✅ The Nice List

Season of Joy

As she looked at the still-massive sea of gifts spread out in front of her, Merri knew that if she was to get any clue about why Tarja had done all this – or how anyone else possibly could have done – she needed to shake things up a bit. She needed to do more than just opening packages and waiting for an answer. But until an idea came to her, opening something was probably a good first step. She looked at all the boxes again, and her gaze settled on a lumpy parcel wrapped in glittery snowflake paper. Picking it up, she could tell it was soft and irregularly shaped. Her first guess was a Christmas sweater, like the ones her aunts used to send when she was very small. But from the way it bent in her hands, she was certain it would be some kind of clothing.

Merri heard a faint click behind her as she turned around with her prize, and she glanced up to see Tarja snapped another photo. Tarja seemed so interested in all the presents, but she hadn't opened any herself, and that didn't seem fair. But if Tarja wanted Merri to open them all, that would make perfect sense. So the best way to find out more might be to throw a wrench in the works; to do something that her friend couldn't possibly have expected. It made perfect sense.

She turned around again, and scanned the pile for that same glittery paper. There must be another one out there. It took a little while, but she spotted one and reached out to grab it. Then she turned back to Tarja, so she could see her expression as she answered.

"You should get presents too," she said with a smile. "Here, you can have this one."

"I don't think I'm the one who wrote a magical Christmas list," Tarja pointed out. "I might get in trouble if I open somebody else's presents."

Merri nodded. She could remember Tarja giving her a magic envelope that would carry her letter to some eastern Santa clone called Ded Moroz. Merri had never believed in magic, so she'd treated it as a joke, asking for all the kids' toys she could think of. The kinds of things she might have asked for if she were young enough to believe in Santa. And now she thought back, she couldn't say for sure whether the ones she had already opened had been on the list somewhere. She still couldn't believe something crazy like that, but at the same time she couldn't find a logical reason to argue against it. It seemed like all rationality was vanishing from her mind; or like the world really had gone crazy.

"I bet you got some awesome new clothes," Tarja said with a smile. "I can't wait to see what they look like on you."

That prompted Merri to look down at herself again. Her dressing gown was old and ratty; not exactly photogenic. And she thought she could understand where Tarja was coming from. And perhaps that was just what she needed.

"It's got to look better than this in your pictures," she said. "Maybe I'll do that. But all the other stuff has been for little kids. If the clothes are the same it wouldn't fit."

"Okay," Tarja said with a smile. "How about this then. If it's clothes, and it's big enough to fit you, then you can try it on. And do a twirl so I can see you looking happy for once. If it isn't, then I'll make another coffee while you go change into some other clothes. Okay?"

"Yeah," Merri said with a smile. She doubted that any clothes would fit, so the agreement was meaningless. And if she was wrong, well, there were a lot of things in the world worse than her best friend seeing her in a tasteless jumper, or a childish hoodie with some cartoon character on. "If it fits. Even if it's a bit embarrassing, I'll wear it." And then before Tarja could be happy about her victory, she continued: "If you do the same. Got to be fair, right? And if they're my presents, they're mine to share. Here."

She turned and thrust the second snowflake package towards Tarja, who shrugged and held out a hand to accept it. That didn't seem right to Merri, who had been expecting a little more resistance. On impulse she snatched the gift back, and gave Tarja the other one instead.