Tree of Light

Faster than a speeding bullet, stronger than steel, able to leap through crowds in a single bound its ..... the super parent doing the last minute shopping! 

It was truely amazing to watch these people .... nay... possessed creatures filled with "your life depends on it" determination to get everything done.

They were taking no prisoners!! 

There were prams that doubled as 4x4 off road vehicles, there were children on leads like a pet but not as loyal & raring to escape into the unknown depths & beyond of any & all toyshops.   There were random fits of dispair & hysterical laughter (from the parents not the children) & there were sobbing partners standing dutifully outside shops holding the luggage ...oops ... I mean shopping.  

And in the midst of it all I watched a family of 4 sit down in the chaotic world that is a pre Christmas food court. Mum looked exhaustedly & lovingly at a pile of bags under which sat an overwhelmed Dad who smiled ever so slightly.

"It's  done", he said ...."it's done".

A little brother cheerily and wearily tucked into a giant piece of pizza roughly the size of a small country (how easy christmas dinner would be if we just went with favourite foods I thought), while his deshevilled fairy-ish sister (I say fairy-ish as she was wearing a glittery tutu but only 1 wing & a Crown?) removed some chocolate left on her outfit & decided if she wanted to eat that or the pasta infront of her. 

Her face glazed over & she could have fallen asleep but something caught her eye in the distance ... over my left shoulder.   I turned & looked. 

A tree. A most colourful, happy and very unnoticed tree playfully beckoned her & then her little brother (pizza demolished) to smile.  The parents were smiling at the children smiling & I couldn't help but smile too. They had survived the pre christmas maddness & in that few seconds taken the time to notice something beautiful,  something different & with no stress attached.  

They would have a great Christmas and that's a joy to behold.

This blip is part of an LED tree hidden out in the open of a bedlam filled food court in Melbourne Central Shopping centre. It's a great tree as far as the unusual goes :) 

PS: I hope she gets the other wing for Christmas :)