The Christmas Tree.

Trees are something else.

We see them every day but most of us don't take a second glance at them. Not usually. Think about it. The last time you saw a tree going down the road in your car or whatever, did you think anything of it? I'm guessing the answer is no. Trees are pretty boring for the most part, at least until we come across the season of Christmas. Then, and only then does the symbol of the tree come into place. We take one home we call it some kind of centerpiece. We put lights on it and stare at it. Why? Celebration of something or another.We put wrapped things under it and we, well you usually know how it all goes. I'll never do it again I suppose. Well, maybe. But let me tell you. Right now there is no tree in my house.

Two years ago I was much like you, the typical guy who enjoyed the holidays and stuff like that. Nothing too special about me. I had a girlfriend and she was pretty intense about getting this thing, Like everyone else money was pretty tight, but I cared enough to do my best to get one. It was pretty dark out, the clouds covered the moon and the snow did little to reflect the light of the lights but I decided tonight would be the night I would get this tree. It was a good place, there were lots of people there like me I guess, everyone broke, everyone looking for a really good deal of some kind. I browsed the place. I didn't know the difference between one tree to the next, just the price.

Then I came to the tree at the end. Its red tag said 'special' on it. Big black words and a price that anyone could afford. But I didn't see anyone near it. I guess they didn't come back this far. I found someone, some one who worked at this place and we made a deal, I even talked her down to half of the special price. I should have looked closer at it but if I did someone else would have gotten it. That just wouldn't do. She would have killed me If I came home with no tree. I don't know it looked like any other Christmas tree I've ever seen.

Getting it home was a pain the neck. Had to put it on top of the car and tie it down. I had help but it still wasn't easy.. The drive home was long and tedious. Every bump in the road and I was sure the thing was going to simply fall off the top and onto the side of the road. That would have been disaster. This tree was never a promise, I said I would think about it but she was really looking forward to it. The trip home took nearly an hour. When i pulled in to the driveway she was, well her face lit up like I'd never seen before. She was so happy about it.

I tried to be because I had to bring it here, pay for it and drive really slow to get it home. It was worth it all though. The two of us got that thing in the house. I really didn't care where we put the tree, just as long as it was out of the way. We set it in the corner, by the window. The place we had wasn't big, but it was fine for us. This tree just made it all the smaller but I could deal with it.

The two of us well, we made it look pretty good. She had all these lights and other things she wanted to hang on the branches. I never understood the whole thing completely, but I did it anyway, for her. The whole process took about thirty minutes or so. Most of that was spent untangling the lights We got it taken care of in record time. I had nothing to compare it to really so I am going to call it a record. The tree was a wonderful sight, as wonderful as it could be.

I'm no expert on trees, but this thing was green. Were they supposed to be this green, I didn't know but she seemed to like it so, there it it was. This green tree that almost reached the ceiling was now a part of the house and I would just have to get used to it. That night was a great night for the both of us. The harder you work the better the games you get to play.

It was the last good night, but how was I supposed to know that. It was still dark out but I had no idea what time it was, I had to go to the bathroom. I glanced at the tree before going in. A few minutes later when I came out, the lights on the tree were on. Now we agreed not to leave them on all night long, save on the power bill and stuff. But still, there they were. On, blinking on and off.

I must have stared for a good minute because I knew, was positive they were off when I went in, but no they are on, it didn't make any sense and things that didn't make sense tended to creep me out just a little, when they happened in the middle of the night it was just that much worse. I gathered my courage to go check it out. Walking over there I expected someone to jump out at me, playing some kind of a trick but you know, it never happened. The lights were plugged in and it looked like the wire just fell and landed just well enough to flip the switch on. I pushed the button and the lights flashed for the last time. Fair enough, it was time to go back to bed. I turned my back on the tree and walked back to bed.

Sleeping wasn't easy. I kept thinking about those flashing lights. It was crazy but the weirdest things can set people off in the middle of the night but I must have fallen to sleep because the next thing I remember was the sun streaming through the window. It was time to get up I suppose. I was alone when I got up, but the second thing I saw was a single, green needle. It was from the tree. So the lights last night were not really a dream at all, but reality. Good to know. I picked up the needle and flung it aside. I didn't see where it went, didn't really care either. Where ever it went, it would be there all year long I supposed. Got up, got dressed and opened the door. It was pretty quiet besides the murmur of the TV going.

I didn't catch it at first but it hit me like a wave once I noticed it. The tree. It wasn't where we left it. It had been moved to the other side of the room. That was insane, she was there on the couch. She thanked me for moving the tree, it looked better in its new place. I almost told her that I didn't move it, but then I took the credit. It was always better to take the credit rather then scare people. I blamed the spirit of Christmas and left it alone. We had our small talk conversation, then like every other day I went to work.

All day at work I couldn't get over how the tree had moved. It was very stressful, and amusing. I kept on imagining a tree that just grew legs and walked over there, but the thought at the same time was horrifying, what if that is exactly what happened, what if that was the truth. It was insane. I convinced myself that she just moved it and was giving me the credit for it, that didn't make sense either but it was better then the walking theory, the one i couldn't get out my mind. It was a long day at work but, I managed to get through it, I always did.

I grew increasingly worried though, as the day wore on, I knew she was there alone, with that tree. If it moved on its own, what else could it do. No, the thought was paranoid, it was a tree, nothing more. I made my way home, just had to breathe. Listen to the radio and breathe. It'd all be alright, just fine. Nothing to panic about. I pulled into the driveway, it was dark out already and all the lights were off, well. Not all of them. The red, flashing glow of the tree lights through the window. Just what I didn't want to see. I made my way to the door and opened it. It was unlocked. I walked into the place and everything was fine. Just the damn tree was on again, there was a note pinned to the board, she was out with her mother, shopping. So I was alone with the tree. Wonderful. Just what I wanted.

I got my clothes changed and tried to relax. The tree, it was in a very bad spot. Instead of being beside the TV where we left it. It was now behind me. I was supposed to be in the same room with a tree that moved across the room on its own, with my back to it. Yeah, no. Every ten minutes or so I could swear I heard the thing moving, on its own. The heater wasn't enough to move the branches, I heard them move, but everytime I looked, they were still. It was really not making me happy at this point. I wasn't sure how much more of this I could take. It was only a tree, right. Yeah. There was no reason to keep thinking about it. This was all in my head, eventually I was able to finally get into some show and at exact moment the door opens, she comes home and I jump like a little kid watching a scary movie in the dark for the first time. It was rather sad, but there I was, heart racing and doing my best to hide it.

She didn't get three steps inside when the tree let loose a powerful sound. It had to be the tree, a mournful drone of a sound that made the both of us freeze in our tracks. It was ancient. Older then anything I've ever heard and I couldn't place it. From the look on her face I could tell she was filled with the fear that I was only beginning to feel. Oh, how we tried to get out. The door was so impossibly close that I could almost touch it. She was even closer!

The tree, no, not a tree but a thing. Some kind of illusion was showing itself. I didn't know why. I didn't ask any questions we both ran towards the door as the sound continued only to increase as we did it. She got her hand on the door knob the tree branches spread apart revealing something terrible. Tentacles and mouths, so many countless teeth and all of them making that noise at once. The brown tendrils shot out at both of us, wrapped around us.

At once my vision went black and there was a searing pain , it was all I could feel for a brief moment when my vision was replaced with something else. A time, a place that felt old. The sky was black with the stars in odd places that I couldn't understand. The sky didn't make sense. It was so cold. I could see the snow on the ground white, fresh and clean of all the modern devices of today. It was Christmas, but it wasn't. It was, I could feel it, it was older. Something forgotten that I couldn't place but knew it was a part of all of us.

There was a tree there, my tree. It was more then that. I knew that much already. It stood alone in the white snow covered field. It was hard to see in the dark but the light of the massive red moon illuminated everything with a blood filled light. There were a group of men and women there, they were around the tree, chanting something I couldn't understand, no not understand I was just too far away to hear it. The were waving back and forth wearing something that looked like robes, but I couldn't tell what they were. I was meant to see this for what ever reason. It was a ritual, the true meaning of the holiday revealed to me.

The chanting reached a fever pitch and the thing, it opened up its branches and the thing, what ever it was came to life and the tendrlis reached into the sky, slithered around as if it were observing the people. Neither side showed fear, one expected a feast, the other side seemed content enough to become it. I wanted to close my eyes, I wanted to stop looking. But It was as if I had no will, no body. I was a watcher. I watched as the thing struck all of the people at the same time turning the snow around them red.

Silence ruled now, it was all there was as the thing took their bodies into the mouths and they stripped the flesh off their bones in seconds. I watched this all, the horror I knew was replaced with a morbid curiosity about the truth of history, holidays and all the things that have been so polluted by modern society that they are nothing as to what they were meant for, where they came from. The thing that had no name seemed ot stare at me for a time. It had no human features at all, it was alien, but at the same time I could feel an incredible sense of sadness from it.

My vision snapped back to reality. There was a skeleton under the tree, it was pure and white. Peaceful as it lay there. I looked up and the thing was still there writhing back and forth. It was so deadly and a perfect of a lifeform, mere feet away from me. I could have, no I should have been dead but I wasn't. The noise was gone and it seemed to be content after it had fed. I watched it as the tree thing closed itself up and became a tree once more. I was terrified out of my mind but somehow I stood up on my own power.

I realized my life became more important now. I would miss her, but she was my beacon. Her death had awoken me to my new purpose. I stepped forward and nervously touched the tree and it did nothing. I knew what it was though, the truth was mine, reality was returned to me. I don't understand why but who can understand the workings of beings more powerful then any human. I put the skeleton in a suitcase, it fit nicely. I looked at it once last time and zipped it up. I don't even remember where I put it now it was long ago. After all the drama and the sympathy I slipped into the night.

That was two years ago, I decided I should write this. The red glowing, flashing lights are good to see. I am sure she will like them when she comes over later. It is that time of the year again. She'll be so excited to see what the lights are wrapped around, but I assure you, like I said before. There is no tree in my house, and there never will be one in here again. Oh, I better wrap this up. I can hear her pulling in the driveway now.