Michelle came out from the bedroom rubbing her hands. Angie’s nose wrinkled up.
“Wow! I can smell that liniment from here, Michelle.”
“Yes. Good thing I use my eyes and not my nose to paint or I’d be lost.”
Angie laughed. They looked at Michelle’s sketch and talked about how to do it. Angie gave her many tips and Michelle’s head rocked between the sketch and the ceiling.
“This is your house and that’s your world up there. I will just stay and watch from down here.”
Michelle took the paints and brush up the ladder as Angie held the ladder to stabilize Michelle’s efforts.
“Say! Angie, have you seen Mary lately? I seem to remember Herman saying she was in the kitchen.”
“I was upstairs at that time, Michelle. I could go and see, but you better get down while I’m gone.”
Michelle descended and off went Angie. Michelle sat there and looking up evaluating the start of her new work,
“Hope it doesn’t look too silly.”
Angie returned from the kitchen,
“Mary’s not there. I’ll check upstairs in her room.”
Angie searched around this unfamiliar area of the Henley’s second floor. She realized that it was of some past time compared to the first floor. There was no sign of little Mary.
“Whoosh, Whoosh, Whoosh”
“Darn! What is that? Angie cupped a hand to her ear and searched again. The ‘Whoosh” repeated and she ascended a narrow stairway to an attic. She slowly opened a door and peered in. There sitting atop an old trunk was Mary. She was holding a small toy Christmas tree and flying it through the air and making that “Whoosh” sound. She saw Angie, dropped it and developed some very large teary eyes.
“Sorry Mary. I didn’t mean to scare you. I thought there was some ghost up here. Well, I’m kidding about that.”
Mary dropped her head into her small hands and sobbed quietly. Angie stood away for a minute not sure how to approach her. She remembered her times being little and walked over to Mary and sat on the floor next to her.
“Your mom was concerned about your absence. Maybe you’d rather talk to her?”
Mary looked at Angie with watery eyes,
“No, you’re fine. I was out there with Dad in the truck and we heard that sound. You know, it’s the sound the tree makes when flying. I guess I miss the tree. Must be dead or a ghost by now. We saw the gifts that had the parts from the tree. I was downstairs watching Mom paint. Guess I got pretty sad and came up here to be more sad.”
Angie was still unfamiliar with this tree and not sure what to say, but knew it was important to Mary.
“What would you say to the tree if it were standing right in front of you now?”
Mary smiled and looked ahead as if there were the tree. A minute passed and then came the words,
“Hi tree. Please come back. Don’t be dead. You made grandpa happy and . . ”
She looked at the little tree in her hand and put it in front of her eyes.
“. . maybe you can make somebody else happy? You saved Matt, Stella and little Orion too. Do you go to other places and help people? I don’t know why but my tummy feels all soft and full of smiles when you are around. We can see you next Christmas, right?”
Angie rubbed her eyes and put an arm around Mary.
“Maybe I haven’t seen the tree, but I may be benefiting from its presence.”