27 days 4 hours 15 mins 53 sec

The wind howled, causing the house to shudder.  Outside, the snow piled in high drifts, transforming the yard into a frozen tundra.  The moonlight cast an eerie glow on the lonely landscape.  Turning away from the window, Lizzy confronted the task that lay before her: decorating for Christmas.  She had been forming a plan for decorating while hauling up the boxes from the basement.  The tree would stand in the corner, becoming the focal point of the room.  Although it was more economic to buy a fake tree, Lizzy promised herself that she would buy live trees as long as she lived.  She loved the way they smelled, loved how it was like bringing a piece of nature inside the house.  This year's tree was about six feet tall and pretty "chubby" as trees go.  The best kind, she thought.


Reaching into a box, Lizzy pulled out three strings of colored lights.  She would only decorate with colored lights, and she would only decorate with the regular lights; not the new LED ones.  It was important to her that the decorations look traditional, and the LED lights just looked to "clean" and bright.  "Shoot!" one of the bulbs needed to be replaced, and she didn't feel like testing each light in the strand.  Setting the strand aside, she dug out the gold and maroon ribbon.  Singing along with the Christmas music, she wove the ribbon throughout the branches.  The tree was already transforming from the twinkling lights and ribbon.  Next, Lizzy found the box with the glass bulbs.  It would take her a good ten minutes before she untangled all the ornament hooks and start hanging the bulbs.


At last, she began placing the colored glass balls all over the tree.  A blue one here, a red one there.  The backside could use a little more green, she thought.  The fire crackled, sending up a shower of sparks.  It's getting a bit toasty in here.  Despite the heat, she walked into the kitchen and make a cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream on top.  Turning back to the tree, she decided to put the special ornaments on next.  There were the handmade ones: the Santa, snowman, gingerbread man, and the snowflakes.  Then on went the crystal ornaments of the dove and cross.  The final touch was adding the tinsel.  The tinsel was special to her because it wasn't something her family had every year.  It was too dangerous to have around her tiny siblings, or the cat might accidentally swallow it.  Now that she was on her own, she could douse the entire tree in tinsel if she wanted to.  She didn't douse the tree, but carefully placed the right amount in all the right places.  The tinsel was her favorite part of the tree.  She loved how the tree sparkled.


Taking a step back, Lizzy surveyed her handiwork.  It's beautiful, she thought.  As her spirit swelled with joy and pride, she turned to the rest of the room saying, "Now, what are we going to do with you?"