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Perfect Gifts and Holiday Cheer Essay

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Her feet glide across the sterile white tiles, past the storefront windows that hold red baubles and perfectly cut snowflakes, while the strains of Mariah Carey’s vocals pound against her resolve. Obese couples drag around obese children and even more obese shopping bags, holding plastic something-or-others that will be forgotten within the next month. Young men and women wander the halls, searching for that perfect gift for that perfect someone who will be forgotten within the next month. Little children sit on the lap of a fat man, telling him that they want puppies and candies and world peace for Christmas, wishes that will be forgotten when the fat man goes away for another year. Elderly sit on benches, hoping that everything could …show more content…

Hayes would give her discounts on some much-needed presents. Every year she waited until the last minute to buy them and every year since she moved she’d gone to Mr. Hayes. Surprisingly, he has always been well stocked. The only issue with the store is that it resides in the accursed land of The Mall, a scorn to those who would most enjoy Mr. Hayes’ commodities. As Arden steps into the store she feels blissful relief as the atrocious sound of “All I Want for Christmas is You” leaves the vicinity of her ears and “Bohemian Rhapsody” is welcomed readily into her senses. The smells of scented wax and dusty books fill her nostrils, ejecting those of artificial perfumes and bleach. Illustrated covers, stamps, quills, dripping wax, and plush armchairs greet her eyes; the barren whiteness of the crowded hallways is a forgotten memory. And there, in the most overstuffed armchair the world has ever known, sits Mr. Hayes, his wire rim glasses perched on his nose, waiting to slip onto the unforgiving floor. He wears his business attire: a button down shirt under a long brown cardigan, wrinkled suit pants, and leather loafers. His thinning white hair and wrinkled skin had no effect on his eyes, which shone like new pennies. He was a peculiar man, very systematic in his habits, and a great conversationalist when you could get him away from his great pot of melted wax. Arden often joined him there to test out his newest scent

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