The Christmas Tree Place

Charlie’s Dream: Tuesday, January 16, 2001
Posted October 23, 2009

There’s a house on Conde Street, near Mom and Dad’s, where the people always decorate in grand style for Halloween. Beyond that house, there is only one other house on the block in real life, but in the dream there were three. And they were all torn down to make room for a new Christmas tree place.

Naturally we had to go and see it. The place was still under construction but was already open for visitors. As we looked around, months passed, and the building was soon completed. People manned the posts at the various exhibits inside. It was clear by now that it was a major tourist attraction, not just a Christmas tree store. Among the people working there were my brother and sister. Also, “little people” were everywhere, hanging from Santa suits, ceilings and eave troughs like little elves. But these were not mere decorations, but REAL LIVE little people who were being paid for the job. Someone must have had a lot of money!

It became apparent that there was magic in this place, REAL magic! People began discovering that they had special powers of various sorts. I had a power too: mine was super speed and strength. I could run like the wind or throw a ball so high that it would disappear into the sky. But some had evil powers. A teenage boy with psychic ability was messing with my mind! I threw a ball and beaned him on the head from a distance of 900 feet, an easy throw for me. But I worried that I might have hurt the boy, so I tried to find out if he was all right. I checked the address file to see where he lived. Somehow our little green file box was now sitting in a nearby field. It was about two feet across and was filled with enormous file cards and even telephone books! I looked in there for quite a while and turned up nothing. Finally, Mom got ahold of me by phone and told me that she had been in contact with the boy. Not only was he all right, but he had turned from evil to good! She even gave me his phone number, so I called him and talked with him for a couple of minutes.

Late that afternoon, we went back to Mom’s. Kites were visible in the sky; someone, probably several people, were flying kites with various Christmas themes: a Christmas tree, a reindeer, a Santa Claus and things like that. It was really cool.

It was really awesome later, when night fell. They were still flying the kites, but now they were lit up! It wasn’t so awesome, however, when the kites began falling from the sky… in MOM’S BACK YARD! I tried to dodge it, but the reindeer fell SMACK ON MY HEAD! Fortunately, it was lightweight, so I wasn’t hurt… only angry. But my anger only increased when I saw what happened next. The people flying the kites were all standing on a platform pulled by a farm tractor, and the tractor came right through the yard! I chewed them out and chased them all away. They scattered like flies, afraid of my super powers.

Back behind the Christmas tree place, someone announced that the Christmas caroling would begin. Suddenly the festivities began, with various decorated vehicles seemingly coming “out of the woodwork!” There was a horse drawn sleigh with a Santa Claus; a trolley car of some sort; bicycles and mopeds all decorated in holiday style. And there were also many people on foot, all dressed in holiday costumes. Those who had the ability to do so were flying, including myself (I just discovered that I could).

We went to the first house and burst into it as if in a terrible hurry. Music started, apparently from a tape or CD soundtrack. Everyone began singing a familiar carol, in harmony. It was beautiful. When it was over, someone passed some snacks around to eat. Then we all hurried on to the next house and sang another song: “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…” The harmony was so beautiful, and the feeling of warmth and good cheer was overwhelming! But then the music speeded up toward the end, and voices trailed off as people lost their places. Finally it came to the end, and I figured out where we were in the music. “Right within… YOUR…” I belted out, and the others all joined in: “HEART!” Everyone laughed and hugged… and I woke up from the dream.