The holidays were the hot thing during the now started, yet cold winter, with all sort of patrons, friendly raiding stores and posts for their precious presents. Ornamented in red and green, the streets sparkled with beauty and awe. Filled with light in all sizes and colors, the huge market place was brighter than Rudolph’s nose, clearly a problem for Santa Claus when transiting over the place, as the combination of bulbs were blinding enough to confuse the magical sleight propellants.
John Ice, a good man in his thirties, was one of the clients, ready to burst his entire yearly savings on presents for friends and family, knowing he would not regret a cent of his decision. Every year he would blast into Tony Smith’s gadget store, his wallet filled with money, and exit a bankrupt but happy man.
And there was something else. There would always be a present he would make for himself. A totally secret one at that! Being an electronic gadget lover, he would hand a considerably small blue box to Tony, the store owner. As his rule went, Tony was to place one of the coolest gadgets of the season into the blue box. Not until Christmas morning, would he be allowed to open the box. A rule he fervently lived by, giving him a chance for surprise and amazement. Of course Tony would slip the bill later. No problem, John always said, happy to add some excitement into his life.
Those were the Holidays for him, and although his parents had tried to dissuade him of being so financially careless during this time of year, he have had a hard time getting to follow the recommended foot steps. Perhaps because of this neat little feature, many wanted to befriend the young man.
Mrs. Rose was one of the lucky ones, his neighbor, and perhaps by pure chance, they were tonight meeting on the same store, Johny’s Happy Memories. “Well hello, John! Happy Holidays to you!” the woman greeted the now merrily surprised John who was looking at a picture frame for his wife.
“Merry Christmas to you too, Jenny!” John responded, placing the frame down and moving towards his friend. “How is your shopping?”
The neighbors spent some time talking about how wonderful the Holidays where and what great prices they could find on the different local stores. It was always the same topics and conversations, but the Holidays would not only transform them into new, they would make them as well enjoyable!
Unfortunately, there was no guarantee for the Holidays to be all pleasure. A fact that became quite obvious in an instant as the Commerce Street became agitated all at once. Apparently, someone had decided that two nights before Christmas was the perfect moment to jump from a building and end his life. Sitting on the corner of the Celestic building, at the other side of the street from where our friends were shopping, Mr Jim Blakes waited for the right moment to conclude the tedious process he had come to call “The Very Big End”. Yes! Mr Blakes liked to name things, and this moment was by no means, an exception.
The people started to group in a crowd, all their undivided attention clearly pointing towards the man in the ledge. John was one of the many people wishing for the man not to jump. Little did he know he was the only one capable of saving Jim. Mrs Rose had a pretty good idea.
“Oh John! I am afraid this is horrible! Could you go up there and try to talk the man out of it? You are just so good with people.” The altered woman suggested to John as she squeezed his left arm.
Not able to say NO to such a request, John started to walk towards the building front door, hoping he knew what he was doing. He was very good with people indeed, but a suicidal one? He was certain it was al out of his league. However, having the man jump to his death would ruin his conscience forever. He had to try!
It must have taken him quite a long time to get up to the fourth roof. It took even longer for him to find the window the man had used to get into the ledge. Eventually, there he was! Sitting and waiting. Would he have the courage and know how to stop his madness? As if taken from a book he had never read, he went out the window and sat beside Jim. The crowd grew stressful, their screams quite audible where John was standing.
“Hi sir! My name is John. Merry Christmas” he greeted wondering whether the Merry Christmas was a little bit too much.
“Merry Christmas, John. My name is Jim Blakes and as you can see, tonight is my last.” Jim responded with a soft smile forming.
Why would Mr Jim Blakes be comminting suicide? Why on Chrismas? It made no sense considering that Mr Blakes was one of the richest men in the world! He had it all! And that is precisely why he was sitting on that ledge now…
“Life has no meaning, John! Not to me. You see, when I was a kid I used to wait for days, for Santa to bring my presents. I had no idea what I was getting, although I had my suspicions. And then when the 25th had arrived, at the morning I opened my presents to find the surprises. Some of the stuff was there, some of the stuff was not. But it was the unknown which drove me for 25 days since the start of December, what was priceless.” The man explained, his gaze directed towards the shining lights below.
“Such surprise is now gone. I call it ‘The Santa Claus’, a feeling I will no longer experience. An intoxicating surge of hormones which used to invade my body when I was a child. It does not come back when you are an adult.” A tear dripped from Jim’s right eye.
“But sir! You are rich and powerful. There must be something that can make you happy!”
“I have it all. Whenever I want something, there I have it. All I have to do is go to the store and buy it.”
“What about giving some of your money to the poor and needy? Wouldn’t that comfort your spirit?” John asked the man pointlessly as he realized Jim Blakes was not only the richest man in town, but the entity offering the largest donations in history.
“I once gave all of my money to the poor. I became one of them! In a few weeks I was richer than before. It is my destiny. I will never experience ‘The Santa Claus’ again.” Jim said nodding, totally convinced of his boring fate.
John knew there was only one more thing he could try. Removing his recently acquired blue box, all wrapped with a red ribbon exerting pressure at the box’s corners, he slowly motioned the present close to the suicidal Jim. “Then I guess there is no point in offering my blue box as a present to you…”
Jim looked at it, not being able to help a smile to escape him. “It certainly looks cute. Whatever it is, I can buy it with ease is the problem.” he paused to take a better look at the small box, still on John’s hand. “So what is it?”
“I don’t know!” John responded. Although he seemed convincing, Jim could not believe it. Why would somebody have a present, without knowing what it was? If somebody else had given him the present, he would have already opened it. Right? Why would he be waiting?
“How come you don’t know?” Jim was incredulous. “When will you know?”
“I will open the box on Christmas day’s morning. Not before, not after.” John evilly smiled at the man while offering the box as a present. “And if you promise not to open it until the same time, I will let you have it.”
John was giving his totally unknown present to a stranger, just with the hopes of saving his life. It sounded noble. But what really got to Jim was the fact that the present felt like a ‘Santa Claus’. Adrenaline rushed through him making him excited and nervous, just like a few decades before.
Jim never jumped on that night. In fact he never jumped. Forty years later, Jim was old and having one of his Christmas parties where John was always invited, the two old men got to talk. “So Jim, what was on my blue box I gave you that night?”
Jim smiled in the same fashion John had smiled forty years ago on the dreadful ledge. “I don’t know. I have not opened it yet!”
