One Last Word About Christmas

Yes, Christmas is over, but late stories are better than no stories at all!

I had a pretty decent Christmas. Good food, good music, and a family less shattered than usual all helped to make it special. I hope everyone had a similar experience. After all, Christmas is supposed to be a happy day, right?

Anyways, here's one last post about Christmas to hold you over for another 364 days. 

I hope you enjoy it and keep coming back each day for more poetry and stories from the eyes of Alex Arlington.

Photo by Kristen Nicholl

“Regalos para mi”

“Merry Christmas!” she shouts.  My step mother stares at me with hopeful  eyes while my father plays with a new gadget on the couch. She slides a large box across the floor to me.

Bright-red wrapping paper with green stripes and a sparkling blue bow; all I can manage to do is stare at it. If there’s a hidden secret to this mysterious box, I haven’t caught it yet.

“Open it!” she insists while holding her smartphone in picture-taking position. For a few moments more, I contemplate the gift before I move my hands to tear off the colorful wrapping.

Maybe… Hope fills the back of my mind as I tear the last bit of paper off of the box. Stark-white without a single mark to indicate its contents. Just maybe… I open the box slowly and pull out its contents. A new game system, fresh from Sony, is now clasped between my hands. I guess not…

“I wasn’t sure what to get you,” my step mother states, “but the man at Best Buy said that this was a popular item this year, and I knew you liked video games.” Three games sit in the bottom of the box with some candy that’d been thrown in to fill space.

I don’t let out the sigh which comes up my throat. I don’t let my frown show. How could she have known? I can’t blame her. Instead, a smile is put upon my face. It’s sincere, even if not my first emotion.

“Thank you!” I say brightly, bringing satisfaction to her worried face. “I’ve been wanting this for a while.” I hold the console up a bit and force my smile larger. A few shutter sounds indicate the pictures she takes.

“I’m glad you like it, sweetie,” her relief and smile never fade, even for a second. “Who wants brownies?” She stands up as my dad grumbles something from the couch. She leaves the room, taking my excited look as my consent.

Still, as she turns away, I look down and lose my smile. My eyes take in the new game console. I guess I shouldn’t complain. I had wanted this too, right? But my thoughts are little comfort against my wish for Audrey to suddenly appear…For the contents of the box to suddenly be some sort of sign that she’s come back…

“Brownie time!” my step mother exclaims cheerfully as she enters the living room once more. A silver tray covered in brownies brownies rests upon her upturned hands. Instantly, my smile returns, and I silently promise not to let it fade for the rest of the day.