The Golden Stuffed Animal

    I opened my groggy eyes, blinked the crust out of them, and stifled a yawn.  Then I glanced over at the time, 7:28 a.m.,  and reluctantly dragged myself out of bed, making me prey to the freezing air.  I shuffled over to the bathroom and turned on the lights.  I stepped on my purple and yellow stool with the words “One Step” on it,  and stared at the vile, frightful girl.  She had freckles plastered all over her face, and her brown luscious hair was now a bird’s nest.  Her blue onesie with tiny bunnies on it was wrinkled to the point that you would think that the miniscopture white bunnies were just little random blobs of fluff.

    After studying the little monstrosity, I smelled my breath, stupidly thinking, “It can’t be that bad”, only to be showered in the face with a stale, lingering odor that made me recoil.  I swiftly grabbed my toothbrush and started brushing frantically to rid the awful smell of what only could be called my breath.  Once that was over, I washed my face with icy cold water, so I would stay awake.  A shiver jolted through my body and had me gasping for warmth.  

Now that I was awake, I went over to my calendar like I did daily.  I was just about to cross off December 24th, when realization slapped me across the face.  My eyes popped as big as grapes, my jaw dropped, and a shriek emerged.  “AHHHH!!!  It’s Christmas, it’s Christmas!”  I went around singing as I pranced around my room like a child frockling in a meadow.  I put my Santa Claus hat on and sprinted down the stairs.

I waited impatiently as my eyes adjusted to the alluring sight.  Red and green ribbons were smothered all around the room and five different colored reindeer stockings were dangling above the fireplace, holding on for dear life as the weight of the candy crushed them, making them sag downwards.  The stockings read: Dad, Mom, Stephanie, Mark, and Crystal.  They were in order from oldest to youngest.  All of that was beautiful, but the most astonishing one was the towering Christmas tree.  

The shimmering emerald evergreen was draped with so many decorations that you could barely find a speck of green anywhere.  There were all sorts of ornaments, from simple candycanes with names on them to delicate glass stained forgeries.  On top of the artwork was a blinding, flaxen star that was the size of a steering wheel that glimmered in the light.  Laying at it’s feet were a variety of boxes.  Some small, some big, some colorful, and some in wacky patterns, but all of them had one thing in common, they all contained a piece of Santa’s love and thought.  

Thinking about Santa, I bounced over to the plate of cookies and the glass of milk, eagerly wanting to see the outcome.  The cookies and the glass of milk had vanished and only left a trace of crumbs and napkin with a milk mustache imprinted on it.  “Yay!  Santa was here, Santa was here!!”  I squealed with delight not meaning to wake up the others.

My sister and my brother came slouching down the stairs.  “What’s with all the commotion?”  Stephanie, my oldest sibling asked still half asleep.

“Yeah, can’t we sleep in peace.”  Mark, my older brother added, drowsily.

“I’m sorry.  It’s just that it’s Christmas.”  I replied cheerfully.

“Christmas?!”  Stephanie and Mark both asked.  Their eyebrows shot up to their hairline, they stood straighter, and a wide grin spread across both of their faces.

“Yeah, it’s Christmas!  It’s finally Christmas!”  I replied.

“Sweet!  I’ll get the hot cocoa ready!  Mark you go make some Christmas themed pancakes.  Crystal you go put on some warmer clothes and keep our parents occupied.  This is gonna be the best Christmas surprise of their lives.”  We rushed off after the commands were issued by Stephanie and did as we were told.  I put on a festive red sweater with a reindeer wearing a scarf on it, my favorite blue and black midnight scarf, a blue jacket, some pants, and a pair of socks, to match my Santa Claus hat.  Then, I stood guard and waited slowly as the minutes crawled by.  After a little while later, Mark showed up and told me to wake them up.

I crept up to the foot of the bed and crawled in the cozy blankets.  Then, I gently nudged the two of them.  

“Huh?  Crystal what are you doing here?”  My mom asks me groggily.

“Come.”  I replied, barely containing my excitement.  They got out of bed and involuntarily followed me hesitantly.  Once we were down the stairs,  my brother and sister yelled, “Merry Christmas!!”  My parents were almost scared to death.  Their faces were ghostly pale and their eyes were huge as if they were deer caught in headlights.

“Come, we made you breakfast.  Reindeer pancake for you, dad.  Snowman pancake for you, mom.  And for you,” Stephanie pointed at me, “a gingerbread pancake.  Oh how could I forget?  Here’s some hot cocoa for everyone.”  

“Guys, you didn’t have to do all this,” my dad said with a smile.

“But it’s Christmas.”  Countered my brother good mannerly.

“Now, now.  Settle down.  Mark’s right, it’s Christmas.  Let’s all have a wonderful Christmas day.”  Mom said with a festive grin.  After we ate impatiently, we huddled around the Christmas tree and began to tear up the rows of waiting presents.  

I knelt down and grabbed a present box with a sparkly sapphire blue wrapping that had different sizes of silvery white snowflakes on it.  I admired the beauty and delicacy the handiwork was.  The person clearly took their time and wrapped it with care making it absolutely flawless.  I flipped it over quickly and found a snow white tag with the words, “From: Santa Claus ”, on the front and the words, “To: Crystal Wambish”, elegantly written on the back.  I carefully unwrapped the present like it was a bomb that would explode in my face if I made a wrong move.  Then, I took the wrapper folded it and stuffed it in my pants.

Inside, was a muddy brown shoebox.  As I lifted the lid, a gust of wind that smelled of candy and stuffing blasted my face.  Santa, I thought as I took a peek into the shoebox.  A golden fluffy teddy bear stared at me, its beady black eyes staring into my soul.  The little teddy bear was wearing a knit blue and red sweater, it was blue on the top half and red and white striped on the bottom.  In the middle bore a star shaped cotton fabric.  The name “Max” squeezed its way into my mind and came out my mouth.  

“What was that?”  My mom asked, curiously.

“Huh?  Oh, just the name for the teddy bear Santa sent me.”  I replied.  I grabbed another present.  This one was golden with miniature white dots.  The present was smaller than the star sitting on-top our Christmas tree, and bigger than my hand.  Inside was another shoebox.  What’s with all the shoeboxes?  I thought.  It’s always the same, why can’t it be like a FedEx box?  No one wants to have their gift in a stinky used shoebox.  In the interior of the box, was a golden bracelet with the name Crystal on it.  Hanging from a golden, sun-kissed ring was a little charm.  

The metal charm was a green turtle, my favorite animal.  I grabbed the wrapping, wanting to know who got me this beautiful charm bracelet.  On the back of the wrapping in small letters said From: Mom, To: Crystal Wambish.  I shredded three more presents and found a mood ring and necklace, a mini sculpture of a turtle, and a trampoline for the three of us, Mark, Stephanie, and I.

By the time we were done, wrapping littered the floor like a colorful Christmas jigsaw puzzle.  After we scooped up all the junk, we balled it up and dunked it in the trashcan, all except for my Santa Claus wrapping that I carefully unraveled hiding in the corner of my pants pocket.  

I then ran up-stairs and searched for a sharpie.  I took the sharpie and wrote on the wrapping in big letters, “First Present From Santa Claus: Teddy Bear (Max)”, and framed it in my bedroom.

Then I ran down the stairs and pranced outside with my friends for a while, feeling the chilly air nipping at my skin and the fragile snowflakes melting on my tongue.  I made snow angels, a snowman, and rode on a sled down my steep driveway, until the cold chilled me to the bone and made me numb all over.  After the adventures were over, I went inside and drank another hot cocoa while watching some T.V.  

Once I got bored of T.V., I gathered up my family to play monopoly.  We played ‘til 8:48, when we got frustrated at Mark for owning half of the entire properties.  “I quit,” Mom said, defeated, “Who’s with me?”  

“Me.”  We all replied, exasperated.  I yawned and flinched when I realized my head was dropping.

“Honey, go to sleep,” my mom said, concerned at having seeing me struggle with the impending sleep.  I heaved myself up the steps and washed my freezing face, warming it up.  Then, I brushed my teeth, not wanting to smell it after my accident, and put on my blue onesie.   Then I squirmed into my cozy, pink blankets, and searched for Max, my new, and first honey colored teddy bear.  Once I found him, I clutched him closed to my face, breathing in the candy and stuffing scent, closed my eyes and dozed off with a smile spread across my freckled face, thinking of Santa Claus.