THE STORY OF HAROLD'S GIFTS, JOHNNY'S LOVE AND MARY'S KISS

In America, there was a small village situated in a valley. It was a quiet and beautiful village. The village road met another road that goes up the hill forming a junction which could be called the center of the village. The few shops the village had were situated near this junction. But there was an exception. About half a mile down the village road, there was a tiny gift shop. It didn’t have a name. There was a glass screen in front of the shop, which exhibited some of the cute gifts the shop had to offer. The glass was dusted and not cleaned for a long time. But still, the gifts made the shop look attractive. Kids, ladies and gentlemen, all happened to automatically turn their heads towards the gift shop and savor the picture of those beautiful gifts when they happened to pass by that road. The kids wished to buy those gifts. The grown-ups wished to buy those gifts for their kids. Quite a good number of young men wanted to buy gifts for their lovely ladies. But those wishes remained as wishes because the shop keeper was Mr. Harold.

Old man Harold was quite a dreaded figure among kids. And he was resented by the rest of the village populace too for his rude behavior. It was not much of a problem for Harold because he was not living in that village. His house was a few miles up the hill road, where only some rare tourists passed by. Nobody in the village knew much about him, not even his first name. The only thing they knew was that Harold was very very old. All the grown-ups agree that Harold’s shop was there even in their childhood. Some of the old men and women remember Harold in youth running the shop. But they were not able to remember much about that, except the fact that he was even then an unpopular figure. Harold’s problem was that he got angry all the time. He had no control over it. When he tries to speak, it becomes a shout. When he tries to close a door, he automatically slams it shut. And there was no question of trying to smile, he just couldn’t do that. It may be because he may have had a tough life. Who knows? He may have had a dead daughter, or a wife who have left him or any other tragedy in his life. We will discuss the exact reason for his behavior later. But whatever be the reason, he continued to be rude to the world.

When somebody opens the door of the shop, enters it and closes the door the old man will shout about the need to keep the door opened. If somebody opens the door, enters it without closing the door, he will shout till the visitor closes the door. None of the gifts had a price tag. If you ask the price of a gift, he will ask you to quote a price. Now whatever price you quote, how large that may be he will scream that it is a beggarly sum. He will shout and ask you to leave the shop. Sometimes, when someone wants to buy a certain gift, he will just say that is not for sale. And if the person’s time was bad, he would ask the reason and then he will get a mouthful of scolding from the old man. Kids had the worst experience. He usually does not even allow them to get into the shop. He shoos them away. And if some kid managed to sneak in, he threatened them with a wide variety of punishments. The threats were often enough for the kid to start running for life. And thus, the gift shop remained inaccessible to the village.

Due to his curious behavior, he was the favorite topic for gossip and rumor. Some said he was mad. Some others said he was just acting and that he was actually a spy in hiding. There was a talk of his eating roasted snake. Then there was the story of his wife and children locked up by him in his house. None of these ever had any effect on Harold. How can there be any effect since he didn’t talk to any of these people and so didn’t hear any of these stories.

No one dared to enter his shop. Harold was very satisfied with this absence of customers. It was fine for him. For him, every day was the same. There was no change in his life. And there wouldn’t have been any change in the future too, if not for Little Johnny and Mary.

Little Johnny and Mary were friends. In the evenings, they played together. One evening, while they were fishing together, Mary asked Johnny whether he remembered what day it was. And when a girl asks you this question, it is usually her birthday. So it was in this case too and Johnny realized the fact with horror. He wished her very warmly and asked her to forgive his mistake. He begged her not to be angry with him and promised that he will give her whatever she asked, even his new catapult or the baseball cap his father brought him. Innocent men don’t know the dangers of promising women ‘anything in the world.’ More often, the lady in question may ask for Moon or a Ferrari. And this occasion was Johnny’s practical lesson on this subject. With a smile on her face, Mary asked Johnny to buy her a gift from the mad old man’s gift shop.

Little Johnny wished to jump into the river and swim away to avoid Mary seeing the horror in his face. But he didn’t know how to swim. Running was out of the question since she was faster than him. Johnny suggested that he will go to town in the weekend and buy her a nice and expensive gift. But when a girl has her eyes on a particular object, no amount of inducement will distract her. She told Johnny in clear terms that she wanted a gift from Harold’s gift shop before that day’s sundown and threatened the end of friendship if he didn’t oblige. Johnny knew that he was in for trouble. And he became ready for the greatest compromise in his life. He told her that he will give her his new bicycle. Boys love their vehicle an infinite times more than girls love their pet. Johnny was making a big sacrifice to avoid losing Mary. But Mary didn’t agree to the suggestion. And then, she attacked the weak point of every boy. She questioned his pride and courage. She accused him of being weak and courage less. She called him a sissy. Of course she didn’t know the meaning of that word. But she has seen it used in similar situations in television. And this was the last nail in the coffin. Little Johnny agreed to buy her a gift from Harold’s shop.

Mary relieved Johnny of the difficult task of choosing the gift. She has seen a wonderful glittering bouncing ball in the parlor of the shop and she wanted that ball. Little Johnny wanted to say that girls were supposed to play with dolls not balls. Even though he started protesting with a, "But Mary...” the change in her facial expression made him swallow the sentence. Off he went, to his home to take some money. Being a grown up child, the Tooth fairy no longer left him any pennies. His piggy bank was almost empty. It had only some cents which he gathered and ran to the gift shop.

Harold's dreams were interrupted by the bell which rang automatically when someone opens the door of the shop. He opened his eyes to see a frightened lad. Yes, Little Johnny was frightened. But that does not mean he has forgot the good manners which they taught him in school. So he said, "Good Evening Mr. Harold." The old man replied in a loud voice which seemed to shake the shop, "Get off from my shop you little rascal. I am not going to let you steal anything from my shop." Johnny told him that he was there not to steal but to buy a gift for his friend. He pointed to the bouncing ball and asked Harold about its price. For that thirty cent ball, Harold quoted a price of one dollar. Johnny counted the coins in his hand. He was ten cents short. Johnny requested Harold to give a discount. The old man stared fiercely at his eyes and Johnny got the message. Johnny then requested Harold to allow him to take the ball for ninety cents and promised that he will give the remaining amount the very next day. Little Johnny was about to cry. He glanced to the road to make sure that Mary was not there. And then he cried. And while crying, he also managed to tell Harold about the helpless situation he was in. But that did not melt Harold's heart. He disliked anyone disturbing his peace in the shop, especially children. He didn't want any of them in his shop. He had enough money to live peacefully. The shop was just an excuse to stay away from his wife during day time. So he pushed Johnny out of his shop. Before the door was shut, Johnny managed to shout, "Mr. Harold, haven't you also liked gifts while you were a kid or were you born as an old man?"

When Johnny went to Mary to tell her about his failure in obtaining the gift for her, he thought that Mary will never again talk to him. Mary asked him to close his eyes. He did so, bracing himself for receiving a slap. Instead, he got the first lip-to-lip kiss of his life. And when it was over, Mary said, "I just wanted to know how brave you are, Johnny." Good work lady, next time you can test my bravery by putting me in a ring along with a prize fighting bull. Of course, he just thought that and didn't dare to voice it. Johnny has earlier decided to marry Mary. But now Johnny thought that he may be expected to undergo such bravery tests at least once a year. He concluded that even two Marys are not worth taking such risks. He just escaped from the scene giving some excuse about a nonexistent home chore he was expected to complete that day.

Sometimes, some statements uttered in some specific conditions can have a profound effect on us. Little Johnny's question was having such an effect on the old man. In the shop, Harold was thinking whether he was in fact born as an old man. And he knew it was not so. He too was a child once. He got nice birthday gifts from his parents every year. Santa never forgot to leave good gifts under the Christmas tree every year. He remembered the enjoyment every new gift gave him. He took the bouncing ball and threw it to the floor. He watched the ball bouncing and bouncing till it halted. He threw it on the wall and tried to catch it while it rebounded. He was not able to do it for the first time. He tried again. No luck. He tried again and again. And after eight or nine failed attempts he managed to catch it. And when he did, he smiled and cheered. And then he realized that he hasn't in fact forgotten how to smile. He hasn't forgotten how to enjoy. And if such a ball were to cause this much happiness for an old man, what value would it have been for Little Johnny. He imagined giving that ball to Johnny and the smile that would appear on Johnny's face. He imagined how happy Johnny's girl friend would have been if she got that ball. And if Johnny didn't smile, if Johnny's friend wasn't happy, it was only because of him. He had a chance to make them happy and he didn't use that chance. But then, he realized that he had that chance, the chance to make others happy, for a long time. But he never used that chance. Instead he shooed away all the people who wanted to buy some gifts for their loving ones. He realized that clamoring for the peace that he didn't get in his home; he has grown as a beast. And thinking of that, he cried.

Next day, Harold didn't come to open the shop. The shop remained closed the next day too. It was the month of December. It snowed heavily unlike previous years. All the roads to the village were blocked. There was no way for the people in the village to go out of the valley. Christmas was nearing. The children were expecting gifts. But the parents haven't done their Christmas shopping. And they became restless when they found that even in the day before Christmas; Harold's gift shop remained closed. The influential people of the village gathered and tried to find a solution. The road leading to Harold's home was also blocked by snow. So there was no question of meeting Harold and asking him to open the shop. They knew that even if Harold's shop was open, that wouldn't have made much difference since he never allowed anyone to buy anything from his shop. And so, they decided to force the shop open, buy the gifts at a fair price fixed by the local Sheriff who was to keep that cash in his possession till he was able to give it to the old man when he returned. They went to the shop and broke the lock without much difficulty and opened the door. But the shop was empty. There were no gifts inside. They left the shop with a heavy heart. They knew that their children won't find any gifts under the Christmas tree. Santa is supposed to leave the gifts there. And if there are no gifts, then children are going to hate Santa. They are going to hate Christmas. If a child doesn't love and enjoy Christmas what else can we expect him to enjoy?

The snowfall didn’t cease. On the night of Christmas people were not even able to step out of their homes. Mary was trying to sing a carol when she heard a 'ho ho ho' sound from outside. She went and opened the door to find the Santa Clause waiting outside. Offering her a beautifully wrapped gift box he said, "Merry Christmas little lady." "Merry Christmas Santa," she replied. She started to unwrap the gift. She found a glittering bouncing ball inside, the same one which she wanted for her birthday. She turned her head to say "Thank You Santa," but uncle Santa has already left.

In that night, all the children in the village got gifts from Santa. And that included Little Johnny too. When the Santa started walking back, Johnny shouted, "Goodbye Mr. Harold." The Santa looked back, smiled and continued walking towards the snow filled road.