Gift Wrapped

Tucked away from the nice crowded streets of the city, away from the bright lights of the frosted windows of storefronts that warmed the noses and cheeks of last minute shoppers, in the darkest and narrowest of the city’s alleys is where the formerly employed James Bailey currently finds himself. The voices of street carolers reverberated coldly against the unfeeling brick and concrete of the alleyway just barely reaching the ears of the alley’s inhabitants.

Mr. Bailey was asked to empty the contents of his desk just three days before Thanksgiving. Five years of loyalty and memories that accumulated on his desk were to somehow find room in a small cardboard box. Reading the newspaper didn’t make him feel any better. He still felt alone no matter how much of the state had been victimized by the crashing economy. As the weeks passed, his usual optimism melted away and cynicism was quick to take its place. It was not until he finally took off his wedding band for the first time in seven years that he only saw the emptiness in glasses of water. Shortly after, he was kicked out of his one bedroom apartment.

Now, here he stood with a box of his office trinkets, a duffle full of clothes, and a face hiding behind the most unkempt five o’clock shadow he has had since his college days. Bailey gritted his teeth together hoping the grinding sounds would keep his mind off his world falling apart from around him. Merry Christmas indeed, he thought to himself muttering a “humbug” in sardonic fashion.

Opposite of the dumpster was a woman just a few years older than James huddled closely to two small mounds of clothes that seemed to breathe. A man who smelled of garbage water happily strutted into the alley and smiled at Bailey.

“Pardon me, sir,” the man nodded to Bailey, “Merry Christmas!”

“Yeah, sure,” was all Bailey could respond. He saw that the man was hiding something behind his back. Bailey was hoping, praying to God that it wasn’t a weapon of some sort. But the man just passed by and walked towards the woman and the mounds of clothes wriggled to life. Two children, a young girl and a younger little boy, got to their feet and smiled large smiles across their smudged faces. They ran to meet the man with what looked like a wad of newspaper behind his back.

“Daddy!” the two children shouted as they ran to embrace their father.

“Honey, what are you hiding?” the woman asked.

“Hiding?” he asked, playfully feigning ignorance, “What should I be hiding, sweetheart? It’s Christmas! I would never hide anything. Especially--,” he took the newspaper from behind him and presented it to his children, “Your Christmas presents!”

The children laughed and carried the wad of newspaper to their mother. “Can we open it now?” Their mother looked at their father and eyed him with pseudo-suspicion as if ask, what could you have possibly gotten them? He furrowed his eyebrows as to respond, let them open it and find out.

“It’s your present, children,” the mother responded and couldn’t help but smile, “Go right ahead.”

The two little ones tore into it with the ferocity of a rabid panther digging into newly pounced prey. Shreds of newspaper exploded in a flurry over their eager young heads. The little one lifted it high into the air and it was welcomed into the coziness of the alley with an awestruck sigh from the children. Bailey’s curiosity was aroused and leaned his head over to get a better look at what it was the father got his family.

“What could he possibly have gotten them to warrant such a reaction from those kids?” Bailey thought to himself. “I could swear that’s nothing but a dirty, old blanket.” He listened carefully hoping to decipher what was going on. To be in this particular alley, it would have to be something more than a hand me down blanket.

“It’s—It’s—,” the little boy squinted at the gift, “It’s a cape!” He wrapped it over his shoulders and tied the corners running in a small circle around each member of his family. “All I have to do is put it on and all of a sudden I have the strength of one hundred men and can fly all over the world.” Breathing heavily from his short flight, his smile widened from ear to ear as he embraced his father. The young girl untied the blanket from her brother’s shoulders.

“A dress!” she exclaimed, “Daddy! It’s the most beautiful dress I’ve ever had! Thank you so much!” She draped it in front of her and twirled around letting the cloth fly outwards as if it were the long skirt of an elegant ball gown. She danced with the blanket in hand, her gentle smile and sparkling eyes glowing with each turn and sway she made, the music still playing in her head when she wrapped her arms around her father.

The patriarch of the family curled the corner of his lips, letting his eyes shine on his wife who slowly smiled with him. “What do you see, love?” he asked his wife. She looked at him lovingly and before she could answer the little boy let out a sneeze that echoed throughout the entire alley. She took the raggedy old blanket and wrapped it around the children hugging them tightly as she looked back at their father.

“I see the perfect Christmas gift,” she said to him. “I love you,” Bailey could see her mouth the words to her husband. The scene warmed James Bailey’s heart and he got to his feet and walked towards the warm street. The carolers had made their way around the corner and they approached him smiling with lit candles in hand singing, seemingly just for him.

The family slowly emerged out of the alleyway and watched as the carolers merrily sang their merry tunes. The two children began to sing along with them before their eyelids slowly and heavily closed shut. The mother took them to their corner and tucked them in tightly together and watched them sleep sweetly. The father looked at James and smiled cordially.

“Merry Christmas,” the man greeted James.

“Merry Christmas,” James responded. When the carolers passed the alley, the smiles on everyone’s faces warmed them the rest of the night. James took a seat next to his meager possessions and shut his eyes, still smiling.