Remember When?

Prologue:

“Eunmi-ya! Let’s take a picture!” One of Eunmi’s friends, Jooyoung, exclaimed, pulling Eunmi with her so that the two stood in front of the massive Christmas tree, and then holding out Eunmi’s camera as far out as her arm would allow to take the photo of the two girls with the tree in the background.

“Do you want me to take a picture with just you in front of the tree?” Jooyoung asked, still in possession of Eunmi’s camera.

“Sure,” Eunmi replied, smiling. Eunmi got closer and stood next to the giant tree, putting on a nice grin for the camera. The flash popped in her eyes as the photo took.

“Awww! You look so precious!” said Jooyoung, handing Eunmi back her camera. She then proceeded to jump in front of another of their friends, Miri, who was trying to take a single shot of the Christmas tree with her own camera. “Yah!” Miri cried, while the flash popped and the photo shown on Miri’s camera screen, Jooyoung’s flailing arms covering most of the tree. Miri playfully pushed Jooyoung out of the way and took another shot, this time, capturing the beautiful tree.

“Man, I really need my own camera,” Jooyoung pouted.

Smiling at her friends, Eunmi herself took a single shot of the large Christmas tree, admiring its precious beauty. The Enormous, pine tree was an annual favorite of the town’s Christmas fair, with its incredible size, amazing adornments, and brilliant light display.

Eunmi lived in a very small town in the middle of nowhere. The town had one school for all grade levels from Kindergarten to high school, one post office, one movie theater, and no mall or shopping center. Everyone in town knew everyone, or knew their parents, or got to know everyone some way or another.

It was around 7:00pm on a chilly Christmas Eve. Each Christmas Eve, all of the townspeople worked together to celebrate Christmas with a town fair. Every family and household contributed to the fair, making it an exciting spectacle for all the people to look forward to. The giant Christmas tree was one of its main attractions, as Mr. Kim, the owner of the town’s hardware store, led a group of the town’s men into the nearby forest each year to find the biggest pine tree to use. Mr. Kim and his party never disappointed the town, finding a tree three times the size of an average man each year.

 The tree decorations were also a work of several of the townspeople, including Mrs. Ahn and her sowing circle, who made amazing bead ornaments for the tree, as well as the elementary school kids who made their own ornaments with the help of Mr. and Mrs. Jung, the town’s potters. On the bottom of the tree, all of the townspeople hung their own paper ornaments with their holiday wishes written inside. Bunches of the pre-made paper was laid out at the base of the tree during the fair, and everyone came up, wrote their wishes, and hung the ornaments right there and then.

Ever since she could remember, Eunmi had enjoyed her Christmas at the town fair, even if some of the things were repetitive year after year. Until middle school, she visited the fair with her family. Then, it became a fun outing with friends. But since last year, when Eunmi and her friends had become high schoolers, her friends had decided that they didn’t want to enjoy the fair anymore. They concluded that the fair was either for kids or old people in town. Coming to see the spectacular Christmas tree and writing their wishes on the ornaments were one of the only parts Eunmi’s friends deemed worthy of doing at the fair.

This saddened Eunmi. She didn’t understand why they couldn’t have fun at the fair now, just because they were in high school. She still wanted to go around and taste the holiday foods people made or play games and earn prizes, not sneak off, drink, and do drugs while everyone else in town was at the fair. High school. Why did that have to change everything?

Eunmi’s friends were now busy writing their wishes on their paper ornaments at the base of the tree. She quickly strolled over to join them and grabbed one of the pretty papers.

“I’m wishing for a camera guys, so in case one of you end up with a load of extra cash, take the hint,” Jooyoung commented, as she hung her paper ornament on a lower branch of the tree.

Eunmi thought for a moment, then began to write, tentatively. ‘I’d love to enjoy the holidays at the fair, just like I used to.’

Quickly folding the paper, Eunmi hung her ornament in a spot concealed by several branches.

“What did you wish for, Eunmi-ya?” Miri asked.

“Ohh, you know, good grades, good health, stuff like that,” Eunmi lied.

“You’re so old-fashioned Eunmi!” Jooyoung chided, taking both Eunmi’s and Miri’s arms and leading them away. Eunmi only had the chance to look back for one quick second at the bright Christmas tree, stretching far up into the sky with its glittering decorations.

********