Mary Orleans has dreamt of a white Christmas since she was a child. Every Christmas they spend at home in Australia, between sheep and heat. Just one Christmas in New York, that's all she wants.
Lenny Darwin hates Christmas. The cold, the family, th...
Sure, I hated Christmas time. But knowing how much my family, and Mary, cared about it, I decided to go through all these things until I was flying to Australia. So I took Mary to the best Christmas tree vendor in the area. Max was the proud owner of a small piece of wood outside the city, where the most beautiful conifers grew. In November and December he sold them to happy families. And he mastered his craft. Since I was in charge of the Christmas tree this year, I decided to take Mary with me. I could not have known that this idea would end in a snowstorm of a special kind.
However, Mary seemed to enjoy it so much that I couldn't help but walk quietly next to her and see how happy she was. We found our way through the streets quickly and a few minutes later we were in front of Max. A makeshift fence served to limit his business – it contained a variety of conifers. I looked at Mary, and she almost seemed to freak out. "We never have a tree at Christmas. We live way too far in the middle of nowhere for that." So Mary ran the first of many laps that would follow to find the perfect tree. I decided to just let her do the job and talk to Max. Max had a long, dark beard ever since I knew him, which I had always found creepy as a child. But what had reinforced this assumption were his bright, blue eyes. Today I knew Max wouldn't hurt a fly. Instead, he was completely absorbed in his job. "Who are you bringing with you?" he asked to greet me, just as Mary had disappeared behind a few trees. 'Mary. Our exchange student.", I explained succinctly. Max seemed to remember what I told him. "That's right, your year abroad. When does it start for you?" he asked me. "Next week.", I supported his small talk until we couldn ' t find a topic to talk about. An unpleasant silence spread between us.
"That's it!" said Mary at last after a felt eternity. I turned to her as she pointed at a tree. It was a little crooked, but still not bad. I actually liked him myself. "Then he should be.I agreed with her. Max got to work, and a short time later, Mary and I were carrying the wrapped tree across the streets of New York. It had always been foolish to transport this tree by subway every year, but the purchase of a car, or the cost of renting a van, was simply not worth it. So it had become a tradition to become the main attraction of all the people who just went to work. I thought it was funny, though. Mary, on the other hand, did not look very enthusiastic when we, together with the tree, were again in the subway station.
Mary
And there it was: combining two of my greatest fears in one moment. Attention and subways. It's like life was playing a trick on me. "Come on" said Lenny, and we got on the subway. I longed for a hole in the ground where I could sink. But this one didn't show up.
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