When you think "Christmas tree", you may think of presents or decorating. Not me. At least not any more. When I think of "Christmas Tree", I think of fire... Here’s why.
3 years ago, I was at my Grandparents house with my family. We went there a week before Christmas, because my Dad always says,
"We shouldn’t just go for Christmas, we should also go to get to know your Grandparents", even though we visit them every Sunday after Church. They live three minutes away from our house, so it’s not much of a trip.
A few days after we arrived, we went to go get a Christmas Tree. I know what you’re thinking,
"Why are you getting your Christmas tree so late?"
Well, it’s tradition, honestly. It all started when my Great Nana and Papa went to grab their Christmas tree on December 21. They never had many traditions, so they made this one in hope we would also participate. I don’t mind. It’s like an excuse for me to see the beautiful Christmas lights in the neighborhood. I’ve always loved Christmas lights. Like how they make all the boring houses somehow interesting.
The tree we were looking for had to be 7 feet tall. Thankfully it wasn’t more specific.
After a few hours, we finally found the tree we were looking for. It was a tall, slim, but it had a few branches missing towards the bottom of the tree. My Nana said,
"It’s not going get any better than that. And your Papa is falling asleep."
"No, I’m not!" Papa shot back, half asleep.
We got a man to put the Christmas Tree in a net, and put it on top of our car.
When we got home, the neighbors came out and offered to help with the tree.
We gratefully accepted the offer
and paid them for the help.
We started to decorate the tree right away. We used; bulbs, ornaments, popcorn, and candy canes. It was beautiful. I stood there so proud, we all did such an amazing job on the Christmas Tree. My Mom said,
"This may be our best tree yet!"
After we went to sleep, we hear the fire alarm going off. We all run down to the tree. The tree was covered in flames. We called the Fire Department and filled up buckets trying to put it out. The flames weren’t going out, they were just getting worse and worse! The fire eventually spread onto the furniture, and then the house itself!
The Fire Department finally arrived. We were evacuated out of the house. By the time the fire was out, nothing was left... the tree was gone, the house was gone! It was all gone!
I stood outside in tears, remembering of the years I spent in that house. No one was more upset then my Grandparents. They’ve lived in that house for 21 years. We eventually found out the Christmas lights wire was split, and shot out sparks. Due to the dryness of the tree it caught fire...
Since then, we now use "artificial trees" to hope that will never happen again.
The End
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Simon Skinner's Collection of Random Short Stories
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