Chapter 118: A Special Gift (Part Two: The Holiday Star)


A flashback of when Jake was a young child.


There were tears in the eyes of the seven-year-old raccoon, for he was so very disappointed. Young Jake Runnel had tried to be good all year so that Santa Paws would bring him the toy he really wanted for Winter's Eve, but it wasn't under the tree this morning. In his juvenile mind, he was not only sad but confused. What had he done wrong this past year? Had he not been good enough to get what he wanted from Santa and was he being somehow punished instead?

All of the presents had been open and the discarded wrapping paper was still haphazardly strewn under a small fir tree which was decorated with colorful construction paper chains, hand-cut white paper snowflakes, and strings of popcorn garland. An inexpensive tinsel star glittered at the very top of the tree and he just stared up at it with sadness.

Sure he had gifts, his father had given him a new pair of blue jeans and a couple of new tee shirts with his favorite cartoon superheroes printed on them, and even a new pair of pajamas. He had also received a new used book and several of the latest comics, along with a set of small action figures from his father. But the one thing he was hoping for was not under the tree. The young raccoon had wanted a blue-furred toy that had flashing yellow-colored eyes and quacked out words in its native language. Jake had seen the toy advertised every Saturday morning on television as he watched his favorite cartoons and it looked like so much fun that he just had to have one! Several weeks ago he had carefully written a letter to Santa Paws asking for the toy and dropped it in the mailbox down the street. Instead of the much-coveted toy he wanted, the jolly old bear had brought him a set of metal race cars and an orange-colored plastic race track.

The young raccoon looked at the star on the very top of the tree and it reminded him of the stories which his father had told him about his mother, who he had never known, for she had died when he was born. In his mind, he just knew that if his mother had lived then she could have helped him be good enough for Santa Paws to bring him the toy he had asked for. Jake tried to hide the tears in his eyes because he felt that it just wasn't fair that everyone had a mother but him! Why did his mother have to leave him? Most of his classmates had mothers, even though many of them did not know their father or their father was locked up in jail. Then he remembered seeing a lonely looking vixen sitting all by herself at the Main Street Cafe the previous night and he had overheard their waitress saying something about how sad it was that the fox's teenage son, "that no good Wilde boy", had run away from home. The young raccoon could not understand why anyone would leave their mother. But, a child without a parent or a parent without a child was not that unusual in the slums of Happy Town.

Jake didn't realize that holiday morning that his father had done his very best to try to buy the toy he wanted, but it had quickly sold out. Of course, there were those who had bought up several of the toys to resell them for a substantial profit to anyone desperate enough to pay the outrageous price demanded, just so that their child could have the latest toy craze. The young raccoon's father knew of a young fennec fox who was doing just that, he was selling the toys out of the back of his van. However, the fox's asking price was far more than a single parent, who earned just enough for his family to get by on, could justify paying.

Jake's father was in their small apartment's modest kitchen, he was baking an egg and sardine casserole for their dinner in the old oven. A shiny stainless steel kettle on the stovetop gave a loud whistling sound, announcing that the water was now hot enough to make their drinks from the packages of powdered spiced cider which sat on the nearby counter. The kitchen table, however, was covered with all kinds of pieces of metal, screws, tools, and a partly disassemble object he had never seen before. There had been many nights when he had sat at the same table and watched while his father repaired old toasters, clock radios, and even a few microwaves. These were appliances which had been discarded by those who could afford to buy new ones instead of repairing their old broken machines. His father would save those from the trash which were salvageable and bring them home, along with parts of those that were not, and repair them so they could be resold for a few bucks at his friend Big Bob's pawn shop.

"I know that you are disappointed with your gift from Santa Paws," the raccoon's father softly said. "Now come over here and while you are drinking your cider, I will show you what Santa Paws gave me!"

Jake's nose twitched with curiosity while he scrambled into a chair and then watched as his father brought him a red and green colored holiday mug full of the warm drink. Then carefully, his father pulled out a sheet of paper with drawings sketched upon it from his pant's back pocket and spread it out before him. "What is that, Poppa?"

His father didn't answer at first, but instead, he seemingly searched around as if he was going to find something suspicious. The older raccoon playfully looked out of the window, under the sofa, and even behind the pictures hanging on the wall. Then after he surreptitiously glanced around one last time, he leaned over and whispered in his son's ear, "Since there doesn't seem to be anyone spying on us, I can tell you that is Santa Paws' super-duper secret schematics for a new robot. He gave them to me last night so we can build it today and test it out!"

The two raccoons spent most of the afternoon huddled over the makeshift worktable as they built a silvery aluminum-clad remote-controlled robot which they cobbled together from various bits and pieces. When they finished their work, it didn't have blue fur, flashing eyes, or even spoke a weird language, but instead, it rolled upon makeshift rubber tracks back and forth as it beeped and whistled. It may not have been the store-bought toy he wanted, but since he and his father had built it together, it was far more precious to him.

Later that night, Jake was dressed in his new pajamas as he climbed onto the sofa, which he used for his bed, and he fondly looked at the robot laying nearby on the floor. Finally, he gave a small yawn as he snuggled under the warm blankets, but before he closed his sleepy eyes he glanced over at the tinsel star on the top of the tree, and curiously it seemed to be shining a bit brighter than ever before.