The Christmas Present
His wrist watch showed 1:37 AM. Marcelo was still awake waiting for a sound that meant that Santa Claus had arrived. He left cookies and milk on the table before going to sleep. He had never been up this late and he was forcing himself to stay awake by biting his fingernails. This was going to be the best Christmas ever.
Two weeks ago Marcelo told his father that he had finally written his Christmas card. It was something that he had been wanting since last year and he would write it in his Christmas card so that only he and Santa Claus would know. His father took the card and promised to take it to the Post Office immediately.
His father called later from his cellphone and talked with his mother. She said surprised “He wants what?” … “and nothing else, just that?”. She hung up and talked to Marcelo, who was drinking milk in the kitchen.
“Baby, what do you want for Christmas?” said Marcelo’s mother.
“I can’t tell you, it’s a secret between Santa Claus and me.”
“But, do you want many things? What if Santa Claus can not find what you want?”
Marcelo put his glass of milk on the table and said: “I only want one thing and Santa Claus is going to bring it. I know it. I have been very good this year. I’ve got good grades, I’ve been to church every Sunday, I went to bed early every day, I didn’t ask for birthday presents and I gave my savings to that old lady that always sleeps in the park.”
He wiped his milk mustache and smiled. His mother didn’t know what to say. She just stood there with her mouth open. It was true, Marcelito really changed this year, she just never noticed.
“You will see when Santa Claus brings it. It will be great and you will really like it. You and dad will like it. It is a gift for all of us!”
His parents were really strange the weeks after that. They were both shy and avoided talking with Marcelo. They tried to ask him what he wanted in several occasions but he always answered that it was a secret and that he knew that Santa Claus would not let him down.
Every time a toy commercial appeared on TV his father would ask Marcelo if he would like something like that. But he always gave the same response “Santa Claus knows what I want.”
They just didn’t know what to do.
The day before Christmas they all sat down for dinner. They had never seen Marcelo so happy and this was just making them more nervous. He kept talking about the Christmas specials he had seen during the weekend and every single one of them talked about the “Christmas miracle”.
His parents had talked about what to say.
“Marcelo, ” — said his father — “you know that Santa Claus has to go around the whole world in one night and he has to give gifts to every kid in the world. Sometimes it is difficult for him to give every kid what they want.”
“I know, but he won’t let me down. I am a big kid now and this might be the last Christmas gift I want. It is a gift for all of us.”
Everything was much simpler last year. Last Christmas he woke up early and ran to his parents room yelling: “Just what I wanted! Just what I wanted!”
He wanted X-Men action figures and a scooter. He played with his scooter every weekend until it was stolen from the yard 3 months later while he was inside drinking water. On Fridays, he would take two of his action figures to school so that he would have one to use himself and one to share.
He saved money for a couple months to be able to afford the X-Men ship. But when his mother was taking him to the store to get it he saw the old lady at the park and said to his mother.
“Why is that lady always in the park?”
“Because she is very poor and she doesn’t have a place to live.”
“Where does she keep her food and milk then?”
“Nowhere, she asks for food to the people that go to the park.”
“Can we buy her food and milk?” — said Marcelo taking his money out of his pocket.
His mother thought of telling him that he would not be able to afford the toys he wanted, but when she saw how he was counting his money she knew that he didn’t want to buy anything for him anymore.
He finally heard something at 3:00 in the morning. He heard the front door closing and some shuffling in the living room where the Christmas tree was. Every Christmas Santa Claus would light the Christmas tree just for him. When he saw the tree lighting up he almost started to cry. He wanted to stand up and run but he didn’t want to bother Santa Claus.
He was awake for two more hours thinking of his present until he finally fell asleep. After that, he just slept for 1 hour and woke up suddenly remembering that it was finally Christmas. He jumped of the bed and ran to the Christmas tree. His fathers felt his door open and walked behind him.
When he got to the living room he stood there colorless and with his mouth open. When his mother saw this she started to cry on the shoulder of her husband. His father said “Look how many presents you have! Don’t you want to open them?”
Marcelo lowered his head and saw his feet. “No, it’s okay.” said Marcelo. “I will open them later.”
His father swallowed, sighed and then kneeled. “Marcelo, we know that you have been a very good boy this year… and Santa Claus knows that too. But sometimes it is difficult for Santa Claus to find everything that all the kids around the world ask for.”
Marcelo said “I understand. But I was a very good boy this year, wasn’t I? Doesn’t Santa Claus love me?”
“Yes, he loves you a lot. But I don’t know how he was going to fit a cow in his sled.”
