Penny’s Christmas Tree: The “Ever” of Green

Taken from:

The Adventures of th e Pajama BabyGirl: Volume 6 – 10:

here is a three-part segment from the opening adventure:

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Part One

December was here at last! And the season was in full swing.

Oh what a wonderful time of year it was. The spirit of Christmas was in the air. Decorations started lining people’s front porches and windows. Christmas wreathes were hung from the street lights and the sound of Christmas music could be heard no matter where you went.

Shopping malls became crowded and it was a busy time of year for all. Perhaps, it was the one time of year that the busier you were, the happier you were. And everybody seemed to be sharing in the cheer. People were nicer this time of year and the sight of total strangers walking down the street smiling could spread the joy of the season.

Penny loved Christmas and ever since she was a little girl, she would make certain to participate in every single Christmas event she could while not forgetting the reason for Christmas.

But this year, she had another reason to be joyful. She had a Daddy and one who loved her more deeply than she could’ve ever imagined. And he held the love of Christmas in a special place in his heart just like she did. What more could a little girl want than a Daddy to share in the love of so many things which she felt too?

Well … truth being told, Penny could probably think of a lot of things she wanted, but the only thing she needed was Elliot, the Daddy she had dreamed of and the Daddy who appeared on every page of her Book of Dreams.

It was Friday night of the first weekend of December. And they were all ready in his car, on the way to what she was sure would be yet another adventure she would never forget. This time, their destination would be no surprise. They were headed to get her a Christmas tree, a real one and words couldn’t describe how happy this made her.

But her happiness was evident in how fast she nursed that pacifier between her lips and how she didn’t fuss about having to wear a winter coat. It was definitely chilly today, but the calm of the weather outside gave a feel that there just might be some snowflakes in the works for this weekend’s visit.

Elliot drove to her, straight from work, and when he got there he saw that what she had was an old plastic Christmas tree which had seen so many years of use that it couldn’t be put together anymore, but Penny held onto it because it once belonged to her Grandmother.

She truly wished she could afford a real tree. And that was all Elliot had to hear. In no time, she was diapered, pigtailed and given her choice of the color of pajamas she would wear for their trip to get her a real Christmas tree.

And now, they were on the way to the tree lot. She didn’t mind that her big puffy, pink winter coat didn’t match the dark green footed pajamas she was wearing because it was those green pajamas that would put each and every one of the trees to the test. Whatever tree she selected had to match her pajamas exactly. She would take nothing less than the perfect tree home with her.

Little did she realize, at that moment, how the spirit of Christmas and an old cartoon special would change her mind.

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Part Two

The tree lot was packed, for all the more it was … just a tiny little stand, set up next to a string of lights which lined the hillside of Christmas trees for sale. As Elliot pulled in, Penny got up on her knees on the seat and bounced up and down. Her excitement abounded, not just for the Christmas trees, but also for the hot cocoa with marshmallows they were selling at the stand.

Luckily, Elliot found a spot in the back row. Otherwise, he was going to have to park alongside the road.

He turned the car off and immediately took hold of Penny’s hand before he opened his door. She was so wound up just then she was liable to go sprinting off into the night.

They got out of the car and headed towards the scent of hot cocoa.

“Stay with Daddy,” Elliot said firmly, but kindly. “Do not go running off.”

She nodded and smiled brightly behind her white pacifier, another mismatch of colors to her pajamas which she accepted. He released her hand and she hugged up alongside him.

“That’s a good girl,” he said sweetly, kissing her forehead and patting her diapered bottom.

The line to get the hot cocoa had some length to it, but making the wait a little easier was a pamphlet handed to Elliot by one of the attendants. It told of the history of Christmas trees and was certainly a charming keepsake which Penny would add to the pages of her Book of Dreams that night. She looked the pamphlet over as the line inched forward, a step at a time.

She had no idea there were so many different kinds of evergreen trees in the world, from Arizona Cypress to Balsam Fir to Colorado Blue Spruce to Canaan Fir to Concolor Fir (also known as the White Fir) to Douglas-Fir, Eastern Red cedar, Eastern White Pine, Fraser Fir, Grand Fir, Leyland Cypress, Noble Fir, Norway Spruce, Scotch Pine, Virginia Pine, White Spruce and the list went on.

She began to wonder what Christmas trees they were selling here and what kind of Christmas trees she had decorated in Christmases past.

Flipping the pamphlet over to its back cover, she saw the story of the origin of Christmas trees. She began to read it when her diapered bottom received another pat.

She looked up to Elliot, realizing that the line had moved quite a bit and they were getting closer to the stand, she put the pamphlet in her coat pocket and took his hand once again as they stepped forward to the window.

“Two hot cocoas and a Christmas tree please,” Elliot said in a jocular tone to the lady at the window before looking down at Penny’s puppy dog eyes. “And please put extra marshmallows in one of them.”

Penny smiled behind her pacifier, even snorting a little at how he actually knew what she wanted. And all she had to do was give him puppy dog eyes.

This, along with his pats of her bottom, a waddling crinkle which made her tingle and his presence were all she needed to feel like a little girl at that moment, and by her estimations, the happiest one in the world.

Inside the stand was a small television for the attendants’ entertainment and Penny delighted in seeing a few second of the old clay-mation Rudolph Christmas Special.

The lady served up the hot cocoas, and Penny reached for hers as she opened her lips, allowing the pacifier to fall and dangle from its clip and string.

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Part Three

As they headed up to the hillside, Penny began downing her drink. The hot temperature of food and liquid didn’t bother her and while Elliot cautiously blew on the top of his cocoa to cool it down, Penny finished hers completely, lowering the cup to reveal a marshmallow mustache. She giggled, licking her upper lip clean as she fondly recalled one of his first visits earlier that fall. All they would’ve needed was a fireplace and the déjà vu would’ve been complete.

She was adorable and as they reached the trees, Elliot handed her his cocoa as well, wanting to see another marshmallow mustache on her face.

She obliged and took his cocoa straight down, only this time when she lowered the cup, revealing her mustache, he had his phone ready and he took a picture. Penny posed for the shot, happily.

Then it was on to the task at hand. Penny walked up to each tree and compared its color to the color of her pajamas. Elliot must’ve followed her up and down almost every row of trees, wondering if she would ever find one that she liked.

Penny was determined, but as she reached the top of the hill and found she had checked all the trees, she began to pout. Elliot took her by the hand and as he led her back down the hill, asked her if she wanted to check the trees again. She shook her head no with a frown on her face. So, he led her back to the stand to turn their ticket back in.

A new line had formed, but this one was only four or five people long. They got in the back of the line to hand in their ticket and look for another Christmas tree farm tomorrow.

Out of the corner of Penny’s eye, she saw an attendant dragging a somewhat pathetic looking Christmas tree to the dumpster. It was smaller than most of the other trees and appeared to have been damaged when put through the plastic sleeve machine.

Then Penny heard: “You Blockhead!” blaring from the television in the stand. The Rudolph Christmas special had ended and the Charlie Brown Christmas special had almost finished, too.

She looked at the television, watching a few seconds of it. Then she looked back at the tip of the Christmas tree sticking out of the dumpster.

Charlie Brown didn’t give up on the tiny Christmas tree he found. He saw what that little tree could become when shown the love it had been missing all along.

She looked at the television screen again and then back to the tree in the dumpster. As Elliot handed the ticket back in, Penny snatched it out of his hand and ran towards the dumpster, deliberately disobeying his instructions to not run off.

But she did so for a reason that would’ve been worth getting spanked over, should Elliot have decided to do that.

There were tears streaming down her cheeks by the time she got to the dumpster and tried desperately to save the little tree from its loveless demise.

“PJ, what are trying to do?” Elliot asked, catching up to her at the dumpster, pulling her off it and into his arms.

She embraced him, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. Sobbing uncontrollably into the side of his neck, she tried to calm herself down by nibbling on her pacifier.

Elliot held her tightly.

“Shh, shh, shh,” he whispered softly. “It’s okay. It’s okay.”

She looked up at him, drained of energy suddenly.

“Why did you run over here?” he asked her, gently.

She handed him the ticket and pointed to the tree in the dumpster.

“You want that tree?” Elliot asked her in disbelief.

She nodded and buried her face in his chest as an attendant approached them.

“Everything all right, Mister?” the attendant asked.

Elliot looked at the tree in the dumpster and then at Penny, clung to his body. He handed the attendant the ticket.

“We’d like that tree,” Elliot said, pointing to it in the dumpster.

“You got it,” the attendant said, not questioning him at all.

“This must seem strange, I suppose, huh?” Elliot asked.

“Nope,” the attendant said, lifting the tree out of the dumpster. “Happens every year when that Charlie Brown show comes on.”

Elliot looked back at the stand, listening to the Charlie Brown Christmas special playing on the television. Then, he looked down at Penny, who smiled.