Christmas For Scrooge

Valentine frowned up at the tree. He eyed it from top to bottom, side to side, and then frowned deeper. After a beat he stalked around the tree's wide base and then stopped once he reached the please he started. He frowned so deeply his face hurt.

The tree didn't belong and he swore it hadn't been there the last time he'd walked by this spot. For starters it was a spruce in a fruit orchard. But what was really weird, perhaps even a little alarming, were the colorful, reflective orbs that hung from its fragrant branches. He could see his distorted reflection in them and it, the strangeness of the whole thing, was a touch unnerving.

Valentine did have to admit one thing, though. The tree was rather pretty.