Thanks to LRW, thewriterswayoflife, Dirtkid123, and Casey Storm for your reviews! Also, I want to apologize to the last three. I didn't get a chance to send you guys a reply to personally thank you, but I'll try to do that soon. :)
Onto day five!
/day five/
Prompt: gift
Featured LR character: Douglas
"The Good"
Douglas doesn't understand gift-giving traditions – or gift-giving, period. However, during the Gift Day Project at the island, he finds a nicely wrapped box outside his room.
Douglas has never been someone who's fond of gifts, either in receiving them or giving them.
He guesses it's because he never truly understood the point in it. He does remember when he and Donald were little, when his parents would get paid and it would result to him and his brother coming home to neatly wrapped presents on the kitchen counter. It's one of his favorite memories, because he does recall how excited he'd get in guessing what was waiting for him under the wraps. Usually, his parents gave him things he wanted the most, whether it be toys or gadgets or even the science kit he'd been begging them to buy for him for the longest.
However, as he got older, the gifts became less and less for him and more and more for Donald. He had unwrapped several presents before that turned out to be items that his older brother wanted. So, his brother ended up with double the number of gifts, and he ended up with many empty boxes and fulfilled expectations for disappointments.
When Donald moved out of the house to go to college, the presents didn't come as regularly as it used to. One day, they just stopped coming altogether.
Maybe that's the reason why he doesn't understand gift-giving anymore. He's gotten older and thus knows better.
He's also accepted now that it's just not for him.
Despite all of this, however, he does see the aesthetic in it. It's a good way to communicate one's feelings towards another without saying a word. He sees that through the examples of others, like when Donald buys Tasha expensive jewelry after he says something he doesn't mean but which still hurts her, or whenever Adam buys candy bars for Bree and Chase whenever he goes to the store because, though he doesn't want to admit it, he loves his younger siblings and wants them to have something he thinks they'll like.
It also makes both the giver and the receiver happy. He knows that it goes back to that unspoken communication thing, but there's also the element of mystery and excitement that renders the whole experience thrilling. There's always that moment where the recipient tries to figure out what's hidden by the wrapper. In certain instances, the person would even try to find a reason why there's a gift in the first place. Then, they'd open it.
As they do, the suspense of the moment switches towards the givers. Their recipients opening the presents is kind of like them opening a present, too. They don't know how the person's going to react; they can only hope that it would be positively.
Gift-giving is often a game on its own, he thinks, and maybe that's another reason why he's never had a proclivity towards it.
He's not against it. Actually, when his brother and the other three children decided to make an event at the Academy to get the students to understand the importance and the joy of giving gifts, he was okay with it. It's a social skill that those unfortunate kids could learn, and it was an act that they had to fully understand before they moved out into the real world.
Gift Day Project, that's what the name of the event is. It's a one day occasion (at least in its introductory phase) that the students had a week to plan for.
The objectives are simple enough: choose one person they want to give a gift to, write what they want to say to that person on a card, and then give both to them. Easy. His brother and the three even told the students that the four of them will participate, too, only that his brother, unknown to the students, will have back-up gifts for the kids who may not receive any so they wouldn't feel left out.
Adam, Bree, and Chase – and, not surprisingly, Perry – tried to rope him into joining in, but he made it abundantly clear to them that he didn't want to take part in it. When asked why, he told them his reasons.
They only looked at him afterwards as if he told them that the sky is not blue. Though confused, they continued to insist, and he continued to turn them down.
Thankfully, they respected his wishes after the third time and didn't ask anymore.
Just to be sure he's not once again pressured into that Gift Day Project event, he left the cafeteria just before lunch ended, just before it takes place. He's making his way back to his room, intent on getting back to the blueprint he's started putting together two nights ago. Off and on, he also anticipates stories of how the gift-giving went when he sees the kids again later on that afternoon.
He turns the corner then stops when he sees something unusual. The bright Pacific sunlight streaming in through the windows highlights what sits in front of his door. A soft wrinkle forming between his brows, he walks forward to check whether it is what he thinks it is.
Medium-sized box. Blue wrapping paper. A small card on top.
A gift.
He bends down to pick it up. The box has weight on it, but it's not overtly heavy. The frown on his face intensifies more as he wonders what's inside, who left it there, and whether this is for someone else. He takes the card that has been lightly taped on the wrapper, and then opens it.
To the guy who hates presents:
I know you don't hate them, even if you say you do. I know you also told the others that you don't want to participate in this, but unfortunately for you, I am participating – and I've chosen you as the person I want to give a gift to. Since you can pretty much build any cool thing a guy could want, I just picked old school stuff that I thought you might enjoy.
Anyways, I'm giving you this because a nice guy should receive a nice gift.
You should remember that, you know. You're a nice guy now. Don't punish yourself by choosing not to enjoy the normal things nice people enjoy, i.e: gifts.
Douglas smirks. The name of the giver isn't on the card, but the handwriting is telling of who it was from.
He steps into his room with the present. After closing the door behind him, he proceeds to his work table and places the box there. He stares at it for a while as he weighs his decision. Then, favoring it, he begins to rip the giftwrap off.
What's inside is a plain box, the kind that's used for shipping. When he sees the tape holding the flaps together, he picks up a box cutter then slides the blade through to open it.
A smile comes to his face when he sees the contents. There are three hardbound books in there, all classic novels, all of which are his favorites. There are also comic books, two of which are in mint condition. Almost all of them are issues he hunted for when he was a teenager but never found. In addition to those is a set of mechanical pencils, the kind that he prefers and uses when drawing out his blueprints.
Douglas shakes his head, chuckling lightly. That box has been put together with him in mind. For a moment, it reminds him of that first kitchen counter gift he received from his parents.
He grins. "You're such an interesting kid," he mutters absently as he thinks of the teen who had left the present at his door.
The name of the giver has been purposely omitted so you can fill in whichever of the teen characters you'd like to be in there. I have a particular person in mind but thought it would be more fun if no names are given. ;)
Reviews are appreciated! I have to check my notes to see if all the remaining slots had been filled as far as prompts, but still keep 'em coming just in case!
