Barbara Ann Mojica, click
here to update your pages on AuthorsDen.
Tale of Two Trees by Barbara Ann Mojica
Wednesday, December 7, 2016
Rated "G" by the Author.
Christmas Short Story...an amusing family holiday story.
Heather was sitting with her mom and grandmother on the couch when her younger brother, Alex and her dad walked into the living room with the artificial Christmas tree. A gasp of horror escaped from their lips simultaneously. Dad proudly announced, “Isn't it beautiful, and we don't have to worry about finding pine needles in the rug next July.” Mom and Heather managed to slowly stand. “But we were planning to go to buy our tree tomorrow!” Dad just smiled, “Alex and I thought we would surprise you. We bought some beautiful new ornaments too.” Heather peeked into the bag. She found some glass ornaments shaped like pine cones in bright colors that were covered with sparkles. “These are hideous! You can't be serious about putting this up in our living room.”
Heather and her mom walked into the kitchen. They decided that they needed to act quickly so they talked with grandma and hatched their plot. Early the next morning all three jumped into the car and headed to the local Home Depot. In less than thirty minutes they had found the perfect tree, an eight foot tall Douglas fir, replete with thick, sweet-smelling branches. They hauled the tree atop the SUV and brought it home. Alex and dad had already installed their tree in the living room. That did not deter the ladies from installing their freshly-cut tree in the dining room alcove. By the end of the day both trees stood proudly, one smelled of pine but the other did not!
When people came to visit that year, they were treated to two beautiful family trees. Most of them were at a loss for words; they refused to take sides in the debate over which was prettier, but the next year the new artificial tree quietly disappeared!
Hi Ron, I agree with you that cutting down a fresh Christmas tree would have been preferable. Unfortunately living in New York City would have made that trip a long and arduous process. Hoping to get their tree put up quickly, time would have been an issue.
Your story reads like it really happened. I can see that the story seems to have some desire for an old-fashioned Christmas like I had as a child. But buying the tree at Home Depot rather than going out in the forest and cutting a tree is a big difference.
Those beautifully shaped Douglas fir are grown in large tracts of tree farms that were once magnificent forests with Douglas fir and other trees hundreds of years old. Nostalgia is one thing, but those cheap trees slaughtered for the masses bother me.
I think it's time that we all use artificial decorations unless they are boughs pruned from the trees in our yards. At the least, we should plant three trees for every tree we use for Christmas. You could easily put that tree planting in the story on Arbor Day making the cycle of trees come full circle.
A short story of mine was included in an anthology of short fiction by fourteen of Port Town Publishing Company's authors. It is out of print and no longer available except as a download. Contact me at charlenetess@yahoo.com if you want it.
A short story of mine was included in an anthology of short fiction by fourteen of Port Town Publishing Company's authors. It is out of print and no longer available except as a download. Contact me at charlenetess@yahoo.com if you want it.
Heather was sitting with her mom and grandmother on the couch when her younger brother, Alex and her dad walked into the living room with the artificial Christmas tree. A gasp of horror escaped from their lips simultaneously. Dad proudly announced, “Isn't it beautiful, and we don't have to worry about finding pine needles in the rug next July.” Mom and Heather managed to slowly stand. “But we were planning to go to buy our tree tomorrow!” Dad just smiled, “Alex and I thought we would surprise you. We bought some beautiful new ornaments too.” Heather peeked into the bag. She found some glass ornaments shaped like pine cones in bright colors that were covered with sparkles. “These are hideous! You can't be serious about putting this up in our living room.”
Heather and her mom walked into the kitchen. They decided that they needed to act quickly so they talked with grandma and hatched their plot. Early the next morning all three jumped into the car and headed to the local Home Depot. In less than thirty minutes they had found the perfect tree, an eight foot tall Douglas fir, replete with thick, sweet-smelling branches. They hauled the tree atop the SUV and brought it home. Alex and dad had already installed their tree in the living room. That did not deter the ladies from installing their freshly-cut tree in the dining room alcove. By the end of the day both trees stood proudly, one smelled of pine but the other did not!
When people came to visit that year, they were treated to two beautiful family trees. Most of them were at a loss for words; they refused to take sides in the debate over which was prettier, but the next year the new artificial tree quietly disappeared!
