Fan Fiction ❯ A Gift From Grandma Elsie ❯ One-Shot

A Surprise for Christmas by Katrina Kadabra

The Johnston family was the biggest family on the block. This year, there were

going to be about thirty people at the house for their annual Christmas celebration. They came there every year on account of it was the only house big enough to accommodate everyone, and even then over half the visitors slept on sleeping bags. The family had another tradition. Because buying a present for each person added up to extravagant shopping costs, the family did a secret Santa every year. After drawing out the names after Thanksgiving dinner, everyone went out and bought their respective gifts. They'd all been around each other long enough that they knew what to get. Uncle Chris was the best at finding the perfect Christmas presents. All the children watched wide-eyed when he drew a name, hoping their name would be the lucky one. But even if it wasn't, it was all right. As long as they didn't get picked by Grandma Elsie. She didn't have a clue was to buy for kids, and yet she insisted on drawing names over and over again each year until she got one. Last year she got four-year-old Bobby a tie with golf balls on it. He stopped believing in Santa Claus a month later. The year before that, eight-year-old Amy received a pair of purple pajamas, which might not have been so bad if she hadn't gotten the same thing two years ago.

Year after year there was another disaster of a gift Christmas morning. And it wasn't going to be any different this year. As usual, the family came down with armfuls of gifts. While the dads and uncles sat in the living room watching football, the mothers and aunts sat in the dining room sipping tea, coffee, and chattering away about the world. Grandma Elsie sat in a rocking chair knitting what looked to be a little angel doll. She was always knitting something. The children suspected it was because she had nothing else to do with her time. She was the oldest there, she didn't like football, and she had nothing in common to talk about with the younger women. So she just sat there. And the next day was Christmas Eve, when her gift would be laid among the treasures it couldn't hope to compare to. And one unfortunate kid would be very disappointed. But this year the children came up with a plan. The presents were put below the tree the morning of Christmas Eve, and Grandma Elsie was known for using the same puppy dog Santa paper she did every year. So this year, the children had pitched in their allowances and purchased a set of crayons, coloring books, a stuffed bear and a new basketball. They put them all into a box and wrapped it up in the famous puppy Santa paper that Grandma Elsie left in the closest.

The next morning, everyone put their presents under the tree. No labels; they wouldn't find out who gave or who received each present until the next morning. But the children all knew which present was the rejected one. Carefully, they picked up the package, and placed their own gift in its place. The oldest child, Avery, decided to send the gift to her older sister, who was attending college about halfway across the country and unable to come home for the holiday. The post office was right across the road in the same shopping center where they had bought the replacement present, so this was not a difficult task.

The children all went to sleep that night full of confidence, each hoping for the first time that they were the ones picked by Grandma Elsie.

Christmas morning finally arrived, and a stampede of tiny feet rushed out to sit in front of the tree, waiting for the rest of the family to arrive. It wasn't nice, their mothers had said, to open presents before everyone was ready. As usual, Grandma Elsie was the last out and after she had settled herself down in her old rocker, Uncle Chris began passing out the gifts. He held up the first one, a large heavy box wrapped in metallic red paper with a big white bow on the top.

"Whose is this?" Avery's father raised his hand.

"That's mine, and it goes to Bobby." Bobby squealed with delight, grabbing his prize and tearing open the paper.

"A train set! Thank you! Thank you!"

"You're welcome, Bobby," he answered with a warm smile. Uncle Chris went down the list until finally Grandma's present was the only one left. And there sat Avery, the only one without a gift.

"Well, I guess we all know who this goes to," said Uncle Chris, as he scooped up the gift and handed it to his niece. She gave a little smile and began to unwrap the package, even though she knew full well what was inside it. She open up the box and held of the ball and coloring set for everyone to see. The children nodded their approval.

"Well, now, isn't that something," the old lady in rocking chair piped up. "Now here I would have sworn on the Holy Bible that I put that little Christmas angel in that box. I thought it was just the perfect gift for my Avery, that little angel. I guess I must've sent it to someone else by mistake." Avery's face fell. The angel doll that Grandma had worked so hard on. She did all that precious work for her, and she'd given it away. A priceless gift for about ten dollars worth of toys. What had Avery done? But of course she couldn't say anything. She simply put her gifts back into the box and shut it up.

"I'm sure that's what happened, Grandma," she said. "But don't worry. The person who got your gift deserves it much more than me."