It Started With A Christmas Tree - A Lizzie Fuller Christmas Novella (3 page)

I sighed. “What you really mean is Danny
will get me to have her right?”

Molly smiled. “Probably, but just think of
Mum and how happy she’ll be to have a break for a bit.”

“Alright. I’m sure Riley won’t mind. I
know Grandma definitely won’t.”

Molly laughed. “Yeah. He’s pretty patient
when it comes to Grandma. Even when she is touching his backside.”

“I can hardly blame her though. I touch it
whenever I get the chance too,” I smiled.

Ten minutes later we were pulling into Mum’s
driveway. Dad had taken up residence in the garage, where he was building a
doll’s house for the local animal shelter to raffle and hopefully raise some
money. Now Dad does have a very generous spirit, but I think this project had
more to do with him getting outside and away from Grandma.

Dad was made redundant from his work as a storeman
about two months ago and was having a hard time adjusting to life. Mum’s
redecorating kept him busy for about a month there, but now he had nothing more
to do than sit, twiddle his thumbs and listen to Grandma. So as you can see,
this doll’s house was not
all
selfless.

I gave him a hug and a kiss and followed
Molly into the kitchen where we found Mum baking and Grandma in her best dress
complete with purple patent handbag. For her to have her purple bag out meant
she was going somewhere.

“I thought you’d never get here,” she
yelled as we walked in the door.

“I told you I had to pick Lizzie up
first,” replied Molly, kissing Mum and sitting down at the table.

I looked at Molly and comprehension dawned
on me.

“Picking something up, hey Moll?” I
whispered, sitting down next to her. She smiled.

“I knew you wouldn’t come if I’d told
you.”

“You know I have to be at the dentist at
eleven. We’ll be late for my appointment now and I don’t want to miss it. I’m
picking up my new teeth and I need them for tonight. I’ve got a date.”

“Oh Mum, it’s only eight o’clock. You’ve
got plenty of time to get there.”

“Maybe I should drive,” replied Grandma,
looking at Molly. “I drive faster than you and you haven’t let me take your new
car for a spin yet.”

Grandma Mabel hadn’t driven a car in about
fifteen years, but every couple of years when her licence was about to expire,
she queued up at the Department of Transport, medical certificate in hand and
renewed it.

I kept questioning Mum about the doctor
who issued this medical certificate but apparently he knew our family well
enough to know we would never actually let her get behind a wheel of a car, so
he feels it’s in everyone’s interest to issue it to her.

Personally, the only person’s interest it’s
in is his. He knows that’s easier than arguing with her. Plus, he’s right. We
would
never
let her be in control of any sort of
vehicle.

“Sorry, Grandma. Today is not the day you
get to test-drive it. And the only reason you drive faster than me is because
you don’t know where the brake pedal is.”

“Humph,” replied Grandma. “I’ve done a lot
more miles than you ever will, girlie and I’m not even going to begin to tell
you what I’ve done in a car!”

“Oh! There is a god!” said Molly
sarcastically.

“Yes…well,” interrupted Mum. “I think it’s
time you got on the road. You don’t want to get the rush hour traffic.”

I looked at my watch. If we left now, we’d
be smack bang in the middle of rush hour traffic. Mum didn’t seem to care
though, helping Grandma to her feet and towards the back door. I sighed and
stood.

Today was going to be a longer day than I
thought.

****

Shopping with Grandma and
Molly was exhausting, and I don’t mean physically. I had a headache before we
even got to the city. It probably had a lot to do with Grandma’s ramblings
about her date tonight and how good she was going to look in her shiny new
teeth. Molly was telling me the same thing but she was excited about how good
she would to look in the new dress she would wear on the date. I guess with age
our priorities change.

Thankfully they allowed me to stop for a
coffee and some aspirin before we went to the dentist. My headache had begun to
pound. I’m thinking of buying Mum some earplugs for Christmas instead of a
holiday. Although, I don’t think I could be that cruel, no matter how much the
desire to survive became. Mum put up with Grandma’s constant chattering every day
and I would only have to put up with it for a weekend. I sighed, closed my eyes
and listened to their conversation about a dress that Molly had seen in Vogue. Lets
just say that Molly is a lot more like Grandma than I am.

The dentist was quite happy with Grandma
and Grandma was very happy with her new teeth. After that we headed to the shops.
After the aspirin had kicked in and my headache had eased to a dull thud, I
will admit to having a lot of fun. When it came to Christmas shopping, Grandma
was as big a kid as we were.

Walking into our large department store,
we headed straight to the Christmas shop. This was a section of the store only
there for a few months of the year and dedicated to all things Christmas. I
loved it!

Judging by the decorations for sale, this
year’s theme colour seemed to be hot pink and silver. So that’s what Molly
loaded me up with. Lots of hot pink. Personally I was hoping for a slightly
more traditional theme, maybe red and silver, but what did I know?

I did indulge and buy myself a large
ornament of a snow-covered village, complete with working train and fibre optic
tree. Westport was always hot at Christmas time and on more than one occasion I
thought a white Christmas should be on my bucket list. It always looked so
beautiful in magazines.

I nearly choked as I handed the cashier my
credit card, but I
did
need these decorations, right?

On the way back to the car, we passed a
shop that advertised a psychic.

“Ooh, I’ve wanted to get my cards read for
ages,” said Grandma Mabel excitedly. “What about it, girls?”

“I might go and put this all in the car
whilst you’re in there,” I said, weighed down by my bags.

“Alright, but don’t be long. We’ll all get
our cards done. My shout,” she smiled.

I sighed and left her with Molly. I’d only
ever had my tarot cards read once and honestly, I didn’t believe a word of it. But
I knew it would make Grandma happy, so I left everything in Molly’s car and
made my way back to the shop.

As I walked in the shop, a little bell
tinkled somewhere, alerting everyone to my presence and the smell of incense
filled my nostrils. Molly stuck her head out from behind a bookshelf loaded
with tarot cards, angel cards, books on all things supernatural, and loads of
unicorn and angel ornaments.

“I thought you would have gone in with
Grandma,” I said, approaching her.

“I did go in. But when she started to tell
Grandma about a man that was going to bring her lots of pleasure, I decided it
was time to leave.”

I smiled. “Fair enough.”

Molly and I stood in silence flipping
through books until the curtain opened and Grandma reappeared. She walked over
to us as the psychic called my name.

“How did you go?” I asked as she walked
past.

“Humph. All she said was to be careful of
my hip. She must think I’m old or something!” I smiled and walked past her into
the curtained room.

It was pretty much what I expected—round
table surrounded by chairs, lots of dark fabric lining the walls and the smell
of incense so intense, it made my eyes water.

“Oh my goodness!” exclaimed the psychic
who, according to the sign on the wall behind her, was named Sapphire. I
assumed Sapphire was not her real name, but I’ll give her marks for dressing
the part. Her long flowing red hair fell down her back, blending with her red
satin robe. Her face was deeply wrinkled and unadorned by make up and her
fingers were stained by nicotine. And she looked crazy. I’m not sure why she
dressed like that as the only psychic I could name was John Edwards and he
dressed as regularly as everyone else, but I guess she thought it helped with
authenticity.

“I see you have company,” she said.

“Pardon?” I asked.

“You’ve bought someone with you today.”

“Yes. That was my grandma, and my sister
is coming in next,” I said smiling. “But being psychic you probably already
knew that,” I joked, attempting to cover how uncomfortable I was feeling.

“I was referring to the aura you brought
in with you,” said Sapphire, her voice deep and gravelly, probably a result of
years of smoking. I turned to see what she was talking about but all I could
see was a deep blue wall with a stand holding a crystal ball.

“I’m sorry. What?”

“You’re not alone, my lovely,” she rasped.
“There is an energy that accompanies you. It’s not very happy either.”

“That’s probably Grandma’s energy you’re
picking up. She didn’t like you referring to her as old.”

“No. It’s not your grandmother. But it is
a woman and she’s making me feel sad.” I looked at Sapphire thinking this woman
really was crazy. “Sit,” she commanded. I looked at the chair positioned
opposite hers and did as asked. I kept my eye on the exit though, just in case
I needed to get out of here quickly.

“Shuffle,” she said, tapping a pack of
large cards three times and then handing them to me. Once again I did as asked.
Handing the cards back to her, she started to lay them down on the table, face
up. Now I don’t know much about Tarot cards but these didn’t look good. For
starters, the death card was first out of the pack. The second card was the lovers’
card.

“Hmmm…” said Sapphire, continuing to lay
cards. “There’s a man— a lover, a relationship. But it’s going to end. And
you’ll be the one to do it.” See this is why I don’t come to stupid bloody
psychics.

“No. You must have that wrong!” I said,
thinking of Riley and how I definitely would not be ending that relationship.

“Sapphire never gets it wrong,” she
replied, referring to herself in the third person. “Sapphire is always right. You
mark my words. This will end. And happiness will prevail.”

WTF?
“Maybe I should reshuffle,” I said, grabbing the
cards and pushing them together in a big pile.

“You should never do that!” she yelled. “I
had not finished your reading!”

“That’s okay. Don’t worry. I don’t need my
cards read today. In fact I don’t need them read ever. I’ll just tell Grandma
that we had a very successful reading. She’ll pay you and we’ll all be happy,”
I rambled, standing up and hurrying from the room.

“Wait!” called Sapphire to my retreating
back. “Take her with you!” She was pointing to the back of the room towards the
crystal ball.

“Grandma is out this way,” I said, looking back into the shop at
Grandma.

“Not your grandmother,” she sighed. “The woman who entered the room with
you. She’s sucking all the energy out of me.”

I looked around the room and then at Sapphire. Suddenly the fear and
anxiety I had felt at her card reading disappeared. This woman was seriously
delusional. I didn’t need to believe a word she said.

“Of course. Come with me, woman,” I called to the empty room. “Let’s go
home now.”

Molly looked at me like I was the insane one, but I just rolled my eyes
and mouthed the word crazy, making small circles around my temple as I hurried
from the store.

Chapter
Three

By the time I reached my house, I was well
and truly worn out. My back ached, my feet ached and my ears ached. And it was
only three o’clock. Even though Sapphire the psychic had been a bit of a
downer, I did have a successful day buying many more decorations than I
originally intended as both Molly and Grandma kept adding to my collection. Looking
down at my bags, I thought I needed to go back and buy another tree. The one I
had was going to be far too over crowded.

Riley had sent me a text a few hours ago advising
me he had gone fishing with Jared, so I decided to use the time to introduce my
head to the couch and have a nana nap. I’m not quite sure why they call it a
nana nap because I knew for a fact that my nana, aka Grandma Mabel, was well
and truly awake and getting ready for her big date. I wish I had half her
energy. Maybe I should ask mum what she feeds her and get some of it myself.
Adding that to my ‘to do’ list, I lay down and closed my eyes. It didn’t take
long for me to drift into a comfortable sleep.

Now do you ever have one of those naps
where you know you’re asleep but it feels like you’re awake? Well, that’s the
type of nap I was having. And it involved dreaming. This particular dream
started with a lady standing in my lounge room, looking at my Christmas tree. She
was dressed in a knee length, navy blue polka dot dress with a peter pan collar—
all very 1950’s—I only know that because I have seen a photo of Grandma
wearing something very similar—and looked to be in her early twenties. But
it was her sadness that took my breath away.