Corky tipped the bill of her cap back and scratched her forehead, staring up the length of the tall pine.

The 50 foot Douglas Fir had been pampered and protected, carefully mulched and watered, birds chased from its limbs, squirrels scolded, and deer warned to stay away from its trunk. Beautiful and strong , but now splashed and striped with every shade of green, from electric to emerald, from camo to celadon. And neon…Gadzooks!

“Let me see that order again,’ she snapped at her Elf-mate. “You blackguard! This says ‘Evergreen’ not ‘Everygreen’!

“We can’t send this to the Whitehouse!”

© Liz Husebye Hartmann (2016)

Prompt: Painted pine tree, why and what color? Use the word “Blackguard”. (100 words)