Maglins and the Infinite Quest

21

Anna Bennet

I woke up in the morning to my parents calling Pipher and I downstairs. Other than that, the house was silent like it normally was. I nudged Pipher to wake him up and we both dressed ourselves before fixing our hair in the bathroom. He quickly ran his fingers through his and I combed mine quickly before heading down the stairs.

My mother had made breakfast and my father was on the living room sofa reading the paper as always.

"Good morning dad," I said, smiling at him.

"Good morning mom," I said, walking into the kitchen and giving her a hug, as I pulled away she kissed my forehead.

"Breakfast is in the dining room," She said.

The two of us went into the dining room and made a plate. We ate quickly before joining my parents in the living room. My dad took the rocking chair so Pipher, Mom, and I could sit together on the sofa.

The focus was now shifted to the Christmas tree. Underneath it was a small pile of presents decorated in red and green paper, the smaller things toward the top of the pile.

We all sat in silence before my mother chimed in to say, "Anna you can start with handing out gifts,"

I stood up from the sofa and made my way to the tree, picking up a gift addressed "to mom" and I handed it to her before sitting back down.

She carefully began unwrapping the box to see a jewelry box with two pretty earrings inside.

"Thank you guys," My mom said before showing Pipher and I what they looked like. She didn't need to show my dad because he was the one who had bought them.

I stood up and plucked another gift from under the tree labeled "to dad" and handed it to him. "This ones from me," I said.

He unwrapped it to see a small snake pin which he showed the other two before standing from the chair to give me a hug.

"Thank you Ann," He said, looking at it a bit closer.

Every Christmas since I could remember I got him a pin. He collected them all in a glass case that he displayed in his home office.

I walked back to the tree and plucked a small box, the same size as the one for my dad and read the tag. "To Pipher"

I handed it to him and sat down on the couch again to watch him open it. Anyone with an ounce of common sense could figure out what it was based on the size of the box.

He opened it to see a pin, similar to the one I had gotten to my dad except it was of a bird.

"Oh wow," Pipher said as he opened it.

"I had to think of something short notice," I said, "I hope you like it,"

"I love it," Pipher responded before giving me a tight squeeze, "Thank you both," He said looking toward both of my parents.

Now that I was the only person who hadn't gotten a gift, I looked for a present addressed to me. I picked it up and sat down to open it.

Inside was a rectangular box and just by the outside I knew what was inside. Before lifting the lid I gave both of my parents a genuine smile to show my appreciation.

Inside the box was a wand. Though I'm only in my second year at Maglins, I'll be needing one next year, and the longer you wait to buy, the less selection there is.

"Oh thank you!" I said, admiring the wand, keeping it in its box. I set it down before giving both of my parents a hug.

I walked back to the tree to see a few more presents which I distributed the same way I had done before. My dad got a new sweater, my mom got a new cookbook, Pipher got colorful socks, and I got a sketchbook and notebook.

Though it wasn't much because money is tight, we were all still very grateful for our gifts. We made sure to get Pipher a little something so he wouldn't feel left out when we all opened presents.

"Is this better than wearing weird Christmas costumes?" I laughed.

"Absolutely,"

The rest of the day was spent together. Pipher and my dad ran to the store while my mom and I stayed home to make dinner. We had decided on pulled pork and chicken sandwiches but we didn't have buns.

Once they got back we were able to all eat together as well as chat. My parents were having a peaceful conversation where they were not annoyed at each other which was a rare occasion. I wouldn't go as far as to say they are fixing their relationship, it's probably just because today's Christmas.

After we all ate, we sat together and carried our conversation over from dinner. At one point in the conversation Pipher and I talked about the snowball fight we had at school and how he ended up on the wrong side. That sparked my dad's interest.

With some convincing to my mom, we all went outside to have a snowball fight. My dad and I were on one team while Pipher and my mom were on the other.

I'd bend down into the snow, pack together a small ball and launch it at Pipher or my mom while they were least expecting it. It was funny to see the look on their faces when I hit them.

A while later, we all started to become tired and made a small snowman instead. My dad and Pipher worked on the bottom while my mom and I worked on the top two segments. I fetched two sticks for the arms and my mom got a carrot from the kitchen for the nose.

It looked a little wonky but we all had fun making it and that was what mattered.