Frozen moment.

He stared at the melted candles lost in thought as the smoke dissolved in the aftermath of the party. He had a surprise that would be remembered for eternity. It was winter  night and the cold wind ruffled through the curtains. It was a concise party with a handful of people. It was supposed to be big, a little bigger than this.  A chill ran down his spine as he lay lost in thought. The previous the night he was excited when he bought those 30 something gifts for his friends and stuffed them with what the essentials that the eight year olds would use. He thought he had to be practical when it came to gifting and at the same time didn't want to compromise. And he was excited. This was the first time he would be surrounded in company of his friends in the larger quantity. The following day after answering the calls from his relatives and other family members, he went to school with sheer glimmer in his face. He made sure to invite everyone to his party, each and every person he knew in his class. Eventually, the final bell rang as the whole lot dispersed to their homes. He was pretty excited and at the same time was scared a bit. This was the first time he was hosting this big of a party on something he felt was important. As time flew by he could smell the delicious food followed by delicacies that his mom prepared for all the guests. He had a lot planned for the day and hoped that he could be a better host the very first time. The moment he was waiting for all day finally arrived. He kept his eyes on the clock with each minute and hoping for someone to hit the doorbell or even knock. Time was being cruel on him. Each second felt like an hour. As for him, hours passed by and there was still no one at his doorstep. He was trying to his cool but and being optimistic while keeping the worst fears at bay. Little did he know that what he feared was becoming a reality with each second that passed. And eventually he was living his fear. No one turned up. He was devastated. Birthdays? He bid them a farewell for good, for a lifetime. No more. He promised himself. 

The surprise was overwhelmingly exhilarating and something that could never be forgotten. This one scarred him, for life. From that day, he wasn't a fan of surprises of any sort. Nor was he presented with any surprises, not even the good kind. Though the birthdays were bid a good farewell, it was at least customary to be celebrated with the assembly of the family which was pretty good compared to the heart breaking episode that happened to the eight year old that winter night. Eventually there were no gifts at least on occasions like these. Gifts, normally are something that one give to show a certain gratitude, love or something to remember someone or a day by. That being the basic principle that surrounds this surprise of gifting. Eventually he used to ask his parents what he would be getting for his birthday. Now mind you, there were no friends coming over his house, and that meant no gifts, nothing. So the only other alternative was asking the people he would be spending with. Now there was an interesting analogy of all this gifting business. For instance one was in need of something, say like a bicycle because it was fun to ride and one of the important accessory as a kid and he would get it. Six months later, they point at his bicycle and said that it was his birthday gift. No argument there, right ! But eventually the joy of getting a certain gift unexpectedly faded. Though there were a lot of arguments trying to prove the worthiness of a certain thing, but the routine pointing to certain thing and telling him to be happy for that as it was his gift for that year just bored his wits. Where is the surprise? But he couldn't argue, could he now? There was no logical point because he knew he couldn't win. The result was that joy of getting a surprise gift on a special occasion was left to his imagination. Not even for Christmas and he wondered why there no gift at the Christmas tree. 

He froze as he stared at the box wrapped in a shiny ruby red as his words faded in silence. The thoughts stumbled in his mind, but he couldn't say a word.

It was just like any other day at the office, cold with the low air-conditioner's temperature in spite of regular calls to maintain a steady normal temperature. The aftermath of the Christmas celebration was settling as the people were just admiring their gifts given to them by their Secret Santa, while some were still wondering what was lying in front of them indirectly questioning the taste of their Secret Santa. He was one among the latter but he was extremely humbled that the gift he gave was appreciated which he didn't expect. He had spent a good deal of time trying to figure out what to give and whether he would be able to make them happy. And boy, he was too glad when he realized that he was successful in bringing that smile when his gift was opened. Just as then, the screen on his computer blinked to a chat message that popped up at the end of the screen as he was thanked and appreciated for the gift. He had no idea how to respond to the gesture so he just smiled and said "You a welcome". He had no idea that there was this much joy in gifting. The blinking window in the screen read, "Are you busy?". He had this custom response to this question "Nope, not at all. Whats' up?". And the following response meant that he had to be present there. As a good friend he considered to be he didn't question the nature of the meeting, he just made himself available. He stood there anticipating something that might require his help or likewise. Little did he know that there was a whole lot of surprise waiting for him. His friend opened the drawer of the cupboard revealing a neatly wrapped gift. He froze as he stared at the box wrapped in a shiny red-ruby as his words faded in silence. The thoughts stumbled in his mind, but he couldn't say a word. A few moments later, he was still trying to comprehend that it was gift for him. There was no occasion but there was a gift in front of him which he assumed was for being that friend. He was overwhelmed beyond his wildest imagination and though it was beyond his anything he could possible comprehend, he just let the stream take its own course. He just wanted to cherish that gift but was told to unwrap it. As he carefully opened the wrapped gift making sure that it doesn't get torn, a box labeled Ponds Age miracle presented itself before him. Now, this is a surprise. But that wasn't all. As he proceeded to open the final installment of the package, a coffee mug was carefully lying in the confinement of the box. For a coffee lover, this was an added surprise to the already surprised face. Though he had a million thoughts colliding in his mind for the unexpected surprise, all he could say was a few Thank You's. He had nothing in return. He so badly wanted to reciprocate the affection shown towards him, but there was nothing that great that could possibly be at par with the gesture. He was just lost in thought, lost in admiration as time froze for him.