Thanksgiving was always a lovely affair at “The Jersey Joint”. Lights hung up, merry music around, people chattering away and delicious food passed around. Take your pick from Pigs in a Blanket, Spice cakes, and some fun cocktails; the menus are vast, and the choices are mouth-watering.
It was time to count down the days to Christmas and Marissa wanted nothing more than to start decorating their tree. Paul had promised that this year they will get a tree together, and she gets to pick which one comes home. Children need simplicity to make them happy. Let them choose sometimes; where the tree goes, where the baubles are placed. It takes some shine to get them to smile!
So, they went, hauled into the truck, towards the fir forest nearby to find the perfect tree. Marissa was super excited for this one. “Daddy, I want to find the tallest tree possible!”, she brightly decided.
“Oh ho, little girl. Let’s get there and see if you are able to reach the top of the tallest tree, and then we’ll decide if we should take it home!”, he challenged back. Fathers and daughters keep their love alive through jokes and little competitions. Because, after all, what is life if we don’t challenge ourselves; this was an advice they always gave her. So, the reached the gates of the forest, and decided to walk inside, instead of driving in. It was cold, frozen and what better way to enjoy the snowflakes, than by tapping on the leaves to relieve them?!
Marissa hopped along, while finding little bugs and flowers on the way. Rita’s flower days were never boring; and this was Marissa’s favourite part of the day. Lavenders and pansies were her favourite; some colour pop to the snow is always a welcome sight for Marissa’s ever-curious eyes. They stopped at one tree which was just a foot taller than Marissa, and it seemed like the perfect one. She stood around it, played with its leaves and reached up to reach the top of the tree. “I can put the star on it, Daddy!”, she exclaimed with joy. This was the one; taller trees were forgotten in an instant. Paul began chopping it to take it home and soon they were on their way back to cool and fun Jerseytown.
While they entered back, there was a large crowd in the town square. “There is still a week to go for the competitions. Who is planning them so early?”, wondered Paul while they drove by. He decided to investigate this once the tree was brought home. They reached, he set down the tree and huddled over to the town square to see what was truly going on.
Turns out, a man in a green suit was addressing the crowd. “You all can now enjoy poison-free mistletoe for your homes. MistleBerries is here to save your days!”, he assured. Paul went closer and decided to shake hands with the man in the suit. He understood from the conversation that Mr. Green (as he liked to call himself), was a businessman from Yorkshire who had come down to hand around samples of his Mistletoe harvest, chemically processed to be poison-free, even if little ones popped a berry or two into their eager mouths!
Seemed like a sweet deal for Paul. He signed a contract to decorate the bar entirely with Mr. Green’s produce. Sometimes, what looks too good to be true, is really too good to be true. And Paul Miller was about to find this out in the coming days!
Written By Anisha Masand
Part 3 of the story on 18th Dec ’20.
Week 50, December ’20
