Merry Christmas

Set in the far future, a young boy discovers the true nature of "Gift Day".

            "Gramps?" the younger man called as he knocked on the partially opened door. The old man was sitting on his bed, going through a box of memorabilia and looked up with a smile.

            "Come in, Jasper. Come in." The younger man smiled as he opened the door and a boy of 10 ran in.

            "Hi, Great Gran'pa!" he yelled as he gave the old man a tight hug.

            "You keep growin' every time I see you, boy," the old man said with a chuckle.

            "What's all this, Gramps?" the younger man asked.

            "Oh, just some old things of mine. I like to go through 'em now and then. Brings back my youth." The boy looked into the box. With curiosity, he pulled out an old card.

            "Careful, son," the younger man said.

            "I will. What kind of card is this?" On the front was a drawing of a mother with her baby. The old man gently took it with a smile and drew the boy near him.

            "This, my boy, was the very last Christmas card ever sold." He opened it and took out the old newspaper clipping, which had a picture of a woman handing the card to her 10-year-old son. "That's my mother and I when they took our picture. I was your age." The younger man sat in a chair to listen.

            "But what's a 'Christmas card'?"

            "Christmas... It used to be a holiday, December 25th. Oh, they kept it as such for about 15 years after this picture was taken, but Christmas cards were banned because 'they made one religion seem more special than the others,' the politicians said. Then Christmas itself was done away with, turned into Gift Day and changed so it fell on a Friday every year."

            "I like Gift Day," the boy said.

            "I know you do, but Christmas was special for other reasons. You see, this little baby on the card is a drawing of Jesus the Christ. And that's his mother, Mary. Christmas, December 25th, was known as the day he was born a very long time ago so that mankind may be redeemed for our sins.

            "God had given us a gift on that day, which we remembered by giving others gifts. But those who didn't believe in that first gift made Christmas illegal." He touched the woman in the picture fondly. "Funny, I still remember what my momma said when she gave me this card. She said, 'They may be able to take Christmas from our vocabulary, Robert, but they can never take it from our hearts. Always remember who gave it to us and why. No one can take Him from you.'" A tear rolled down the old man's cheek. "I do remember, Momma." The boy read the inside of the card then looked up at his great-grandfather.

            "Merry Christmas, Great Gran'pa," the boy said and the old man kissed his forehead.

            "Yes. Merry Christmas, Timmy."

 

--The End--

Reviews

[A sea person]

Beautifully well written!

The terrible thing is that one can actually see this happening in the future. The rational listed in the story is one being tossed about even now with regards to "Christmas Break" versus "Winter Break" and other Christian holidays. This is a frightening look into the future of this Christian observance of the birth of the Christ-Child.

Thank you for submitting this to my Christmas contest!