hang a shining star upon the highest bough

[intheruins]

The practice seems wasteful to Serena in two ways. The first being that she lives out in the country where next to nobody lives or will see the lights, the second being that where she's from, electricity was a luxury and anyone who used it for such frivolity would be considered absurd.

Of course, Darrow is known for its absurdity and it seems like Christmas lights are just par for the course during the modern Christmas. The lights themselves barely use up any electricity, anyway, and when Serena sees the way that George responds to the decorations on the trees and the twinkling of the gold, red and green, she can't help but take matters into her own hands.

It's a simple string of lights in traditional colors and she waits until George is down for his nap to get started, winding the bulbs around the supporting beams of their cabin. In the daylight it looks perfectly ordinary and she's sure from a distance the light wouldn't even be visible, so tonight she'll show her son what she's created. She hopes the formation of new traditions will help to take away the ache of the old.

Comments

[bloodycrescents]

I'm walking Elvis past the house where Serena and her son live when I spot her putting up the lights. It doesn't look like much yet, but I imagine it'll be pretty all lit up when the night comes. Idly I wonder if Effy would like that, the house covered in lights for the holidays. Maybe I'll do it, surprise her, while she's off at work some day this week.

For now, though, I just head towards Serena. It's a lot for one person to do alone, I figure. "Hey," I call out, "you need a hand with that?"