A Treehouse for Charlsea

In Charlsea’s journal she writes that designing and building a tree house in the back yard is one of her dreams.  Maplelea Fan Shannon sent us this creative Photo Story of the dream becoming a reality!

As usual Charlsea, Kam, Loops and The Empress were outside enjoying the trees.  But, typical of The Empress, it was moments before she was back way up high in the limbs of the tree named Herman.  

“Empress…..Empress! You get down here lickity split!”, shouts Charlsea in frustration.  When The Empress was high up in the tree, it takes forever to get her down.

“Say, Herman”, muses Charlsea, “I wonder…would you allow me to build a tree fort up above your head?”

“Why certainly,” says Herman, “I would love the company.”  

With a lot of struggle Charlsea got her first piece of wood in place.  There she sat now, alongside the Empress.  "This is going to be so cool", she thought.

Jenna came over and checked it out, with Fox and Mackenzie in tow.  “Wow Charlsea…a tree fort!  This is going to be epic!”

Charlsea just finished lacing up the second of her heavy boots.  When one is going to do carpentry, it is never smart to wear sandals, rubber boots or even sneakers.  The day was wonderfully hot but Charlsea didn’t mind at all putting on her work boots.  She sticks her pencil behind her ear.  “Do you put a pencil behind your ear?” 

“I’ve got no ears”, pipes up Herman.  Charlsea jumped! 

 “Oh Herman. Did I say that out loud? I thought I was thinking that.”, Charlsea responded.  “See, I got a tool box of kid-sized tools, and even a carpentry apron, though it is a bit big”. 

“So I see you are calling your creation a Tree Fort,” notices Herman.  “I was hoping for a Tree House", he continued with a slight tone of disappointment in his voice.  

“Well…. that depends”, says Charlsea.  “It depends on how well I make it.  I’m starting out small so I’m calling it a Tree Fort, but it could turn into a Tree House.  Well, maybe it even could be a Tree Mansion….”

“Oh no”, says Herman”, and he rolls his eyes. 

Time to get to work, but just then who should come outside but Papa and his friend, Jim, and they had grown-up tools. 

Jim lifted Charlsea onto the tree house porch, and together they peered into the house through the front window.  “Just completely epic!”, Charlsea exclaimed.

“The front porch is perfect”, smiled Charlsea, as she walked from one end to the other.

As Charlsea went through the front door she was already imagining sleepovers high up in her treehouse.

I shall have to make curtains for the window.  A crow or squirrel might look in on me during the night, she thought as she looked back out through her front window.

Once back on the ground she chatted on excitedly to Herman about the magnificent house.  “Oh, I know,” she says.  “I’ll get a mirror and show you Herman.  There can you see it?”  “Well,” he says in his woody voice, “I can see myself, and I’m seeing the same thing I see from here the underneath of the house.”

“There, Is that a better angle?”, asks Charlsea.  “Oh, I can see the Empress has made it up there already”, says Herman. 

“How’s this Herman? Hurry look, the mirror is heavy.”   

“Awww, it is perfect” says Herman.  “I was worried it was going to be a Tree Fort, and you know well a fort was not my dream for my upper limbs, and a Tree Mansion, well a mansion would just be way to heavy for me to constantly hold way up there, but this is just immensely PERFECT--a Tree House.  I love it, and I shall love all the company it brings along with it.”

Charlsea slipped off the corner of the verandah onto the tire swing and happily imagined the summer tree house adventures to come.