Difference

The Gift

The difference between them was obvious in their possessions. The eldest requesting a giant teddy bear, the youngest requesting to be left alone, or at the very least some money. While one was materialistic, the other was minimalist. They rarely butt heads on the subject, and in fact shared many things. They had opposing styles in almost every sense of the word, but maintained a fairly good relationship built off their differences.

However, their most obvious difference was their response. The eldest responded with, "wow two gifts in one day!" The youngest responded with, "why?" It was humorous to all involved, except maybe the youngest, who could not understand why she had received the gift at all. In her mind she did not deserve it. It was not Christmas, nor her birthday, and she hadn't been a particularly good person, so why was there a necklace in her hand. Now if it had been just some necklace, it would have been different, but this had been a personalized necklace. This necklace was seemingly made for her, with the heart shape and treble clef, it was as if her father had been looking for it specifically. Which rose the question once more, why?

If she had been a good person, then she could understand, maybe, but all she had done was work at her job, but she was getting paid to do that. She wasn't picking up any extra chores. In fact, if anything her father had reason to ground her or punish her, seeing as how she was already behind on her work and school hadn't even started yet, so again, why?

She was not at all ungrateful, neither of them were. The necklaces were absolutely beautiful, but the lack of reason was causing the youngest distress. Every time she asked, "why" her father replied with a chuckle and a shake of his head. Maybe he was getting offended that she didn't like it, she did like it, or maybe he was just messing with her, regardless, her shower  was uncomfortable with the weight of the gift around her neck. It was like it was puling her down, like it was mocking her and saying, "you don't really deserve this", which would make sense, because she didn't.

In the mirror she stared at the object, strung from her neck and grimaced. It was beautiful, simmering gorgeously, even under the horrific artificial shine of the light. It was too much, too accurate, too personal. Why was it so perfect? It was too much for her.

Her sister wore hers proudly, and the youngest hid hers under her clothes, afraid someone would stop her and say, "that's a pretty necklace" then she'd feel the need to clarify that she wasn't a good person, this wasn't good karma, she didn't know why she had it. It was heavy on her soul.