A Christmas Surprise

*Lyta walked down the street to Zoras house after spending a night and a day out in the city. She was tired and feeling slightly sick from the venom her body was creating. "God" …She thought…"What a way to make a living." She let herself in as quietly as she could, not wanting to disturb Zora or anyone else who maybe staying there and headed toward her room. She hesitated as she walked by the door of the library and glanced in. The soft multicolored glow of lights on a Christmas tree made her stop in her tracks. She and Maggie had never had a tree, not one like this. She could catch the smell of fresh pine in the room and took a deep breath, stepping within. **Before her stood the most beautiful Christmas tree she had ever seen, decorated lavishly and with care. Her breath caught and tears came to her eyes as she stared at it for a moment, mesmerized by the sparkling lights in the otherwise unlit room. Her gaze traveled to the bottom of the tree and her breath caught as she noticed presents there. Curiously she peeked at the small, well wrapped boxes to see if she could spot a name. Doubtless they were for some regular inhabitant of the house…not for the visitors and she wondered who else lived here.**She stared hard in disbelief at the name on the first one….it was addressed to her? Who would have done such a thing? ….She peered at the little card taped to the box. …Ace? She nearly dropped it. Then carefully placing the gift down on a table she looked at the other present there…this one was also to her…from Zora. Then she saw another, back under the tree and reached down to pull it out….this one was from Zora also as was another. When she set the brightly wrapped packages down her hands were shaking slightly and she sat down in a chair at the table. One present was more than what she expected, more than one was unheard of. She looked back under the tree one last time. There was another present there….Carefully she drew it out also. It was another from Ace. **What did this mean? A sign that she was accepted or just something they would have done without thinking about it…because it was Christmas? Slowly the silence of the house seemed to settle into her and she observed with some embarrassment that she had not even thought about getting them a present.**Slowly, being careful not to make too much noise, she began to unwrap each gift. She took a deep breath to steady her hands which were shaking with anticipation more than any 10 year olds could possibly have. Her mind raced, wondering what could they have gotten for her…and also…what would she do? She must get them something also. The first present from Zora were several books on herbs. She grinned as she leafed through them…and carefully placed them on the table.They were books she had seen in the bookstores but had never had the money to buy. The next package was a gift certificate for $100. 00 at a local herb & new age store called "The Flight of the Phoenix. This she tucked in one of the books so as not to loose it. The last was a laptop computer. She stared at it in amazement. This was more money spent in one day than she had ever held in her hand at one time. Tears came to her eyes.**She carefully set the items from Zora down in the table, her hand lovingly caressing the laptop. Perhaps she would ask Ace about using it. She blushed,embarrassed by the prospect. Then she turned to Ace's gifts and carefully began unwrapping them. One was a book titled "On the run? 101 Ways to Hide." Flipping through it she chuckled at some of the humorous suggestions. The last present was an Electro-knife. She stared at it for a moment, then grinned. Ace was alright!**She tucked this last gift away in her jacket pocket and stacked the books for carrying back to her room. Then she went to the kitchen, found where the trash bags were kept after a small search and returned. As quietly as she could she disposed of the wrappings ,reluctantly throwing away the beautiful gilt papers and ribbons, knowing that in her life she could not afford to hold onto unnecessary items. She did hesitate at the ribbons, then brought the knife out and cut a section off of each of the ribbons to use as bookmarks for the books. That done she took the bag outside to where the other trash is kept. Then gathering up the books she returned to her room, closing the door quietly behind her.*