Shine Bright (Part Five)

Shine Bright (Part Five)

Part Five: A great lady

"Your gran sounds like a really great lady," said Hannah, pulling her scarf closer about her face, as they went outside. "That wind is getting really cold. The forecast is for extremely bad weather. Maybe we should go and get a tree earlier today, as it might not be too much fun later on It is probably going to get colder. Let's surprize your gran. I don't really have to go to the bookstore for very long."

"Jamaica is supposed to be really nice this time of year," replied Mandy. "Sure wish I could have gone too," she thought to herself. "Get a tree together, just us? Sounds like a plan," she said aloud to Hannah. "Let's do it. I will buy a present for her at the bookstore too. Think she would like a cookbook?"

"Fresh gingerbread," Mandy said later, as they returned home, dragging a six foot spruce tree.

The smell of fresh gingerbread cookies was unmistakeable. Hannah's mom made cookies for them all the time, but Mandy's mom was far too busy to do any baking. She usually just bought everything.

"Smells great in here," she said, as she walked through the door. Her grandmother was no where to be seen. On the table, there was a big plate of fresh cookies and a note. "Be right back," it read.

"Looks like Grandma has gone out somewhere," Mandy said to Hannah, who was already into the cookies and milk. "These are great! Maybe it won't be so bad having my grandmother here after all!"

"Let's get the tree up before she gets back," Hannah said. "I know where the base is on the wall in the garage, because I was here, when you and your dad put it away last year. We can decorate it too before she gets back here. Know where the rest of the decorations are?"

About half an hour later, the two girls had the tree standing up in the corner of the family room.

"I think this is the most beautiful tree ever," Hannah said. "And just think. You and I did this all by ourselves. I bet you didn't think that two eleven year old girls could do this."

"I think the rest of the decorations are in the attic," replied Mandy, nodding her head. She had totally forgotten that her dad had told her where he put them. The tree looked really great even bare, as it was tall and very straight. The scent from the spruce tree was already radiating through the room. "Come on, let's go find them."

There was a trail of needles all through the house, but those the girls would clean up later. They decided that the most important thing was to find the Christmas decorations.

Together they raced for the attic, with Mandy almost falling back down the stairs.

"You are so clutsy!" Hannah said, catching her just in time. "Be more careful or we will both land on our heads at the foot of the stairs."

They laughed and headed into the dark attic filled with old antiques, books, boxes and several generations of what they considered to be ancient treasures.

"I just love exploring your attic."

"Me too," replied Mandy, waiting for a moment to catch her breath. "This is fun."

"Where do we look first?" she wondered. "I know I put them away with my dad, but those boxes are not here now. I wonder if my dad threw them out by mistake?" Mandy looked all around the room.

She was totally devastated, as the Christmas decorations were no where to be seen.

"They are not here, not even one box," she told Hannah, after she had searched through the room. "Oh no, now we have a Christmas tree and no decorations. That is just great....and just when my Grandma is here for Christmas as well. What next?"

"Do you think your dad and mom put them in the school garage sale?" Hannah asked quietly, realizing that Mandy was getting more and more upset by the minute.

Mandy was fighting back tears.

"This is just the icing on the cake," she said. "Looks like we bought that tree for nothing.....I got a cookbook for my gran though."

"She brought a lot of presents too," said Hannah. "I saw them. We just have to decorate the tree. After buying that book for my dad and that helping you buy that Christmas tree, I now have about three dollars left. Do you think we could get some decorations at the dollar shop with that?"

"I still have five dollars upstairs that I saved," said Mandy. "Let's go get whatever decorations we can with that. But we have to hurry as the store will close in about half an hour. Let's go right now."

The girls headed downstairs quickly, but with Mandy being a lot more careful this time. "The last thing I need is a broken leg," she said. "Wonder where Grandma went?"