“Dad! How much further is it? We passed plenty of trees already.”

“Just a little further.”

Scott huffed as his father's response. The snow covered his feet, making it hard to walk, but his dad wasn't having any trouble. One day, he was going to be as big as his dad, and then he wouldn't have any problems in the snow either. Maybe he would even be able to grow a dark beard and mustache like his dad too. His sister whined behind him.

“Come on Lisa, or we're gonna leave you!”

“Don't! I'm coming.”

Scott shook his head, his little sister was always trailing behind him. She sniffled, her nose and cheeks were red from the cold. Strands of blonde hair poked out from her cap. Their mother insisted that she wear so many layers that she could barely put her arms down. Still, she shuffled along, trying to get her much smaller legs to catch up to her brother. Scott stopped when he saw the shine of tears in his sister's eyes. His father would scold him if Lisa started crying. Scott was the big brother, it was his job to make sure was safe. He wasn't really sure what her job was supposed to be.

“Ah! There it is!”

The children's father was a little ways ahead, standing by a tree that was slightly taller than him. He beamed, walking around the tree to ensure it was just right. When he was satisfied, he pulled the saw from his back and started to cut down the tree. Scott and Lisa rubbed their hands, it was colder now that they stopped moving.

“Dad, why did we have to get this tree? There were good ones a lot closer to home,” Scott complained.

“Because, son, it's important that we pick the tree that Saint Nicholas guides us to.”

“Isn't a tree a tree?”

“Do you know why you put a tree up for the last month of the year?”

“To honor the fat man,” Scott said full of sarcasm.

“To honor Saint Nicholas. Watch what you say. All of the forests is his, and you'd be foolish to think he doesn't hear you.”

“Yeah, I know. He knows when I've been bad and all that.”

“If you're bad you don't get a gift!” Lisa added.

“That's right Lisa,” The father chuckled. “But the trees purify the magic of the Fallen Saint, so we are protected.”

“Then why do we need one in our house?” Scott asked.

“During the last month of the year, the Fallen Saint makes a big push to gather those to his side, to insult the Saints before the New Year celebration. He wants it to be a time of sadness rather than joy. We put a tree in the house to make sure we have extra protection.”

Scott's eyebrows furrowed. “And he's just ok with us taking a tree?”

“The tree will grow back.”

“If he's such a Saint, why do we need extra protection? Isn't he strong enough?”

“No matter how strong someone is, you still have to learn to take care of yourself. Saint Nicholas gives us more than enough.”

The father motioned for the children to move back, pushing against the tree. With a loud crack, the tree fell into the snow. Scott and Lisa rushed to help their father tie the tree, each having their own rope to pull it. Lisa began to sing carols as the walked back, quickly aborning her responsibility of pulling the tree for jumping into the snow. They reached the outskirts of their small town around lunchtime, by the estimates of Scott's growling stomach. Ahead of them was old man Phillips, Scott could tell by the ragged clothes and hunch back. He sneered at the family's approach like he always did for people who came to close.

Their father waved. “Good afternoon Mr. Phillips.”

“Hmph, some afternoon Walter,” Mr. Phillips spat on the ground. “It's about that time again, but I'll get'em for sure this year.”

“I'm sure you will. Have a good day,” Walter replied with a polite smile.

Scott watched the man limp away, still mumbling to himself. “Dad, why is Mr. Phillips always so mean?”

“Yeah! I don't like him,” Lisa added.

“Don't be too hard on him. When he was much younger, he lived in the next town over with his mother and brother. One winter, his mother became very ill, and Mr. Phillips left to go get medicine for her. However, on his way back, a bad storm came through, and he didn't make it in time to set up a tree.”

“What happened?” Scott asked.

Walter looked down at his curious son and nervous daughter. “Let's not dwell on that today son. Come on, your mother is waiting for us.”