The Perfect Gift

The following is my submission for the Holiday Flash Fiction Carnival. The theme is "anything holidays," so I went with writing a simple Christmas story. Enjoy!

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The Perfect Gift

"Why do I do this every year?" Ray thought to himself as he crunched through a patch of icy slush on the sidewalk. "I've walked through every store here and I can't find anything for Ally. Everything has been picked over, I have no clue what I'm even looking for, the car is at least a ten minute walk away, and our family Christmas dinner is in a couple of hours... I'll have no time to look around after that... I can't believe Christmas is two days away...and who builds a mall where you have to walk outside!"

Ray was having more difficulty finding a great Christmas present for his wife this year. After fifteen years of marriage, he had ran out of great ideas. The fact that they had never had children made things a little more tough. Most couples would just spend the extra money on their children, or maybe take a winter trip to someplace warm. But, Ray and Ally Prince had no children and wouldn't dream of being away from their families during Christmas. In fact, their families fully expected them to host the family gatherings and Ray and Ally always cheerfully obliged.

After ten more useless minutes of walking in the cold, wondering and hoping, Ray started to think about all the things that had to be done for tonight's gathering. Ally had taken care of most of the planning so there wasn't much left to do. But he thought that it wasn't quite right that he was out wasting time while she was working away in the kitchen. Ray decided to just head on back to his house and help where he could. With the wind at his back, he made his way down the long stretch of stores that eventually lead to the parking lot.

As Ray drove home, he began to think about his nieces and nephews and how much they would have grown. He thought about what it would be like to have his own child playing along --running through the house being entirely too loud-- and how he would pretend to be stern while smiling on the inside. Ally had mentioned adoption in the past, but Ray had insisted on not giving up on having their own... but after all these years, the idea did not seem so foreign now.

"Maybe that could be Ally's gift," Ray thought. "Maybe I could do some quick research on adoption, and maybe present her with an adoption application as a gift! Brilliant!"

Quite satisfied with his idea, Ray made his way along the slushy side roads that eased away from the city. The snow on the road slowly became more and more thick until they were completely white. Only the soft depressions on either side told where the edges of the road lay. A fresh snow had fallen the night before giving the surrounding land a beautiful white blanket. Households with children became more evident as the evenness was broken with trails of footsteps and the occasional snowman. Seeing these artifacts strengthened Ray's idea of adoption to the point of nervous excitement. He couldn't wait to tell Allyson that he was ready. He almost wished it possible to just bring a child home in his arms to present to his wife.

Ray made the last turn on his trip home and coasted down the gentle slope towards his house. He could see a maroon minivan parked just past his driveway, which meant that his sister, Rachael, had arrived (she was always early). Ray eased into his driveway and pulled into the garage. Once inside, he had just made a few steps towards the kitchen when he saw a small, round face and too little hands reaching up for him. It was his youngest niece, little Lisa, who loved nothing more than to be picked up and tickled. Ray picked her up and spun around with a smile, kissed his wife on the cheek and gave his sister a half-hug with his free arm.

"Oh, I'm glad you made it back in time," said Allyson as she turned to open the oven door. "John and Carrie just called... they'll be here in about twenty minutes or so. They're bringing your parents with them... didn't want them driving on these white roads."

"Oh... good," said Ray while tossing a small piece of turkey in his mouth. "Say, I'm going to go change clothes. My pant legs are soaked from the snow."

"That reminds me, how was everything at the office? Did you get there in time to meet Henry with a key?" said Allyson with a hidden smirk.

"Oh, yeah... yeah... got there just in time. He, uh... had only been waiting for a few minutes. I let him in and then decided to help him run the monthly report. Its never easy being the new kid, and that Henry's seems like a good fellow."

Allyson turned and met Ray with a soft smile and said, "Well, that was nice of you. Maybe Santa will be extra good to you this year." Rachael turned away and pretended to organize the silverware.

Ray smiled and scratched his head, which told Allyson that he had been caught in a fib. It was alright, though. It was the good kind of fib that he told once or twice a year to buy him a little more time for Christmas shopping. Allyson pretended to be none the wiser and went back to her kitchen duties. Ray, feeling a bit relieved and as if he had gotten away with something, walked back to the bedroom to change.

The family Christmas dinner went well as usual. After eating, the children opened their presents from each other while the parents, who had stopped exchanging gifts with one another a few years back, made conversation and enjoyed everyone's company. Everyone stayed the night (the roads were much to dangerous to travel in the dark) and left after breakfast the next morning. Ray spent the midday helping Allyson clean up the house and suggested that she should take a nap. After all, she had worked so hard to get everything ready. To Ray's relief, she agreed with no reluctance and settled onto the couch. She was asleep within minutes.

Ray snuck upstairs to his study and hopped onto the computer. He spent the next hour searching through the nearest adoption agencies, printing off information and applications. He picked out the one that seemed best to him and set it aside and then placed the others together into a folder. Ray picked up the adoption information that he thought best suited them, attached them together with a paper clip, and loosely tied a red ribbon around the middle. He then placed the papers in a box, and proceeded to wrap it the best he could without making too much noise.

The next morning, Ray got up earlier than usual. He hadn't felt this sort of excitement for Christmas since he was eight years old. He absolutely could not wait to see Allyson's excitement when he gave her the adoption papers. Allyson, who was usually a late sleeper like Ray, had already gotten up. Ray chuckled to himself about how they both were like little children, eager to open their gifts. Ray walked into the living room to find Ally sitting on the couch with a small box in her lap and big smile on her face. Ray returned the smile as he walked over to the Christmas Tree and picked up Ally's present.

Ray sat down and felt a sudden nervousness as he extended the arm holding Allyson's gift. "Here... I want you to go first. I think you'll like it," he said with a growing lump in his throat. Allyson took the box and showed some surprise at how light it was.

"I'm sure I'll love it. You always manage to surprise me, " she said as she struggled with Ray's somewhat unconventional wrapping technique. At last, she had removed the wrapping paper and began to open the box. She lifted the lid and looked inside, puzzled. Ray felt his face run hot. Allyson, finally understanding the meaning of Ray's gift looked up with great tears in her eyes and smiled.

"Oh, Ray... you wonder man. Open your gift." Ray, feeling a bit stunned but still nervous as ever, unwrapped the tiny box that he was given. He removed the lid, and pulled out two tiny hand-made socks. One was blue, and the other was pink. Ray's eyes, wide and full of tears, looked up at his wife.

"Ray, honey. I'm pregnant!"



© Jared Holt, 2007

Flash Fiction Carnival III

Lots of thanks to Virginia Lee for hosting the Flash Fiction Carnival III. This was my first serious attempt at writing something that I knew other people would read. So far the comments have been nice, which is a huge relief. :)

The theme this go around was "transform." My mind immediately started to think about the obvious stuff... flowers blooming, caterpillars and butterflies... but I wanted to stay away from those ideas and try something more abstract. To my delight, the result was a story that had several transformations!

You can check out my flash fiction by reading the post, A Personal Project. Please, please leave comments! I need to know what I could improve and what I may have actually done right. Thanks for reading!

A Personal Project

Jack was a likable guy. He got along with almost everyone at work and was known to be easy going, always smiling and courteous. The women at the office adored him and were always making sure he had everything he needed (office supplies, lunch, a date). If Jack needed a favor, someone would almost always gladly oblige. Jack was the nice guy who worked downstairs. Jack was the model employee, getting praise from his superiors as well as the occasional pay raise. Jack had been working at his present job for nearly five years and just like most people had grown comfortable with his work. He knew what was expected of him and all the "in's and out's" of the typical project. Life was sweet.

This morning's drive to work was a bit more congested than usual but nothing to worry about. His boss was usually understanding about these things and that was just another benefit of where he worked. There weren't too many people at the office who got uptight about the little things. His boss, Mr. Cates, may have an inconvenient attention to detail at times, but overall it was a huge improvement compared to his last job. At his last job, Jack had to get up entirely too early and make a boring, long drive in the dark... and once he got there, he would have to sprint -- quite literally -- inside to clock in. The management there kept a close eye on things like that. Clock in, clock out, production sheets, project schedules, etc. This current job was great. He had his own office where he could come and go as he pleased. As long as he could provide Mr. Cates with several innovative robotics designs every so often, Jack had nothing to worry about.

Jack finally made his way up to the company's building. First up a steep incline, around a mild curve to the left, and back down again. The building itself was nestled down into the side of a hill and surrounded by a thick growth of trees. If you were to drive by on the main road, you might notice the building if you really looked. Most people didn't really notice... this was the kind of place that held more than a few valuable secrets; places like these did not need unnecessary attention. So there it sat... not completely out of view but not out in the open. There, but hardly noticeable. Jack slowed down as he approached the gate. After a quick scan, he pulled around and parked his car in the usual spot. After taking a moment to gather his things, he walked inside. He fiddled with his key chain a bit and then unlocked his office door. It was at this point where he usually just set his stuff down and made a quick trip to the coffee machine, but a hand-written letter laying in his chair caught his eye. Jack picked up the letter and recognized the large, messy style of his boss' handwriting.

In a panic, Jack sat down at his desk and typed his password into the prompt on the screen. Access Denied. He typed his password again, hoping he had misspelled it the previous time. Access Denied. Jack didn't notice the footsteps approaching his office until they were practically at his door. Nervous and red in the face, Jack looked up to see three people walk in. It was the entire chain of bosses going all the way up to the top. Mr. Cates walked in first followed by his boss, Mrs. Grimes. Behind Mrs. Grimes was her boss, Mrs. Cutler. Jack adjusted his chair and tried to appear calm.

"I assume you've read my letter," said Mr. Cates. "Surely you understand why you cannot be employed here any longer. I would have never thought that you would work on personal projects while on the clock."

Jack, feeling his face become red hot, cleared his throat and tried to remain composed. "I'm sorry, y-you must be mistaken. I been working on the Kinsler project nonstop for the past two months! I'd be happy to give you a progress report but I've been locked out of my workstation."

Mrs. Cutler shuffled to the front of the trio and sat down in the chair across from Jack's desk. "We cannot allow you to have access to our system any longer, Jack. We know what you've been doing and it ends here. By the way, please understand me when I say that anything done on company time does not belong to you... which is a shame because the designs you've been hiding from us are quite extraordinary. The company is going to make an obscene amount of money and you would have seen a handsome bonus... if you still worked here."

Jack knew exactly what they were talking about. Buried deep inside numerous, widely scattered directories were the contents of his pet project. Jack didn't think anyone would find his work, he had broken up the project in to so many little files that even if someone had found one or two they would mean nothing. How they found the files wasn't important, though. What was important was that they had found them, and were going to keep them for their own gain. Fully understanding now what had to be done, Jack spoke.

"Well, Mrs. Cutler, I suppose there's nothing for me to do but get my files back. Mr. Cates, you will kindly have a seat and log into my workstation." Mr. Cates almost laughed... almost. Before he could do anything at all, he was blinded with pain before falling to the floor with a sickening thump. Mrs. Grimes, content with the blow to the head she had just given Cates, quickly checked the hallway and then shut the office door.

Jack, grinning now and still looking Mrs. Cutler squarely in the eyes said, "Oh... you're right, Mrs. Grimes. How silly of me to think that Cates would have the clearance level to retrieve my project. Mrs. Cutler, would you please give me a hand with this before Mrs. Grimes decides she can find someone else more suitable?"

Mrs. Cutler sat heavily in her chair with her mouth gaping. Her face was white and her head was swaying a bit. Jack thought she was about to faint, but before Mrs. Grimes could take two steps in her direction, Cutler had nearly jumped to the other side of the desk. Jack stood up and motioned for Cutler to have a seat just as countless gentleman have done throughout time. Cutler stared at Jack only briefly as Grimes was making her way over across the room. Cutler initiated the login prompt, and signed in. Just as soon as she logged in, she found her head speeding towards the desk.

Grimes grabbed Cutler's limp arms and drug her over into the middle of the office where Cates lay. Jack sat down and began to scour the company's network looking for his files. Who knew how many they could have found. After nearly ten minutes of looking and a dozen impatient looks from Grimes, Jack gave up. The files must have been moved and deleted from the system. Jack was furious.

Jack stood up and motioned for Mrs. Grimes, "Come on... we'll be caught if we stay much longer." Then, as Jack made his way around his desk something caught his eye. It must have fallen from Cutler's coat pocket. It was glossy black and tipped with silver on both ends. Recognizing the the size and shape of it, Jack picked it up and spun back around to his workstation. Upon plugging it in, he saw that his hunch had paid off. There in front of him was all of his work. A design for the most sophisticated robot the world had ever known... a true brother to man-kind.

Jack looked up and smiled at Mrs. Grimes, who had never looked more attractive, and motioned for the door. The two of them walked to their cars, and drove up the small incline, around the soft curve to the right, and back down the hill.


© 2007