Humanity Gone: After the Plague (15 page)

             
I want to change that though, and with Christmas coming up quickly, I think everyone would feel much better if they have some presents to look forward to.  “So what is it?  What would you like?”

             
Jon is breathing deeply over a steaming cup of coffee, blinking and thinking.

             
“I know what he wants,” says Caitlyn.  She walks over to him, and croons her neck forward so that she can look in his eyes.  “Hmmm…” she says.  “I think you want… a tree-house!”

             
Carter laughs at this.  “Did you read that in his mind?”

             
“Uh-huh,” my sister replies.

             
“Caitlyn, we like to call that projection.  In reality, you want a tree-house so you can work on shooting arrows from up high, but since it’s Jon’s turn to pick, you want to believe that he wants it, too.”

             
“No.  Jon wants a tree-house, so we can hunt from it.” she says firmly, frowning at Carter.

             
Now Jon laughs.  “I’ve made my decision, and I would like a tree-house.”

             
“Really?  Yay!” exclaims Caitlyn, turning back to Jon.

             
He shakes his head.  “No, I’m just kidding.” Caitlyn's head sinks. “Anything?  How about some chocolate.  Or at least some fruit.”

             
“Oh my gosh,” continues Jo.  “A chocolate banana split sundae?  I’d die for one.”

             
“So you’re telling me in the middle of a cold winter, for Christmas, you would like a cold dessert?” asks Carter, half through a chuckle.  “Well we already have the fireplace and blankets, but to complete my Christmas wish, we’d need a TV.  I used to love watching movies at night next to the fireplace with my family.”

             
“Ok Caitlyn, now it’s your turn.  What would you like for Christmas?”

             
Caitlyn tries to purse her lips, but the smile that she’s holding back comes through.  “A tree-house.”

             
Jon almost spits his coffee out from how quickly his laughter erupts.  I think I’m laughing more at his face than I am at my sister. 

             
“Well I would like a puppy,” I say after the chuckles have died down.  “Even just to pet for a little bit.  That’s what I’d want for Christmas this year.”

             
As everyone sits around the table dreaming about other things that Christmas might have brought them this year, I decide that these presents need to happen.  The tree-house is easy enough.  Carter just has to build one.  Maybe Jon will help Carter.  They have gotten along this week.  I need to think about the other ones some more.

             
Carter stands up and stretches.  He must be going back outside to light a fire and maybe do some more work on what started as a fire pit and oven has several benches and tables.  If he keeps working on it like this, it'll have a roof by the time spring comes around.  Now is a good a time as any to see if he’ll help me with my Christmas ideas.

             
“Where are you going?” I ask cheerfully.

             
“Just outside.  I think the only thing that would be better than being able to roast these deer and rabbits would be if we could roast them inside. If I can get that oven covered it will make some of the cooking easier.”

             
“I’ll help!”

             
He smiles.  “Well you’d better get bundled up!  We might be out there for a while.”

             
I hurry to gather my jacket and a scarf.  Without gloves, we’ve just been wrapping my hands in towels or others’ scarves and making sure a fire is always going.  Between Carter and Jon, we always have a good supply of wood.

             
While lashing some more tripods together next to the fire pit, already blazing, I start my sales pitch.  “So what is your next project going to be?”

             
He sits for a minute, and looks around the side property for a moment.  “I’m not sure,” he concludes.  “Maybe I’ll build a shed.  We could get some of the clutter out of the cabin itself.”

             
“What if… we built a tree house for Caitlyn instead?”              “What?” he asks while laughing.  “I'm sorry, I don’t mean to laugh.  But you’re serious, huh?”

             
“Yeah!  Why not?”

             
He pauses again, this time, tipping his head and raising his brow at the end.  “You’re right.  We don't have long till Christmas so it'll be more of a platform, but sure, why not? ”

             
“Really?  Great!”  That was easier than I thought.  “Well, I’m kind of thinking that we should try to make everyone’s gift happen.  Can you help me?”

             
“I’ll tell you what, let me look at my calendar to see if I have any pressing appointments.”  Carter mimes an agenda in his hand and scanned through an imaginary calendar.  With a shake of the head, he closes his imaginary book, and he looks back up at me.  “Well, I’m clear until January.  Let’s brainstorm while we finish the little spit!”

             
While we strip some knobs off of some straight, thick branches, we talk about what everyone had mentioned and come up with suitable substitutes for their presents.  I’m just waiting for when Carter will ask what I’m going to do for his present; I don’t have an answer yet.

             
“The tree-house is easy enough.  Jon and I can put one together, even if it’s rudimentary,” he says glancing between random points in the air as he thinks.  “The chocolate, however, will be much more difficult.  What did Jon say?  At least some fruit?”

             
“Uh-huh,” I say, with a proud smile creeping across my face.  “I know exactly what to do.  Caitlyn and I found some berries on a walk with Jo a few weeks ago.”

             
“Oh did you?  What kind of berries?” asks Carter with a little suspicion.

             
“Let’s go look!  It’s not far.”  Just a few minutes later, Carter and I are inspecting the bush that Jo, Cait, and I had found near the end of one of our walks.

             
“Aha!  Do you know what these are?”

             
“No…”

             
“These are elderberries.  They’re everywhere, they’re edible, and,” he pauses to pop one in his mouth, “they’re delicious.”

             
I smile.  We found Jon’s present.  “Can I try one?”

             
“Sure.  Have a few.”  Carter pulls a small stem of the berries off of the plant and hands it to me.

             
“Now what about Jocelyn?” I ask as I pull my first elderberry off of the twig.

             
“Well, if you let me use some of these, I’ll take care of that.  In the meantime, I’m going to teach you how to carve so you can make a bowl for Jon’s present.”

             
We hurry home and finish the second cooking spit.  Carter also enlists Jon’s help with the tree-house.  He never asked about his present…

             
This will be the tricky part.  I have to get the other three to help me with a skit for Carter without them thinking about their own gifts.  I just have to avoid the subject of Christmas.

             
While the boys are out wood-working, I get Jocelyn and Caitlyn to sit down.

             
“Ok,” I begin, clasping my hands together.  “Remember when he said he used to watch movies with his family in front of the fireplace?  We should surprise him one night and put on a play for him!”

             
“Aren’t you thoughtful?” says Jo, smiling.  “Let’s do it.” Caitlyn does not look as excited.

             
Well that was much easier than I thought it would be, too.  Now I just have to make sure that the skit is ready around whenever we celebrate Christmas.

*     *     *

                “Wake up, Sara.  Guess what day it is?”  Jo gently shakes my shoulder.  It doesn’t take long for my drowsy brain to figure out the answer to her question.  Instantly, I’m grinning ear to ear and shooting up in bed.

             
“MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!”  I yell.  I hop out of bed and skip around the room with Caitlyn in my wake.  She’s this excited and she doesn’t even know about her present yet.  She hasn't acted this giddy in a while. The third time we lap the room, we stop in front of the calendar that Jon carved and wait for him to move the nail from December twenty-fourth to the twenty-fifth.

             
“Jon, can we show her?” I ask.

             
Jon smiles and looks at Carter, who is also smiling.  “Sure!  But we have something for you first.”

             
I stop hopping around and look at everyone.  They’re all looking at me with big smiles, too.  “What’s going on?”

             
Carter answers.  “We didn’t want you to be left out of all the gift giving.  Everyone get warm.  We’re going outside.”

             
Oh no, did they all figure out what their presents are?  I’m a little nervous as I put on my jacket and scarf and pull my blanket off the bed.  I’m the last to go outside.

             
The minute I look up once I’m out the door my grin comes right back.  Our front yard has four different snow-sculptures of puppies.

             
“They’re so cute!” I yell.  I jump to the nearest one and look right in its eyes, and I extend my hand to pet him.  He has two different sized acorns as eyes, and a piece of rope around his neck for a collar.  Each time I pet him, a few flakes of snow come with my hand and blow in the gentle gusts.   They must have woken up late last night and done this.

             
“Thank you all so much!”  I don’t know how to express how grateful I am.  For the first time, I realize how much I love them all.

             
“Ok, my turn!” says Caitlyn, with bursting anticipation.  “Jon, you said you had something for me, right?”

             
Jon laughs.  “I did.  We have to take a little walk though.  Come with me.”

             
As we walk into the trees, I jump onto Jon's back and he carries me up the slope.  Jo starts singing “Winter Wonderland,” and Carter joins in.  Soon, we’re all singing, and I turn around to look at everyone’s faces.  The only thing that seems out of place is how Jon keeps looking back and forth between Jo and Carter.  It was no secret that those two have spent a lot of time together.  Jon still wasn't sure about it and there had been some arguments.

             
“…but as long as you love me so…”

             
“Alright, alright, a new one,” says Jon, bringing the carol to an abrupt halt.  “Frosty, the Snowman…” he starts, and we all follow suit.  I could tell Carter was a little irritated.

             
The tree-house isn’t that far into the woods, and we approach it quickly.  As it comes into view, Caitlyn’s excitement and astonishment comes on, but slowly. 

             
“No…” she begins.  “You guys didn’t!  Yay!”  Her enthusiasm turns into a shriek of glee.  I jump off Jon's back and I run with her over to the foot of the host tree where a few rungs of thick sticks lead to the first platform.  There are only two medium-sized platforms and only one has a roof of any sort, but Jon and Carter did an amazing job.

             
For a moment, as Caitlyn and I play, I feel like I’m back in our old living room, pretending to be running around a castle.  I look back and see Jon watching us.  On his face, there’s a new kind of smile: a genuine smile that I don’t think I’ve seen yet.  It's my favorite one.  Behind him, Carter and Jo are throwing snowballs at each other.  One connects, and it startles Jon out of his pleasant daydream.

             
“Alright, alright, that’s enough of that,” he says, turning around slowly.

             
Carter is still laughing.  “Okay.  It’s time for your present anyway.”

             
“My present?” asks Jon, surprised.

             
“Yep.  And yours, too,” replies Carter, addressing Jo.

             
“Really?” asks Jo, with a pleasant grin spreading across her face.

             
I can’t wait to surprise Carter after these, and my anticipation makes the walk home seem even faster than the walk to the tree-house.

             
“This is for you,” I say to Jon, having poured a can of frozen elderberries into the wooden bowl that I carved.

             
“And this is for you,” adds Carter as he hands a cup to Jo.  He had poured elderberry juice into a cup that he fashioned and filled with snow.  It’s no sundae, but it is a cold, fruity dessert.