Challenge 33: Gifts

240. Is it better to give or receive gifts?

The tiny box wrapped in shiny pink paper with beautiful, white circles awaited me. It was my birthday present from my parents, for I had turned eleven. Feeling like an adult, I tried really hard to wipe out the excitement from my face, although I knew that as soon as I was alone, I would rip out the wrapping and engulf myself in what lay inside the box. It didn't matter to me as I child what lay inside. The part I enjoyed most was the excitement that rushed through me as I guessed so many times what gift could be waiting for me just a fold away! As I grew older, my mother asked me what I wanted and said that she would get that for my birthday. I refused, quite childishly, I admit. I didn't want to ruin the surprise for myself. Whatever the gift was, it didn't matter. As long as it was wrapped with a ribbon on, I was happy.

This is what gifts means to me: the excitement. Other than the surprise, I love receiving gifts because I get to see how the other person thinks of me. If it is a beautiful, navy blue pen, then I become a writer. If it is a long, colorful scarf, then I become a complainer. If it is a book that I had been longing for, then I become a passionate reader. If it is an iPod that I had wanted since quite some time ago, I become patient. If it is a statue of two little houses with two names scribbled in blue ink at the bottom, then I become a friend. If it is a notebook with large characters in its cover, I become an artist. If it is a key chain with an outlandish yet cute animal hanging from it, then I am accepted the way I am. If it is a hair tie with a pretty, yellow flower with colorful polka dots, I become an amiable person. If it is just a notebook with beautiful flowers in red, blue, and yellow, then I become doodler or a scribbler. These gifts show what I appear to be to the person giving it. And this not only delights me, but also lets me know what kind of a person I am to other people.