The Watchmen Files // A Holiday Special // The Christmas Edition // Chapter Two // Huntin' Down a Christmas Tree

Hey everyone!

   Just realized that's how I start, like, every post on this blog... but I have to greet you, so in it goes :)

   Good day, followers of this blog! As you know, the calender has fallen on Wednesday again!

   But I've just got to say this before we start... this isn't my best chapter, seeing that the majority of it was written yesterday before we went to watch How to Train Your Dragon 2 in the theaters.
{Willow: It is an awesome chapter, she's just too picky!}
Oi! What're you doing on here? This is my post! Ugh.

   Anyway... I've been procrastinating! I was just watching that AVbyte musical called Procrastinating, and at one point they say, "Hey, you're procrastinating right now!" I pulled back in horror. "How did you know?!" Plus I was working on a little anime chibis for this story. I just started the technique, so I still need lots of practice.

    And here is some more Piano Guys music that inspired me while writing this chapter! It's pretty fun :)
   Anyway, yeah, I hope you like it!

    The small, white snowflakes fell all over the upper half of New York state, and children ran around their towns, building snowmen, making snow angels and having snowball fights. Indoors, dads were dragging their newly cut Christmas trees into their living rooms as moms carried decorations up from their basements and children drank pints of eggnog at a time.

   But at one house with an old coat of yellow paint and white trim around the deck, the snow that fell was only light, and there was not enough of it to make snowmen out of. Despite the condition of the paint, the inside of the house was well kept, full of homey decor with a cabin like theme. Though it was a bit cluttered, seeing that they had three little girls all under the age of ten running around playing, and since they had just moved in not a month ago. The residents would wait to decorate for Christmas until the family friends came to stay for the holiday.

   But at the moment, a father was buttoning his black heavy coat in preparation for the cold.

   Smoothing his sandy blond hair, he got down on his knee to button up the pink coat of a six year old little girl with fawn colored hair and innocent green eyes.
   Pulling her bright pink hat on her head, Mr. Isaiah Harrison stood up and gently took her hand. "Are you ready to go get that Christmas tree?" he asked the small girl softly.

   She didn't answer at first, but maintained a sad expression. Then, she replied with a tone of voice to mach her face, "We can't get a Christmas tree without Mason."

   Mr. Harrison smiled to himself, then got down on his knee again to be at her height. "Well, he should be here any minute. Don't you worry your pretty little head," he patted her head when he finished speaking.
   Ava nodded slowly, wishing her cousin would be back soon.

   Tessa Harrison, who was a year older than six year old Ava, bounced up and clasped her hand in hers and noted with a smile, "Don't worry Av, he'll come! He called and said he was getting on the plane over here right then."

   "We better get going," Mrs. Harrison glanced at her wristwatch as she finished wrapping Addie up in a multi colored scarf. "We want to be in before everyone else gets all of the good ones!"

   Ava sighed, but followed the rest of the family to the door anyway.

   A light knock on the door, then followed by a hard rapping came suddenly from the entry hall. "Who could that be?" Mrs. Harrison wondered aloud.

   The three little girls looked at each other as a big smile grew on Ava. Running past the others, she swung the door opened to find her cousin, Mason Kruger, smiling widely back at her. He scooped her up in his arms and hugged her tightly. "See, I told you I'd be back!"

   She hugged him back and snuggled into his embrace, giggling gleefully.

   Conner, his co-worker, smiled brightly and waved from behind Mason's shoulder at her. He moved passed them and greeted Mr. Harrison. "It's good to see you again, sir."

   "Anytime," he gave him one of those manly side hugs as he spoke. "Getting use to Watchmen life?"

   Conner nodded enthusiastically. "It's a bit challenging, but it gets easier as time goes on."

   "Not missing the family too much?" he asked softly, so the others wouldn't notice.

   Conner tightened his lips in a sharp (rather fake) smile and shrugged, trying not to think about it.

    Meanwhile, Mason was greeting the girls with one big hug, picked them all up and whirled them around as they giggled non-stop. Then, letting them down, they were off to get that Christmas tree.

   Farmer Brown's tree farm was huge, especially to the kids who were so small. There were Spruces, Evergreens, Pines, Nobles, Douglass, all types of potential Christmas trees to chose from. They wandered to the noble section to hunt for theirs, and found many different trees. It had to be a certain height, width, and had to have full branches, just the way they liked it. There were a few with all of the qualities they wanted, but choosing was the problem. One kid wanted that tree, the other liked the other, and another like a different one. Plus, Mrs. Harrison was pretty picky about the tree as well. Which meant they had to march around, checking out all of them before they could decide.

   It was the early morning, and a light frost blanketed the nobles and trodden down grass. The sky was overcast with fluffy white clouds, and no breeze stirred the fallen leaves. Mason sighed deeply, watching his breath condense into a wisp of icy air, then dissipate in seconds. Rubbing his hands together to keep them warm, he noted a tall and thick tree about a yard away. "Hey guys, what do you think of this one?"

   The Harrisons, Ava, and Conner all trotted up to view this tree. Its branches were full, its height was just below their ceiling level. "Well, what do you think?"

   "I do! It's pretty," Ava exclaimed proudly, as the others agreed.

   Soon Mr. Harrison had the trunk cut, and Mason and Conner were carrying it back to the van. As the boys tied it up to the top of the vehicle, Mrs. Harrison brought the girls over to a small shed next to the large patch of dirt that people would park on. Next to the small place they were selling wreathes, and giving out hot chocolate. They each got a cup and stood around the fire pit, cautiously sipping the steaming drinks as to not burn their tongues.

   "Mama?" Little Addie who was only five, peered up at her mom with big eyes. "Why do we have Christmas trees?"

   Mrs. Harrison wasn't exactly a history major, but she had been reading up on some of the traditions of Christmas. "Well, some say the German Christians started bringing trees into their homes, and it became a tradition most people practice. It's fun to do, and beautiful to look at. Did you know they use to put real candles on them, sometimes treats and snacks too."

   "I'd like it if we could start that again!" Tessa wished aloud.

   While they were talking, the boys had returned and had got their own plastic cups filled with melted chocolate and milk all mixed together. Mr. Harrison was asking if she wanted the tree flocked or not as Conner's cell phone rang.

   He excused himself and walked to the other side of the fire to answer it. "Hello? Mum! Well, I've got news..." Mason's sharp ears picked up the conversation, though only one side of it. "Yeah, Mason and I are on call over the month... I know, I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do about it... Actually, we're staying with the family that took Ava in after Mason became a Watchman, so it won't be bad... I'll send everyone their presents this year... Tell Father and Bernadette hello for me. I'll miss everyone... Yes, I'll call you as often as I can... Thanks Mum... bye." He hung his head, and sighed deeply.

   Mason came up next to him and nudged him lightly. "You okay?"

   Conner half turned and nodded, trying to shake it off. "Yeah, I'm fine. This is my first Christmas without my family."

   He gave an understanding look. "It's rough. I remember my first Christmas without my mom or my dad," he shook his head at the memory.

   "Father will not be pleased," Conner stated dryly. "I hope he doesn't call and complain to Jason."

   "I doubt Jason would care an awful lot."

   Conner chuckled and shook his head. "Oh, he'd care. You don't know my dad, or his persistence."

   "So your dad doesn't really like you being over here?" Mason inquired.

   Conner shifted a bit, and nodded. "Not really. Well, he thinks there are other ways to do this. But I'm an adult now, so I made my own decision. For the good of everyone."

   Mason was about to question what he meant by his last sentence, but was cut off by Mr. Harrison calling everyone to attention. "Let's get this baby back to base! Everyone, to the car!"

  He raced the kids back to the van as Mason and Conner glugged down the remainder of their hot chocolate and hopped into the backseat with the others.


   Okay, that's the end! I had to add something about Conner in there... I'm going to do more with that, if you guys like it. Now, I've been getting updates from Ammelia and Billie (well, not them technically. They're emails from their mom), and they are doing well at the camp so far! Yea! :)

Announcements...

Willow's has got her newest chapter up, called The Trick! So you can go read that, if you wish :) She's also going to try and get her chapter done for this Friday.

And so am I! If I don't procrastinate my life away first... The next chapter will probably be decorating the tree, or should that come later? Hum... Question: What is your best way to escape procrastination?

Well, that's that! Good day, peoples! :) 

Always Watching,

Darrion