They were at breakfast table, and the boy looked up from his plate curiously. He was an alert-eyed youngster with flat bond hair and a quick, nervous manner. He didn’t understand what the sudden tension was about, but he did know that today was his birthday, and he wanted harmony above all. Somewhere in the little apartment there were wrapped, beribboned packages waiting to be opened, and in the tiny wall-kitchen something warm and sweet was being prepared in the automatic stove. He wanted the day to be happy, and the moistness of his mother’s eyes, the scowl on his father’s face, spoiled the mood of fluttering expectation with which he had greeted the morning.
“Examination Day” by Henry Slesar
Every gift contains a danger. Whatever gift we have we are compelled to express. And if the expression of that gift is blocked, distorted, or merely allowed to languish, then the gift turns against us, and we suffer.
Lyndon B. Johnson, 1993
FURTHER READING
“I looked for a present for you. Searched all day yesterday. Something original, very rare, very beautiful. A great gift. Not just a handy thing, a razor – an electric iron – a coffee maker. No: something unique in the world, that nobody, ever, ever, has owned before you. I found the idea earlier: I’ll give you my heart. »A wonderful ode to love that transcends all ages.
