Bass

There once lived a Christmas Tree that waited all year for December to come. No, let’s go back. There once lived a Christmas Tree that wanted to come alive by December. No, this might not be precise. So let’s go back one last time. There once live a Christmas tree decorator who went by the name Bass. She was named Bass by her father, a lover of Bass instruments, which provided the other instruments' rhythmic foundation. He wanted to inspire his daughter to be humble in stature but go deep into whatever she did. Bass grew up under the weight of her father’s expectations. Every time a bass musician came on the stereo, which was all the time, her father would ruffle her hair to remind her what her name meant. Considering he was a stay-at-home father obsessed with bass music, he was ruffling her hair all the time, and she was sick of pushing the hair off her eyes. 

Her father would jump around like a maniac when ‘Graham Central Station’ started to play. She also loved them but would silently enjoy the music to add fuel to the fire that light in her father’s head. It was very easy to excite her father when Larry Graham, the bass guitarist, did what he did. She would often listen to them alone when she did not have to keep pushing her hair off her face. Their song ‘Hair’ was her favorite song, and she would often hum the lyrics in her head:

Black or blonde or nappy or fair

You can't judge nobody by hair

If I thought that you would care

I'd wear a wig up under my hair

Down or high, truth or lie

A weak man's laugh can be

A strong man's cry

People ask me everywhere.

Is that really all your hair?

I just tell them if it ain't

Well, it sho' don't mean that now

I cain't

I just don't believe it's fair

To judge a man by the

Length of his hair

Unlike her father’s expectations, Bass grew up to be a great procrastinator. It is tough for a procrastinator to meet deadlines, and to her, disappointment Christmas came with a deadline. “Why did I become a Christmas decorator” she would often wonder. She was a great Christmas Tree designer and people who didn’t want any other designer, but Bass knew they were inviting deep trouble every year. They would wait for Bass to show up and spend days leading up to Christmas fretting over the naked tree. Bass was terrified of December, which was supposed to be the happiest time of the year for everyone else. 

She would avoid calls, skip appointments and generally be at her wit’s end during Christmas. It had been 5 years since her father had died, and she could now play music as loudly as she wanted without her hair dancing all over her face.  To get over her hysterical customers, she would shut herself in her room and play the ‘Family Affair’ as loud as she could.

Nobody wants to blow.

Nobody wants to be left out, uh-huh

You can't leave, 'cause your heart is there

But, sure, you can't stay, 'cause you been somewhere else

You can't cry 'cause you'll look broke down

But you're cryin' anyway 'cause you're all broke down

It's a family affair

It's a family affair

It's a family affair

It's a family affair

Oh, hey, a family affair

It's a family affair

It's a family affair