Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Torn Gift Wrap





Here's a little short story as my gift to you this Christmas...

Kiersten held her breath and listened carefully to the purr of the garage door lowering. She peeked out of her bedroom window to make sure Mom and Dad were on their way to Mom’s office party. To be safe, Kiersten tapped on her brother Kyle’s bedroom door and stuck her head inside. Yep, he left, too—probably hanging out with friends. She had the house to herself. 

She raced into the master bedroom and threw the closet door open. Where did Mom hide them this year? Her ponytail bounced as she hopped up and down, trying to see if Mom tucked any shopping bags up on the shelf. Nothing. She chewed her lip. Where would they be? She bent over to peer into the shadows underneath Mom’s dresses. Hmm. Was that box there before?

Kiersten kicked aside some shoes and dragged the large cardboard box out into the open. She lifted one flap. And there they were. Christmas presents! Last year she found the presents still unwrapped. Mom was ahead of schedule this year. Darn. Kiersten glanced at the clock on the nightstand. They shouldn’t be home for at least an hour. Did she dare?

Yes, of course she dared. Kiersten ran downstairs to the kitchen to fetch a letter opener and scotch tape. Before she could get back to the bedroom, she heard a clicking noise and froze. What was that? When she realized the noise was the whoosh of the furnace fan, Kiersten relaxed. 

Her slipper fell off on the way back up the steps, but she simply kicked off the other one rather than fetch one lousy slipper. Back in the closet, Kiersten carefully slit the tape on the first gift and released it from the paper. Oh! A Younker’s Department Store box. It must be that cashmere sweater she asked for. Pleased, the nosy tween lifted the lid. Oh yuck. It’s a hideous flannel granny gown. 

She opened another present, the size of a glove box. But instead of the concert tickets she hoped for, the box contained the ugliest Christmas socks in the history of Christmas socks. What was Mom thinking? 

One present left. A jewelry box? She opened one end, thinking she could just slide the box from the wrapping. Oh no! One edge of the box ripped a long tear in the paper. She can fix that. She opened the box and felt like crying when she saw the tacky Christmas jewelry inside. How could Mom get it so wrong this year?

Then she heard the back door open. Yikes! She could hear footsteps on the stairs and held her breath until Kyle’s bedroom door closed and strains of music seeped out. As quickly as she could, she re-wrapped the presents, patched the one with tape, dropped them into the cardboard box, and shoved it back into place. She carefully put Mom’s shoes back in a neat row in front of the box and slipped out of the closet. The door closed with a soft click.
 
“Oof!” She crashed into Kyle in the hallway.

“What were you doing in there?” Kyle asked.

“I was, uh, looking for…” Kiersten’s mind spun. “... for, uh, my slippers. I thought I might have left them in there when I was talking to Mom earlier.” 

“They’re on the stairs, Brat. I could have broken my neck.” Kyle grinned. “As compensation, why don’t you go fetch me a plate of those Christmas cookies? And a glass of chocolate milk.”

Kiersten scowled, but skipped down to the kitchen to comply. While fixing up the treat, she heard the garage door hum; followed by the slam of car doors and the sound of Mom and Dad bellowing out Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer

“Sounds like you two had a good time,” she said. “Want some cookies?”

“Heavens, no! I’m stuffed from the party.” Mom kissed Kiersten’s cheek. “But you are so sweet to ask.” 

For the next week-and-a-half, Kiersten focused on two things. The first was being the best kid in the world–the kind of kid who would never sneak around and open gifts ahead of time. The next was practicing how to sound surprised and pleased when she opened the presents on Christmas Day. It wasn’t easy. She knew she hated the gifts. Maybe Mom would let her exchange them for something better after Christmas. But that would hurt her feelings, wouldn’t it? Why did she ever open those presents? Stupid, stupid, stupid. 

Christmas morning finally came. Kiersten planned to find the gift with the torn wrapping paper first. Mom must not have noticed when she put them under the tree, but Kiersten could still get caught.

“I’ll pass the presents out,” Kiersten volunteered. “You guys just sit there and enjoy your coffee. You too, Kyle. I’ve got this.” 

But Kiersten couldn’t find that box. The other two presents were there, but not the little jewelry box. “Is that everything?” She looked at her mother.

Mom nodded. “Why? Were you hoping for more?”

Kyle made a face. “You know things are tough this year, Brat. Don’t be so greedy.”

Kiersten felt the sting of tears, but she swallowed them away. She watched the others open presents instead of tearing into her two. Somehow, she just didn’t feel very enthusiastic. She caught her Dad looking at her with concern written all over his face. With a deep breath, she opened the bigger gift with exaggerated care. 

But it wasn’t a granny gown. This was the softest pink cashmere sweater she had ever seen. It was perfect! She reached for the other package and… concert tickets! Four of them. Enough to take her best friends!

“And one more, sweetheart.” 

Kiersten looked up and saw her mother holding out a jewelry box, in a completely different wrapping paper than before. Kiersten turned bright red. 

“Go ahead,” Mom said and tossed it into Kiersten’s lap.

Kiersten opened it to find a sterling silver charm bracelet with one charm—a tiny wrapped present with a bow on top. 

“My mother gave me one when I was your age,” Mom said. “I had such fun collecting charms for years. I hope you like it.”

“It’s beautiful, Mom,” Kiersten whispered. “But I don’t deserve any of these gifts. What happened to the others? The ones I was supposed to get?”

“Others? You mean the gifts for the Giving Tree at church?” Mom turned to Dad. “You dropped those off last week, didn’t you?”

“Yeah.” Dad looked confused. “Why? Did the secretary tell you she had to re-wrap one? It must have bounced around in the back of the car and the wrapping tore. I swear it wasn’t my fault.”

Kiersten hung her head in shame. “It was my fault. I tore the wrapping. I snooped.”

Kyle laughed. “You? You’re little miss perfect.”

Tears slid down Kiersten’s cheek. “I’m so ashamed. You should take these presents back. I’ve ruined Christmas.”

Mom moved to the floor next to Kiersten and gave her a big hug. “It’ll never happen again, will it?”

Kiersten shook her head.

Dad laughed—a genuine belly laugh. “Ask your mother how she knows it will never happen again.”

Kiersten looked at her mother. 

Mom grinned. “Let’s just say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

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