TALE OF TWO TREES

Written by Barbara Ann Mojica

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 ornmanets 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!