Chapter 4: Augh!
I looked at the living room. There was a fallen tree, a bunch of broken glass, and one red-clad Chipmunk sitting in the branches with wide brown eyes. He was breathing hard and his paws clenched the fake needles. Alvin looked up, smiled nervously and waved at us. Eleanor and I scanned the fallen tree. It was a miracle that Dave hadn't seen or heard it. Yet.
Apparently hearing the ruckus from downstairs, Simon and Theodore rushed to our sides. Simon crossed his arms and furrowed his brow. He narrowed his eyes and frowned.
"So, what have we learned today, Alvin?" Simon said.
Alvin remained in the branches and looked around him. His left ear flicked as it always did when he was nervous.
"That Dave used too many glass ornaments?" Alvin guessed.
"Alvin, that tree was important, and you ruined it!" Brittany said from behind the rest of us.
Alvin was taken aback by Brittany calling out at him angrily. He laid his ears back and looked guilty. Theodore stepped up towards the tree.
"A-are the candy canes okay?" he asked.
Simon did a face-palm and looked up to the sky. "Oh brother…" he said.
"No, Theodore, they didn't survive the crash." Alvin said sarcastically.
Theodore flinched and ran over to Eleanor to cry on her shoulder. I felt sorry for the little guy.
"Alvin!" Simon, Brittany, Eleanor and I yelled at him simultaneously.
"What? Look at this! See? The candy cane situation isn't looking good." Alvin said holding up a broken candy cane that was barely hanging on to life. In fact, the only thing that held it to the other pieces was the plastic wrap, and even that didn't look like it would hold any longer.
Theodore glanced at the departing candy cane and buried his face deeper into Eleanor's green sweater again. Ellie patted his back and whispered comforting things in his ear. We all gave challenging looks to Alvin and he just sat there sadly.
"Well, we're going to have to fix this mess!" Simon said, taking charge.
"And just how will we do that?" Brittany questioned, gesturing to the glass on the floor.
"With teamwork!" Eleanor answered, linking arms with us.
"Yeah!" Theodore and I cheered.
"But we have to hurry, Dave is only upstairs!" I warned.
"Then let's get to it!" Simon commanded.
We charged to the tree and found ourselves toe-to-toe with the broken glass on the floor. Brittany, Eleanor and I looked at each other, nodded and grabbed the broom. It took the three of us to maneuver the broom and dustpan. We decided to sing a song while working and it right fit in with our activity. We sang Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree. The Chipmunks were in the background embellishing the song. When we were finished with that one, we sang a softer song, O Christmas Tree.
Alvin lead, of course, but we accompanied him. He was actually helping while he sang along, to my surprise. He then interrupted the slow melody.
"Wait a sec, guys! Can't we sing a happier song? C'mon, how about…up on the house top reindeer pause…" Alvin sang.
"Out comes good old Santa Clause…" Theo and Simon chimed in.
"Up on the house top click, click, click…down through the chimney with ol' Saint Nick!" We all sang the chorus when it came.
Soon, the tree was shining brightly again, Alvin climbing up to the top and crowning the tree. He climbed down, this time more carefully. We gazed proudly at our work. Just then, Dave walked in the living room and looked shocked. We braced ourselves, thinking that he'd known somehow that we'd set it up again. We held our breath as he marched over to the tree.
"This light bulb is still on the fritz, Alvin!" Dave said pointing to the dull light on the chord.
We let out a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat off our foreheads. I looked at my sisters with a mutual feeling of disbelief while Dave left the room to go do the other chores.
"Oh man that was close!" Alvin said.
We glared at him.
"It wouldn't have been a close call if you hadn't wrecked the tree in the first place!" Brittany yelled.
"I couldn't agree more!" Simon said.
We left the room to finish our chores. I wondered what tomorrow would bring. The next morning was Christmas Eve! Oh no! I need to get Simon a present!
This morning I woke up with bright eyes and a bushy tail. I sat up on my bed and stretched. I turned and looked at the other beds in the room. Alvin was sleeping soundly, Simon's bed was empty, Theodore turned over and snored like a chainsaw, Brittany slept just as soundly as Alvin, and Eleanor was motionless. I hopped out of bed and felt the cool floor under my feet. I rubbed my eyes sleepily and stumbled blindly to the nightstand for my glasses.
I walked slowly over to the dresser across the room and tugged it open. I searched the contents carefully for my purple snowflake sweater. Once I found my outfit for the day I shuffled to the bathroom and hopped onto the sink. I turned on the hot water and small bits of steam rose. I took a quick shower under the warm water and readied myself for breakfast, consulting the mirror for how to do my hair.
Once I felt I was neat enough to go greet Simon at the breakfast table I unlocked the door, discarded my lavender pajamas in the hamper and entered the kitchen.
Dave looked up from his newspaper and smiled down at me.
"Good morning, Jeanette." He said.
"Good morning, Dave and Simon." I replied giving an acknowledging nod to Simon.
Simon waved, causing me to smile. I walked up to the end chair and used it to get onto the table. I stood beside Simon, who was examining the comics on the back of the newspaper with a paw on his chin. He laughed lightly at the strip and looked up at me with his blue eyes. He threw his hands behind his back and stood up straight almost instantly. He side-stepped away from me and pointed to a panel of the comic strip he'd just read.
"Take a look." He said.
I obeyed and took a gander at the print and the funny characters. I laughed and giggled at the punch line of the strip and then looked back to Simon.
"That is funny." I said rubbing my arm and letting a very long moment tick by. "Is that where you get your humor from?"
Simon looked back up at me with his sweet grin and glanced to the side. He pulled his collar from his neck.
"Well, I-I guess so…" he stuttered his answer.
We turned out heads to a yawn from across the room. It was Theodore, stretching and scratching the back of his ear when he walked in. He looked tired and about to fall over on the floor. He was still in his green-striped pajamas, most likely because he was too lazy to change yet this morning. Some mornings, even I am lazy enough to not change into day time clothes until noon. But that's not really that important at the moment.
Theodore was so drowsy Simon and I had to help him onto the table. He walked across the surface to meet Dave. He crawled across his dad's arm and nestled himself down into Dave's soft and warm robe. This was a morning thing that Dave let little Theo do when he wasn't too busy. Plus, Theodore had told me that he'd grown attached to the navy blue robe. I smiled and had a warm feeling that made my heart melt at the adorable sight.
It wasn't long until the rest of the gang was gathered in the kitchen. Dave sat up in his chair and folded the newspaper, setting it neatly to the side. He folded his hands and set them on the table. Theodore sat up in Dave's robe and looked up at him with huge green eyes along with a cute smile.
"Everyone gather around, please." He said and we came close to him in a circle. "Guess what today is!"
"Sunday?" Alvin guessed, referring to the Sunday paper.
"No…er…yes, but other than it being Sunday!"
We all thought for a moment and then Dave finally answered.
"Christmas Eve!" He said happily.
"Oh…" We all said simultaneously.
"And that means…Last minute Christmas shopping!" Dave announced.
He gave us each a twenty dollar bill. We folded them up small enough to fit them under our arms like books. Christmas shopping, a new fun winter sport! What could go wrong?
Hey, everyone! Sorry I took a while to update, but I finally got chapter four up! You know the drill, please review, and until Jeanette writes again, see ya! :D -Kittypig