Soulless

Seventeen | Ruined my shirt

Lunden Evergreen

Just as I assumed the tree fit perfectly in the corner. He stood staring at it beside me and I noticed the pine needles stuck on his black sweater. I reached for them and brushed them off his chest.

"Do you have any other decorations?" I looked over to the reindeer signaling I found the one he'd had out on display.

"In the basement covered in cobwebs... they were my mother's. The only one I keep out is her reindeer, she made it when I was in 6th grade for me" He smiled at it and then back to me, "But if you wish, I'll bring them up."

"You don't have to if it'll be too much."

"I want to, but I've never had a reason to... until now" He left me in the living room and I heard a door squeak open. Then I heard his steps trail down to the basement. I just grabbed the garland and began to attempt to wrap it around the tree. But when I hit the mid-way I remained stuck.

He came up with some decorations. They were beautiful and lacked any cheesiness that I expected. I mean it fit the home well, his mother had perfect Christmas decorations.

"You need help?" He gestured my struggle and I lifted the garland to hand off to him. He finished wrapping it around and then I handed him the lights, "Really?"

"You are like almost two feet taller than me, yes really. I feel extra short right now."

"You chose the big tree" He began wrapping the lights around the tree and finished.

"See you could be really handy if you just applied yourself more" I teased and annoyed he turned away from me. I walked over to the decorations and spotted the box of ornaments. Opening them up my heart swelled, they smelt old and I knew this box hadn't been opened since their last Christmas together.

Then I saw it resting at the top of all the ornaments. A framed ornament with his mother holding him as a newborn baby in 1996. She was beautiful, he was a clone of her in a way. Built like his father but took the looks of his Mom.

"She loved her ornaments" I'm startled by his words and I turn holding his family portrait in hand.

"She was beautiful" My fingers run along the edges of the frame and I walk over to the tree. I place it on a branch and stare at it. I feel his arms wrap around me from behind and I sink into them.

"They'd be happy that over a decade later they finally make it back on a tree" He whispers. Then he lifts the ranch ornament up in the air, "And they'd hate this one" He smirks placing it next to the photo causing me to laugh.

I turn back to the box and lift the ornaments that were passed down through families. Each one on the bottom or back with a year dated on it, the oldest being from 1909 his great-grandmother. It was a worn-out and stained little teddy bear honoring her first Christmas.

Then I saw the rest of them, his grandmothers, mothers and then his teddy bears were all found. Then baby pictures and childhood ornaments were scattered in between. We quickly filled up the tree and soon we were left without a topper.

"We don't have a star" He looked at me confused.

"A what?"

"There's nothing for the top of the tree, we need something at the top of the tree. Like a star or an angel, even a snowflake?" He stared at the top of the tree in thought and then excused himself to go into the kitchen.