"Rudolph's Gift"

Traditions eventually come to an end. One of my own officially ended this year. It started when I was four; it was just my mom and me before Christmas. The way she tells the story is that she was bored, and I was being that typical, annoying kid who wanted to open gifts early. Of course, she wouldn't let me, but she found a way around it. 

She took a nutcracker she had bought me as a gift and set it outside in the snow, without me knowing. She then ran around the house telling me that Rudolph was doing practice laps outside. When I found the nutcracker, she told me it was from Rudolph. 

The next year, she had forgotten what 'Rudolph' had done. I didn't. And so when I reminded her by asking when Rudolph would drop off my gift, she sprang into action. To keep up the illusion of Rudolph and Santa, she got me another nutcracker and left it outside. She did this every year, even after I stopped believing in a big fat jolly man and flying reindeer. 

I now have 15 nutcrackers. That's a lot of nutcrackers, and so last year, when I turned 18, I asked for one last nutcracker. That way, when I move out, I still have space in the trunk of my car for something other than nutcrackers.