By Maxine Flam

The parking lot was empty. Seriously? I thought. They were supposed to be open until 6 p.m. Did they sell out of Christmas trees, so they packed up and left?  I just drove by this lot this morning and they were there. The sign is up. I’ll pull in and check it out. Oscar and Sons’ Christmas Tree Lot – sold out. 

That’s what I get for waiting until Christmas Eve to buy a tree. I don’t understand why the family can’t just put up a fake tree like the neighbors do. It saves money in the long run. “Oh, no, I want a real tree. I want to smell the scent of pine,” my wife says. Well, with the costs of trees going up every year. I’m surprised he sold out.  So now, what am I going to do?  

I sat there for a long while. I was the only vehicle in the lot. Then another pulled in, and then another. I got out of my truck and said to one guy, “You know of a lot selling trees around here?”

He shrugged his shoulders and didn’t say anything. The third guy said there was a church on Riverside Drive and Colfax Avenue that had some yesterday. “Great,” I said. I thanked him and the three of us got in our respective vehicles and proceeded to the church’s parking lot. Way in the corner near the lighted manger was the tree lot. They didn’t have many but they did have trees. The profits from the sale of the trees went to charity so I actually didn’t feel bad buying one. I picked a six-foot evergreen, opened the tailgate of my truck, and took it home.

When I got there, the kids were asleep and the wife half-expected I was going to disappoint her. She was excited to see the tree. She got the tree stand out with a pan of water and put the tree in it. We decorated it until after 1 a.m. when we put the presents under it. When the kids went to bed, there was nothing in the corner but when they woke up Christmas Day, they found a beautiful tree and an assortment of presents. This Christmas Eve made a believer out of me. Next Christmas, I’m going back to the same church lot, only earlier, to buy a live tree. 

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Maxine refuses to allow her physical and mental disability to slow her down. She attends classes at the local junior college. Maxine earned two A.A. degrees, one in Natural Science and one in Liberal Arts. Maxine has been published in the Los Angeles Daily News several times, the Epoch Times once, Nail Polish Stories once, Bright Flash Literary Review once, DarkWinterLit four times, CafeLit eleven times, OtherwiseEngagedLit, twice, Maudlinhouse once, Literary CocktailMagazine once, TheHeartlandReview once, and Metaworker once.