Post #26: The Pink Tree

          On that cold morning in early December, Madeline Ross rolled out of bed, put on her pink slippers and put on her pink robe. She found pink ornaments still in their packaging lying on her desk. The day had barely begun and it was already the best in her six-year-old life.

            “Mommy! Daddy!” she cried running down the stairs. “look what the tooth fairy left me!”  Her parents chuckled. She hadn’t actually lost any teeth, but the tooth fairy might leave little presents for little girls for no reason. When Madeline ran into the  living room, she stopped dead. She was so excited, she nearly peed her pants. She dropped the ornaments and ran to the bathroom. After washing her hands, she ran back to the living room. It was still there.  She squealed very loudly. There, in her living room, was a pink tree, six feet tall and covered in sparkles. Her parents got off the couch and smiled.

            “Do you like it pumpkin?” Her daddy asked.

            “Oh yes! Oh yes oh yes oh yes!” she cried jumping up and down.

            Billy Ross rolled out of bed to hear his younger sister squealing in delight. The day had only just started and he could tell it would be the worst in his ten-year-old life. He shuffled down the stairs and into the living room. He was so horrified, he almost peed his pants.

After washing his hands, he returned to the living room. The nightmare was still there. He moaned. There, in his living room, was a pink tree, six feet tall, covered in those little glitter things his sister was always dumping everywhere.

            “Billy look!” Madeline cried, hugging his hips. “It’s a pink tree from heaven! The tooth fairy brought us a pink tree!” she danced around the room.

            “More like the devil brought us a pink tree from Hades.”  Billy muttered under his breath.

            “Billy! That was not appropriate!” His mother scolded.

            “Sorry.” He said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. His mother gave him a We’ll-talk-about-this-later look. She headed to the kitchen, her husband following close behind. Madeline ran to catch up with them.

“when do we get to decorate it, daddy?” Madeline asked four times in rapid succession.

“Tonight, after you get back from school.” He said.

“Yay!” she cried, and happily sat down for breakfast.

“Susie!” Madeline called when they got to the elementary school.

“Madeline!” Susie called back. They gave each other a hug.

“Guess what I got! A pink tree!” Madeline squealed. Susie squealed with her.

“Can I come over and see it?” Susie asked, wonder in her voice.

“Of course.” Madeline said matter-of-factly. “Right mommy?” she asked.

“I’ll see what I can do. Have a good day sweetheart.”

“Thanks mom!” and with that, the two girls hurried to class, still squealing about pink trees.

At lunch, Billy never heard the end of it. It was all ‘Billy has a pink tree’ this, and ‘pink tree at Billy’s house’ that. Billy sat by himself, until Carlie Jacobson sat next to him.

“Hi.” She said. Billy blushed. He had a huge crush on Carlie.

“Hi Carlie.” He finally managed to eek out.

“I heard you guys have a pink tree. It’s awfully nice of you to let your sister have the pink tree.” She said. “Last year we had to decorate the tree with Hot Wheels instead of the ornaments. But in the end it was worth it, because my little brother was so excited.”

“Yeah…Madie’s pretty excited.” He said.

“Maybe I can come over and see it sometime.” She said getting up to leave.

“yeah, totally.” He said.

Maybe the tree wasn't as bad as he thought.