A Kind of Magic

When I was on the public bus an hour ago, I read this article called, The Present by James A. Michener which I feel, made a lot of sense and somewhat, lead me to realization of the meaning of life's little  excitements. I have been asked quite a number of times, in fact a huge number of times, what I wanted for my birthday which is approaching in a week. And I would usually tell those people I'd have nothing or anything. A card, a gift or even the simplest things, like a hug, I didn't mind. I wasn't a big fan of spending a whole chunk of money on birthday gifts that I don't even use anyway. They say, it is the thought that counts!

So, back to this enthralling article. It is basically about James when he was a nine-year-old boy, growing up in Pennsylvania. He used to mow the lawn of a Mrs Long, an old woman who paid him little. But she promised him a really special gift for Christmas and asked him to come by to retrieve this special gift on Christmas Day. He was delighted, of course.

James, at that time, was eager to own a pair of baseball gloves or a bicycle or ice skates but he was pretty  confident that Mrs. Long would get him the latter as he thought that she wouldn't know anything about baseball, nor she would be strong enough to get him a bicycle.

On the 22nd of December, James couldn't wait any longer, knowing that he only could open his present on Christmas Day itself. Guess the excitement of waiting has gotten a hold of him. He went to Mrs. long's and retrieved his present. It was a huge box which seemed like nothing inside due to it's extreme lightness. 

James shook it and kept guessing what was so special that it weighed nothing. Ice skates were definitely out of the question.

"It's a kind of magic," Mrs. Long said, and that was all.

On Christmas morning, he unwrapped the present with much excitement and found ten flimsy sheets of black carbon paper. It read Carbon Paper Regal Premium, and of the the four word, he only knew the second.

When his Aunt. Laura demonstrated how to use these carbon papers by writing his name on it, over a sheet of white paper, he was mesmerized and enthralled at it's works, as if it was a miracle! Well, in James' case, it was a miracle to the childish and naive mind. 

He kept writing and writing on it, using up every space of black left on the what-previously-thought-was-flimsy carbon paper. It was the most enchanting gift he has ever gotten from anyone! It was until after some years that he realized that those sheet of carbon paper had costed nothing as Mrs. Long would normally throw them away. She didn't, at the that time 'cause she thought maybe, just maybe, this boy might led out a smile or two from a present that was totally unfamiliar and outside of the realms of his daily mundane life. 

I thought, it is true that the average normal present would merely gratifies just a temporary yearning or want, as the ice skates would have, to James. However, if you would just think outside the box and spend on something infinitely more valuable like imagination, the great present would illuminate the years of life that remain. That specific great present might not be lavishly expensive or needed a lot of trouble to get, but to jolt them a little out of their usual life boundaries, just might become the best gift they have ever gotten.

"It is such gifts and experiences - usually costing little or nothing - that really transform a life and lend it an impetus that may continue for decades."

So, surprise me, peeps! :)