VIGNETTTE
December 1987
I sat on the cream-colored sofa and slowly slid my 8-year old body to the edge. Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite played in the background as the crackling fire masked the sound of my internal excitement. It was an ice-covered, Oklahoma Christmas morning, and we had opened all the usual presents. The things we needed—socks and shoestrings and hair clips. Our favorite junk foods—bugles and corn nuts and lemonheads. And random foods we couldn’t get enough of—black olives and sweet pickles and chicken-in-a-biscuit crackers.
I kept a calm resolve, but my insides were wired as I watched my brother open his last Christmas present, the big finale. And he unwrapped a television. His very own television. A whopping 13-inch, color television. I was blown away. My big present this year is going to be amazing!
“There’s one present le…” my mom couldn’t even finish her sentence before I dashed off, faster than Santa’s reindeer.
Ripping the candy cane wrapping paper off the large box, I paused and stared inside at a tiny card. Utter disappointment filled my heart. KC got a television! And I have a card?! I looked up at my parents with a weak smile. At 8, I was pretty confident of my poker-face capabilities, but thinking back, I’m not too sure I had that skillset. Yet.
“A card” I stated.
“Well, open it” my dad replied.
With a sigh, I slid my finger under the edge and pulled out an index card. A riddle? I followed it’s directions and ran to the kitchen to discover another wrapped card. And another riddle. On to my bedroom. Then the laundry room. And finally to the bathroom where I whipped open the shower curtain to find my pinnacle Christmas present. A brand new, shiny, neon-green scooter.
So much better than KC’s television! I grabbed it and tore out of the bathroom hollering my love and gratitude in a squeaky pitch. Within seconds, I was zipping and zooming up and down the ice-covered street in front of our house. My heart singing “Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day, I’ve got a wonderful feeling, everything’s going my way.”
©2020 Angel K Will | Instagram
Photo by Thais Araujo from Pexels
Angel K Will 
Leave a Reply