I said to myself this year they wouldn't make fun of me. In fact, it wouldn't be like every December they would say "not again, Paul!"
I already knew I had gotten my Aunt Dorothy for this Secret Santa. She had 1001 cats, so I bought her a giant collar that they could all wear at the same time. Wasn't I an ace of saving money?
It was a beautiful night where the stars twinkled in the sky, and at the tops of the Christmas trees that adorned every house where a feast was being made.
From seeing and smelling so much wonderful stuff, I hurried to Grandpa Maxwell's house.
"Paul, welcome!" my cousin Margaret said to me before giving me a big hug.
One by one I greeted the rest of my cousins, aunts, uncles, and finally my Grandpa Maxwell.
I don't think he saw me very well, but he knew it was me because of my squeaky voice and my height. Every time he hugged me, he ended up laying his head on my belly.
"Of all the gifts I've bought so far, this has been my favorite," said Anna, my uncle Max's wife.
"None like mine," proudly uttered my cousin Matthew dancing to the music.
"Dreamers!" laughed Aunt Sophie pointing to a round wrapped gift.
But the truth was that everyone's eyes were popping out at whoever would receive Anna's gift. It came in a giant box in which a safe, a stereo system or even Santa himself with the reindeers could be.
Mine was only noticed after dinner. No one had talked about it until Matthew's son, Derek, threw my gift in the air and hit Grandpa Maxwell on the head.
The boy was grounded for throwing the gift and I for buying something that came in a metal box. Then, wasting no time, the family reminded me of the famous phrase, "Not again, Paul."
I didn't have much tolerance and offered myself to go get some sodas they asked for. Cousin Louis decided to accompany me.
"So, what did you buy, Paul?"
"Nothing extraordinary, just useful," I said grumpily.
"Let's hope it's not another catapult," Louis said with an awkward smile.
"Maybe I am buying one now to send you all to the North Pole," I retorted with annoyance.
Louis burst into laughter that intermingled with the barking dogs, rockets, and cheerful music playing in the streets.
It didn't take long to get back and forth, but the walk home was definitely not what we had hoped for.
Even without having had much alcohol, I started to see blurry houses and cars. I asked Louis and he also said something weird was going on.
"It's an earthquake!" echoed through the streets as people piled in.
Having heard this, my cousin and I rushed to Grandpa's house. To our surprise, the place was in rubble.
Much of the family had made it out, but aunts Anna and Dorothy were still inside.
As soon as I came out of shock, I called my team. No, we weren't power rangers, but we were firefighters.
However, I didn't wait for them. I acted as fast as I could, and found aunt Anna after a few minutes of hard work.
After a while, the rest of the firefighters arrived and so did my despair as we could not find aunt Dorothy. The whole family was very sorry, as were the neighbors.
I could not understand how we could not find her. After long and futile efforts, we had a Christmas miracle. We heard "help, help!" several times. It was her, aunt Dorothy. After an hour, she had regained consciousness.
She was hugging the giant box that aunt Anna had brought. We realized that this gift protected her against a thick piece of wood that was part of the ceiling.
It was a glorious moment that made us appreciate Christmas even more in the years to come.
From that time, I can still remember her watery eyes and her heartfelt hug before she said to me:
"I couldn't leave this world without first giving you my gift. It was you again, Paul. Merry Christmas!"
Probably one of my happiest holiday memories.
