Misconception

© Oonah V Joslin

The finance free Christmas was Gran's idea. Instead of exchanging things wrapped in paper, they would exchange wishes and that would cost nothing. So for a start, everyone contributed something to the dinner. Laura brought the turkey, already carved on a platter. Becca had all the vegetables ready in a roasting tray. Peter brought some of his home brew. Dave provided the pudding. For the first Christmas ever, Gran didn't have a thing to do and since the twins had insisted they were too old for Santa, they ended up doing the dishes.

“Now, has everyone thought of a gift they want from me?” asked Gran.

“I have,” said Laura. “I'd like you to some mending for me next year. You know how I hate sewing.”

“Done,” said Gran, though she hated sewing too. “Becca?”

“Would you let the twins sleep over some weekends so that Phil and I can get out?”

The twins grinned ghoulishly.

“No problem,” said Gran. At least not until now…

Everybody had thought of something someone else could do to make them happy. Phil passed his request to Becca on a piece of paper and she just shook her head. “And maybe you can stop going to the pub every Saturday and come shopping with me, instead.”

Gran could see there would be some ‘discussion' about this later.

“And twins, I want you to clean your room once a week without being asked.”

“Now the twins…” said their dad.

“We want everybody to stop calling us ‘The Twins', for a start,” said Matthew, “or you have to pay us a fine.”

“ And ,” said Patrick, “we want to stay up until eleven and Dad has to give up smoking and…”

“Whoa!” said Gran. “A gift is something that shows how much you love someone else . Now, I want you all to think about that while I get us all a nice cup of tea and a piece of my homemade cake. Then we'll start again.”

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Three times winner of the Micro Horror Contest, Oonah is also published in several anthologies including: Toe Tags and The Very Best of Every Day Fiction 2008 and 2009. She updates links to her work at http://www.oonahs.blogspot.com and on facebook. Oonah is Managing Editor of the e-zine, Every Day Poets and an honoree in 2009 Binnacle Competition for ‘First Love'.