Gifts

Why do we open gifts?

An unopened gift is perfect. It cannot upset you, because it’s something you never wanted. It’s not something close enough to your dreams to make you happy, but too far away from them to make you ecstatic. As long as it remains unopened it could be all you ever dreamed of and more.

 

It wasn’t a very original thought and generations of young people arrived at it at some point of their lives. Nevertheless, it was an important turning point in their lives. They had to decide why they kept opening them, despite knowing they’d be disappointed.

 

And so, Adam dwelt on this problem, watching the Christmas gifts he had received. They were all nice, some of them were even amazing, but deep, deep down he knew they weren’t that one thing he had dreamt of. It would have been easier if he could specify what his dream was, but that thought remained fleeting and out of reach, fluttering at the edges of his conciousness like a dragonfly—too quick to catch.

 

Maybe, just maybe, next Christmas, he should leave one gift unopened? Hide it, so that whoever gave it to him, wouldn’t be upset? And then he’d take it out and look at it and muse. He’d admire how complete it seemed: a mystery unsolved. The words had a thrilling ring to them and held promise.

 

He took a CD and watched it for a moment. He had wanted it—he couldn’t be possibly upset about getting it. No, that wasn’t it. He wasn’t upset; he was certain of that. After all, all the gifts he received had been nice. It was much more complicated than that. Having arrived at this conclusion, he put down the CD back on the table. He’d put it with his other CDs tomorrow.

 

So, why had he opened all of his gifts? Why hadn’t he stopped today? He must have known the one amazing gift was not going to come. Such a conclusion does not come out of nowhere. It must have been lurking somewhere in the depths of his mind, waiting for the right moment to emerge.

 

If only he could figure out why kept opening the gifts. It was somehow important and that the solution was at the edges of his thoughts.

 

And then his mother called and he had to help her do the washing up. They talked a bit too.

 

“Did you like the gifts, dear?” she asked, handing him a wet plate so that he’d dry it.

 

“Of course, mom,” Chris replied.

 

“You seemed a bit disappointed to me,” his mother said, a hint of reproach in her voice. Obviously, she noticed it when he unpacked the gift that was from his grandparents, otherwise she’d just be upset.

 

“We-ell,” he said, pausing. How should he explain it? And then it hit him. He knew! “It’s not I didn’t like it. But… as long as the gift is unopened, you can hope for the whole universe to fit inside, right?”

 

And his mother laughed.

Author's Note

As always: if you see any way I could improve this, please tell me.

Reviews

[A sea person]

Thank you for submitting this to my contest! Sorry it took so long for me to get around to reading it! :)

Great job!

v.r.
a-sea-person

[Joanna Maharis]

This is a great piece. Everything flows beautifully. The title is what attracted my attention to the story, and then I wanted to know more.

Take Care,

Joanna Maharis

[269]

:D a good idea (it actually works) :P )