The Christmas Tree Fiasco By Ms. Jodi Lee Conrad

It was a snowy winter evening and Ms. Conrad was enjoying this joyful season by sipping on eggnog, listening to holiday music, and putting up the Christmas tree. She put 25 of her favorite ornaments on the tree this year. 1.

2. She just added the 25 th ornament to the tree and stood back to admire her lovely decorating job. She was just about to pat herself on the back for all her hard work when out of no where, Oliver came pouncing through the living room looking rather mischievous.

3. Before Ms. Conrad could yell “STOP!”, Oliver pounced on the Christmas tree, knocking 5 ornaments to the ground. “Oh, Oliver!”, Ms. Conrad exclaimed. With that, Oliver scurried out of the living room with his tail between his legs looking rather remorseful. Now there are only 20 ornaments left on the tree.

4. Ms. Conrad cleaned up the mess left by the 5 broken ornaments and was just about to sit down to relax and admire her brilliantly beautiful tree, when all of a sudden before Ms. Conrad could yell “STOP!”, Oliver pounced on the Christmas tree, knocking 5 more ornaments to the ground. “Oh, Oliver!”, Ms. Conrad shouted. With that, Oliver scurried out of the living room with his tail between his legs looking rather remorseful. Now there are only 15 ornaments left on the tree.

5. Ms. Conrad cleaned up the mess left by the 5 broken ornaments and was just about to sit down to relax and admire the twinkling of her terrific tree, when all of a sudden before Ms. Conrad could yell “STOP!”, Oliver pounced on the Christmas tree, knocking 5 more ornaments to the ground. “Oh, Oliver!”, Ms. Conrad bellowed. With that, Oliver scurried out of the living room with his tail between his legs looking rather remorseful. Now there are only 10 ornaments left on the tree.

6. Ms. Conrad cleaned up the mess left by the 5 broken ornaments and was just about to sit down to relax and admire the radiance of her respectable tree, when all of a sudden before Ms. Conrad could yell “STOP!”, Oliver pounced on the Christmas tree, knocking 5 more ornaments to the ground. “Oh, Oliver!”, Ms. Conrad hollered. With that, Oliver scurried out of the living room with his tail between his legs looking rather remorseful. Now there are only 5 ornaments left on the tree.

7. Ms. Conrad cleaned up the mess left by the 5 broken ornaments and was just about to sit down to relax and admire the sparkle of her spectacular tree, when all of a sudden before Ms. Conrad could yell “STOP!”, Oliver pounced on the Christmas tree, knocking 5 more ornaments to the ground. “Oh, Oliver!”, Ms. Conrad hollered. With that, Oliver scurried out of the living room with his tail between his legs looking rather remorseful. Now there are 0 ornaments left on the tree.

8. Ms. Conrad cleaned up the mess left by the 5 broken ornaments and was just about to sit down to relax and admire the loveliness of her very lonely tree, when all of a sudden before Ms. Conrad could yell “STOP!”, Oliver pounced on her lap and began to purr very loudly. “Oh, Oliver!”, Ms. Conrad responded. With that, Oliver continued to snuggle up to Ms. Conrad and purr into the wee hours of the evening.

About The Author Ms. Conrad teaches first grade at Abraham Lincoln School in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. She loves her cat Oliver, even though sometimes he can be very mischievous.