aimed for the narrow gate. The creature followed her. Margaret heard the nefarious whispers from the serpent, but they went unheeded. The beast showed her a shiny object here and another one over there. But she refused to be distracted or fooled. All of that was only fool’s gold. She knew that there was only One Way out of this darkened world and that she had to be diligent to be victorious. From the beginning of time it was destined for Margaret to face this challenge. From the beginning of time, it was ordained. From the beginning of time, the most powerful force that ever existed waited for Margaret to realize that this one thing was the only reason for her existence. This was the only reason she was created and Gifted with free will; it was to find the Light of creation. And that this was the only thing that the most powerful force that ever existed couldn’t do. Only Margaret, with her free will, could determine the direction she would take. Would she remain forever enveloped in darkness or go into the Light?
Margaret remained steadfast and faithful to her belief. She knew there was only One Way, and the Light would give her asylum from the serpent that lurked in the underworld. She aimed for the Light and found it. And like a Caterpillar exiting its cocoon and being born again, she was now a new creature. She won her race and basked in the glory of the Light. All that remained of Margaret in the netherworld was a path of air bubbles. And they were soon dissolved in the darkened water that surrounded them.
It was the Light and the water that saved Margaret. The serpent remained in the darkness, prowling, hunting, and devouring all who weren’t in the Light.
If you would like to read more, you can go to Amazon.com and type in The Christmas Tree by John Saccone. The books will magically appear.