The Little Gift Box

• Antara Acharya, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2022

I beamed in delight at the beautifully wrapped gift box in my hands. My birthday had been going horribly wrong but I had hoped that my aunt's gift could turn it around. I tore open the box and gasped. Everybody around me looked shocked as I pulled out a used pad of sticky notes. A storm cloud hovered above my head as I furiously threw the gift box at my aunt. Then I clenched my fist around the notes and scurried to my room.

I laid on the bed and bitterly threw the notes at the wall. I sulked on my bed for a while but I still felt irritated. Suddenly I remembered the coping method my therapist had taught me. I got up and picked up the pad of sticky notes. In large, bold writing I wrote my deepest feelings .“I hate my aunt so much that I wish she would never come back.” Then I tossed the crumpled note onto the floor. A couple of minutes later I heard a loud scream from the living room. My aunt entered my room in a frenzy of excitement and wheeled out her suitcase as she sped away. I was so confused that I didn’t even notice Mum entering my room.

“Where is Aunty going?” I asked, flabbergasted.

“She is going to Antarctica to live with her rich boyfriend whom she met on Tinder.” Mum chuckled.

My mum then left the room while I sat at my bed silently thinking about what had happened. Then I picked up my sticky notes and decided to test out a theory I had. In giant letters I wrote, “I wish for money.” Bang! A large breeze slammed open my window and a hundred dollar bill flew inside. No way! This sticky note pad was magic! I grinned in delight at my new found gift. I wished for a dress and moments later my sister gave me all her old prom dresses. I wished for delicious food and then a birthday cake from my uncle’s bakery was delivered to our door. I was so delighted that I used up all the notes,except one.

After a while it was time for my birthday dinner. I quickly jotted on my last note, “I wish to get rid of this house and get a big mansion. It was time to go now. I stood up abruptly and knocked something over but I didn’t have time to fix it.

After the perfect dinner we arrived at home, but to my surprise the door was covered in caution tape. Suddenly a car pulled up behind us. A tall woman appeared and told us that we had been evicted as my parents hadn’t paid the bills.

“Mum and dad, how could you let this happen?” I growled.

“We’re sorry love, we just wanted to buy you that Louis Vuitton purse you wanted!” They wailed.

I felt awful. As I went into my room to collect my belongings I looked at the sticky note. To my horror, my water bottle had been knocked over and half of the sticky note I had written on was soaking wet! Some of the writing was smudged. It now said,” I wish we would lose our house.” Oh no! I panicked but there were no notes now!. Suddenly I tripped and noticed one muddy sticky note under my shoe. It was worth a try! I quickly scribbled on it and wrote. “I wish we could have a house to live in again. Nothing happened for a few minutes until I heard Dad’s phone ring. It was Aunt! As I entered the hall I noticed Dad’s face light up as he hung up the phone .”

Aunt has invited us to live in Antarctica with her and her boyfriend”. He paused. “She is sending a private jet to get us!”

This birthday wasn’t so bad after all.