~~

The uncle chosen that year was Jared's mom's younger brother. He was only twenty-five, so he was very playful and we were all close to him. Altogether, there were about ten of us heading out for the tree. It took us an hour to find the perfect one, and another half hour to get it chopped down, but by the time we were dragging it back home, we were all in a great mood, teasing each other and playing in the snow.

Jared and I were the only two cousins that were living in the city at the time, so did the uncle, if I remember right, so at first us three didn't notice one of the new hover drones slowly going over the trees. We also didn't notice the other kids stop and stare at it. It was the uncle (I can't remember his name, but I think it started with an L or an I), who first realized the others had stopped. He turned and saw the hover drone watching us. Jared and I stopped when he did.

"Well, I didn't know they employed those things way out here." He said softly.

"What is it, Uncle?" one of the younger kids asked.

"It's called a hover drone." He explained as it moved on. "they have started using them in the cities to keep an eye on people."

The other children ooh-ed and ah-ed over the technology until it was out of site and Jared, Uncle and I managed to convince them to continue walking home with our tree.

But for some reason, seeing that hover drone out there in the woods gave me the creeps. I tried to ignore the feeling, but I couldn't. And that night, I left the happiest home I ever had.

~~