The Next Best Present

The Next Best Present
8 Dec 2011

The Christmas tree lights danced on the face of the sleeping old man, highlighting furrows of age and smudges of sorrow.

This was his first year without his wife … it seemed longer somehow. She always bought the presents, wrapped them with a beautiful bow, and laughed with her tinkling laugh at his protestations that he didn’t need anything. This year there were no presents … and no laughter.

A tear silently slid from his eye while he slept. Santa gently wiped the tear away. “Old friend,” he thought. “I wish I could bring her back for you, but there are some presents even I can’t deliver”.

The next morning, as I bustled around the room, waking the old man for his breakfast, I discovered a beautifully wrapped present under his Christmas tree. “Open it”, I said.

The old man gently undid the bow, and peeled back the wrapping paper. As he ran his fingers over the soft blanket, the colour of deep chestnuts, he said softly to himself, “I always said her hair was softer than cashmere and her hugs warmer than the warmest blanket”.

I wrapped the blanket around his thin shoulders, enveloping him in its warmth. And I swear I heard tinkling laughter as he quietly stroked the softness of the cashmere.

About the Author

Ingrid Moyle

Ingrid Moyle is a self-confessed multipotentialite. While she is now retired from the corporate rat race, she still shamelessly dallies in her latest topics of fascination. When not hardwired to her computer, she quests for the perfect decaf coffee while chasing virtual reality creatures across the backstreets of Brisbane.

Related Posts

Gordo The Once Stray Cat

Gordo The Once Stray Cat

Gordo was a stray cat ... or to be more precise, a stray kitten. No one can quite remember how this tiny wild kitten came to be in a pet shop in...

read more
The Sins of the Father

The Sins of the Father

Today I am picking up the pieces of a life, not my life but someone else’s life. I am finding the shattered shards of a heart and putting them into...

read more