The crunching of footsteps in the snow made Emily tear her gaze from the tree and turn to look over her shoulder. There, stomping through the snow in large strides, was her dad.
“You girls need to slow down,” he panted as he drew up beside them. “I almost lost you.”
“We found the tree!” Emily cried with excitement.
Charlotte joined in, jumping and pointing up.
“That’s a bit big,” Roy said.
He looked tired today. Depressed. There were dark circles beneath his eyes.
“It’s not too big,” Emily said. “The ceilings are very high.”
Charlotte, as always, followed her sister’s lead. “It’s not too big! Please can we get it, Daddy?”
Roy Mitchell rubbed a hand over his face with exasperation. “Don’t test my patience, Charlotte,” he snapped. “Choose something smaller.”
Emily saw Charlotte recoil. Neither of them liked to anger their father and neither could understand how they had. It seemed like the smallest of things annoyed him these days. He was always distracted by something or other, always looking over his shoulder at shadows only he could see.
But Emily’s main concern was Charlotte. Always Charlotte. The little girl looked like she was on the brink of tears. Emily slipped her mittened hand into hers.
“This way,” she cried brightly. “There are smaller trees over here!”
And just like that, Charlotte cheered up, comforted by her older sister. They ran off through the snow together, leaving their frowning, distracted father to chase after them.
Just then, Emily snapped back into the present day. The snow of the past was no longer falling on the present, the Christmas trees of decades earlier felled and replaced with these new, young trees. She was back to the here and now but it took her a moment to reorient herself with her surroundings, to see Chantelle standing before her rather than Charlotte.
During Emily’s blackout, they’d manage to walk deep into the depths of the field. Here, the trees were so tall they cast shadows over everything, blocking out daylight. Emily shuddered, feeling colder now that the winter sun was hidden.
Up ahead, Chantelle was gazing at the tallest tree on the whole farm. It was at least fifteen feet tall.
“This is the one!” she cried, grinning from ear to ear.
Emily smiled. She wasn’t going to be like her father, dashing a child’s spirits. If Chantelle wanted the tallest tree on the farm, she was going to get it.