Suddenly perceiving a dangerous situation, and deciding to take care of it herself, Sage whispers to the cats and ducks and they all discreetly (for cats and ducks) climb and flutter up into the brown and tinder dry tree in the rafters and remove the various glass ornaments and set them aside on the beams above. Sage signals to MMario behind the bar to push the botton on the left behind the coffee maker--no, on the LEFT! That's it--to open the big skylight on the west side of the tavern. Moonglow sets aside her math homework and climbs up to the beam to untangle the harness that the tree was suspended in. Sage nudges the slightly sloshed Rustic Rebel down one place at the bar and reaches behind it to push the button for the trebuchet harness and the dry tree rotates slowly, then lower, and finally shifts angles and is suddenly ejected butt-end first out of the skylight and lands on the far side of the gravel parking lot with a barely audible thud. Dry brown needles with the wonderful scent of the nobel fir sprinkle down onto the bar and floor. The new large fresh tree will be arriving soon. . .don't forget the ornaments are stashed on the beams.

"Whew! That could have turned this place into a fire trap!" Moonglow climbs down and resumes her work. The bartender slips her a nice hot mug of mulled cider and receives a breathtakingly gorgeous smile.