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The Religion of Shopping

The presents had already been wrapped and tucked in the bedroom's corner when the clouds began their initial trembling. Karen was sleeping far too soundly at eleven AM when the first snowflakes burst from their celestial detainer and calmly invaded the ground below. When she finally got the urge to open her eyes, she observed the immense moisture settling upon the window. The flakes dropped lazily, like Karen's eyes, feeling unobliged to stay open for sixteen hours of the day, and would much rather see only dreams. Any dream, to escape from the terror which engulfed all others at this moment.
The terror of Christmas shopping.
Karen was the sort to buy impulsively; to purchase the first item uttered by the recipient's mouth, even if that was merely said in passing, like "I've seen this wonderful commercial on TV the other day on the Garden Weasel. It might be useful in the garden next year." This, of course, allowed Karen to have finished all her shopping months in advance, and often wrapped by then as well.
Still early for her, Karen made no effort to utilize the full potential of her eyesight. Wasn't even able to tell without stretching her arm across the bed that Victor had already abandoned it. He probably wouldn't have even stayed in any case, even if he could have stayed away from his turn at buying the groceries. Victor wasn't exactly the romantic type. He wouldn't be whispering lovespeak in her ear, at least not at 11 o'clock in the morning. It would just seem too improper. The best he would do was to grudgingly listen to her when the moment suited.
Her eyes weren't even sure of the time. Oh, yea. The clock radio had fallen into disrepair. Time was of no concern now. It wasn't as if she had anywhere to go that required her to get up before the sun rose, to the sounds of annoying morning disk jockeys. During exam period, she wrote after two PM, and after the ink dried on all of them, what was left to do but sleep? The presents were bought, and everyone else was too busy to talk with her. It made sense to sleep, to get away from the insanity of the outside world, while her gifts sit quietly in her room, away from any danger.
Outside her window, the panic Karen had escaped from was reaching a fevered pitch. Only a handful of days until the 25th; yet armloads of merchandise left to be taken. The vise of urgency squeezed tightly around the mind, while the grip of anxiety overwhelmed the heart when the roads turned to paths of snow.
Beside one segment of the road, Karen's mother had warmed up the engine of the mini van. Janet was one of the unlucky ones. She still needed to find something for her own daughter and husband. Never mind that her husband wasn't yet impressed by the approaching end of the shopping season. She was not about to follow a bad precedent.
She felt trapped in her usual duties. Choice was not a prime objective, especially as this time of year involved the illusion of choice. Choice did not mean freedom, but rather a restriction of such. Why she had to do this, she wasn't sure. You could say she forgot. It was just the time of year to do this, no questions asked. It was a duty, like buying groceries, or paying the bills.
Her friend Carol also had her gifts to buy. She, on the other hand, felt fairly calm. Perhaps it was that this was someone else's car, so she felt a guest. There was no need to do anything important when one was visiting.
"Look at all this stuff I have to do, Carol. It will be January before I can get it out of the way! Why don't they move Christmas over to New Year's; that would be a start."
"If they did that -- we'd probably be shopping a week from now instead of today!", Carol laughed.
"You bet on it..... I really don't know what do get Joe. He never really wants a whole lot. Us simple people; we never care for anything."
"Get him something he'll never expect.", Carol urges.
"Then he'll probably only use it once, and then never again.", she comments. "One year, I bought him a jacket. He told me the color's all wrong! And he never wore it. So you can imagine the pressure I'm going through."



*

The bright light which accompanied the pure white of a cloudy day tore into Karen's eyes. At this time, she was certain she had to get out of bed. She had a strange feeling of necessity.
For the next ten paces, Karen walked from the bedroom to the living room without aid, and blindly. The wall beside her was her only guide, but once the hallway expanded to the spacious living room, she had to only hope her eyes would become accustomed to the morning light before she tripped.
Finally, her eyes strengthened to see the Christmas tree, simply decorated, with a smattering of presents underneath. It was a nice sight -- her heart felt regret at her prior sensation. One day of actually getting up before noon should not be a crime. There was little reason for her to feel melancholic about it. to sleep all day was to be absent for all the most important things; like the soft snow falling outside her window, the holiday spirit, the....
As to make her aware of the need to look lively, the telephone rang. She picked it up, hoping not to yawn during the conversation.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Karen.", greeted her aunt.
"Hey, Anne,", Karen chuckled. "You caught me still wandering around in my nightclothes!!!"
"Awful girl. You should be in the malls like the rest of us! How will you explain yourself on the 25th???"
"You already have Jane's gifts, so it's not as if you guys have anything to worry about!"
"Speaking of your cousin, Karen, she was wanting to see you today, if you didn't mind...."
Those codewords were easily decipherable to Karen. Jane was to be dumped here so her mother could spend money and time downtown without any burdens to carry.
"Ahhhh...... I guess I could manage...", successfully stifling that yawn, knowing that she promised no excuses.
"Good, I'll be there in a bit. bye."
This much was true: Karen's energy level wold have to be useful for at least a few hours this holiday.
She was guilt-ridden for even considering this idea. If she were lacking a self-conscious, she would have merely accepted this plea from a stressful aunt with cheer. Instead, she had just revealed herself in her mind's eye as a hypocrite; one who claims to not care for material goods, who claims to value the company of living beings, and who, yet, dares to scorn her own principles and sleep the entire holiday away, to neglect a period of time when her philosophy should mean most.
Yet like all others, she was imperfect. Her secret wish for happy inertness had finally a chance to be implemented, but other needs were keeping her awake. Compromise would have to be tolerated.


*



The heated molten core of the city center, beneath the decidedly more lazy suburban crust, was where immense numbers of people gathered to trade their money for frivolous items. Items which would never be treasured, in the majority of cases, yet would be demanded as if they were meant to be gifts of charity.
Carol and Janet were to become another victim of the raging fire of holiday shopping.
"Do you want to take any bets on how long we'll have before we find a place to park?", Janet asked sarcastically. "Seriously, this part of town is always the worst for shopping in. I wonder why anyone would need to go here, sometimes. At least when you have a car."
"It would be better to walk, that's true.", Carol having noticed the throngs of people brave enough to walk in the snow.
"I agree... wait, I think I just won the prize!", as she marks the blue car pulling away from its former resting spot. Janet's car ends its movement, waiting ever so patiently for that blue car to leave, and in doing so, stopping the orderly flow of traffic behind her.
A little faster now, thought Janet, I don't need to hear carhorns, impatiently telling me to keep going....."Finally, here we go!". She squeezes into the empty space, just as the inhabitants of the cars to the rear had engaged in their own personal interior monologues.
They were now out of the car. "So where do you want to go first, Carol?"
"How about the shoe store, Janet, I have to look at some sneakers for my nephew."
"Alright --", as she locks her car door, and walks away from the car.



*


"Good afternoon, sleepyhead.", Anne teases, with her daughter Jane laughing.
Karen was silent for an instant. "Yea....hello to you too." She looks down to Jane. "And hello to you too!", she says in a much brighter voice. "Here to play in this lovely snowfall, aren't you?"
"Can we?? I got my snowpants. Do you have the sleds??"
"Sure we do... actually, it's the crazy carpets from last year stuffed in the closet. Is that okay?"
"Yea, it's so great!" Jane turns to her mother, "Bye-bye, Mom."
"Not yet, honey, you haven't told me what you want."
"Ummmmm....", she goes through the scattered files of her memory. "I don't know! How about a movie?"
"Which one?", Karen asked. "Was it the one we talked about last time?"
"Yea, I still know what you did last Summer. That's really good!", she brightened.
Anne was puzzled and a bit concerned. "I'm not sure I heard of that one before!", although she most likely did.
"It's so scary, Mom. You must have heard of it by now!"
"Scary??" Now Anne knew exactly what this nine-year old was talking about. "I don't know about that, you're not exactly a grown up yet. You're still liable to get nightmares at this age. Anyway,", giving her daughter a kiss, "see you later, kid."
"Bye-bye.", she sweetly says as her mom closes the door behind her.
"So do you think you'll be allowed to see that movie?", Karen wondered.
"Well.... I don't have to tell her every yucky little detail. Just say it's a bit spooky, no big deal."
"She probably hoped you'd go for a cartoon--- a Disney thing."
"I don't think so. Some of them are cool...but I don't want to be a little kid any more. My friends would laugh at me if I were still getting baby shows for presents!"
"No-- you gotta be cool, I suppose. Be like all of your friends. You know,", sitting down near her, "you don't have to be like your friends. Just be yourself -- you'll rest a lot easier that way!"
"You're funny!", Jane laughed.
"Yea... apparently, I'm a real knee-slapper.", self-mocking. "Well.... why don't we just go outside. It'd do us good."



*


"God, it's so busy around here today....", tripping over lost merchandise. "And such a mess too!î
Janet kicked the boxes of cards across the tiny alise. "I'm amazed that they sell all of this stuff -- look at it! It's piled to the ceiling! You can't reach half of what they sell, and you can't find the rest!î
As Janet lamented over a fact of discount retailing, Carol looked past her to survey another fact.
"There's somebody, maybe she can help us.", Carol said. "Excuse me...."
"Yes?î, asked the representative, phone in hand, other bodies trailing her path.
"I...I was wondering where your storage cabinets are...", Carol inquired.
"Yes, we do have some near the middle of the store...", she said politely.
"Ah, thank you.", Carol responded.
The girl hangs up the phone, to focus her eyes more intently upon Carol's. "How may I help you?î
"Umm.... ahhh... storage cabinets?î Pause. "Didn`t you just say that they were in the middle of the store?î
"No. Just follow me.", the girl leads her to what Carol expects to be the proper section of the store. Alise after alise produced nothing that struck Carol as being familiar, but finally her guide sent her to the right place.
"Here they are. Thank you.", Carol smiled, before looking more closely. "Wait -- what is the price on these? I thought they were on sale."
"Oh -well, I'm sure they are, let me go to the price scanner and I'll check it for you. I`ll be back in a minute."
The girl left with the mentioned item, and the group of fans, her customers, trailed her like they always do.
"Hmmm....", Carol grunted in her usual sardonic fashion. "How long do you think that minute will be?"
Carol happened to see someone vaguely familiar from the corner of her eye.
"Hey, isn't that Karen's guy?", she asked.
"Yea..", Janet noticed, "Victor. He's coming over this way...."
Victor was mindlessly pacing the alise. He didn't appear too overtly focussed on any master plan for this shopping trip.
"Hey, Victor.", Janet called out. Victor was only about ten feet away, but he hadn't noticed his girlfriend's mother until she called out.
"Hello there.", he said confidently.
"Hey, have you seen Karen at all today?"
"No, I haven't; what's she up to?"
"Guarding Jane from hours of sitting in the cart whining about when we'll be going home.", says Janet. "Maybe you can go down and help her; you'd like that."
"Oh, no.",Victor replied as quickly as she finished. "I think I'd be in the way. I don't plan on raising any kids in the near future.....why should I have to worry about that now????"
Janet was somewhat forlorn by Victor's response, but dared herself not to reveal it. "I...I never would have guessed. You went out with her long enough; you'd be really devoted, I'd bet!"
"No.",he confesses. "Sometimes kids just get on my nerves. It can't be helped."
"Well, speaking of children, I'm trying to determine what to buy Karen. So I thought..... I'd get her a talking tree!", removing it from the cart. "I thought it'd be kind of cute."
Victor eyed it with a strange look.
Janet turns it on. The tree introduces itself in grinding tones, then warbles a bland rendition of O Christmas Tree.
As the plastic object continues, Victor feels the urge to comment. "God, I hate those trees!", he says in jest. "Could you imagine that thing whining throughout the holidays? I'd smash it with my hammer after ten minutes, if I don't go insane first."
Janet acquired a second layer of disappointment over her heart, which was even more difficult to keep covered. "Ahhh, Victor...... I really have to get going..... but I hope you'll be coming over to dinner soon."
"Yea, I think so.... Karen will find some way to drag me over.", he laughs.
"That's.....really funny.", Janet says with wryness. "My husband feels the same way whenever we're about to go to his parent's house for Christmas dinner."
"It's programmed in the male hormone.", Carol dryly interjects.
"And I suppose shopping is part of the female one, right?", Victor commented. All three of them chuckled at this, although the women
"yea, hopefully you'll decide to make it over. ", Janet replies.
"Good luck with the yelling tree.", he sardonically says, before walking away.
The two women look at each other, before scoffing in disbelief.
"I'm curious... as to how those two get along!", Carol comments. "That man is... shall I say.... blunt to the point of embarrassment."
Janet gave an apologetic smile. "Oh well, they've been together for a few years, so there must be something there."
"Well, maybe, but we never see them together! I don't even remember the last time they were walking hand in hand."
"Hey, do we ever walk hand in hand with our husbands, like giddy teenagers.", she smirked thoughtfully. "That sort of romance is long gone....."
Carol nodded in detached recognition. Better not to think too hard about the implication of that statement.
"There was a time....", Janet continued. "... last Christmas when he really displayed his embarrassing bluntness. I heard about this a few days later -- apparently he got a CD, and I guess the artist was someone he didn't like, because once he opened the gift, he actually looked at his brother, and said why did you give me this!! The reason for this was that he didn't actually like Mariah Carey....."
"Oh, really!!", Carol exclaimed, with utter lack of surprise.
"What he meant to say that fateful day when his sibling got the idea of buying that CD, apparently, was that he liked looking at her, but he didn't actually care for her singing. The music was too soft....."
".... and too girly!", Carol said cuttingly. "The only girly thing about Mariah Carey that he would prefer are those silicone objects stuck to her chest!"
"Oh now, Carol!", Janet interjected, only somewhat seriously. "You shouldn't say that... he's going out with my daughter. Surely, he's classier than that......"
"Janet.... he's flesh and bone. He could be a Nobel Prize winner, and she could be a Joan of Arc, but they all have those sorts of weaknesses."

*

The park was covered in an exquisite layer of whiteness. The falling snow and the poles of the swing sets made embraces of abandon, giving new life to the rusted metal. Such life could not be tampered with, as noone ventured to the swings, or any of the other equipment the summer kids never got tired of.
The children were deep inside the spirit of winter, forming flawed balls from only a couple of centimeters of snow, or making snow angels upon the ground. Some tried their sleds upon the manmade hill in the park's middle, including Karen and Jane. Each one had their own sled, which made them seem as kids from the same generation. Karen wasn't guiding or supervising her, but was part of the game. Jane didn't see her as an authority figure, but as someone she was excited to see.
Over and over again they slid on the same path, eventually digging into the suffocating grass, only to tear it apart and reveal the mud underneath. By then they had enough, and decided to sit on the wet swings. Conversation descended from the wonders of the hill to more pressing issues.
"What are you hoping for, kid?", Karen asks, her cheeks wet from the falling snow.
"I'd really like a new CD-ROM game. I don't know which one, just something really exciting."
"No way.", Karen teases. "None of those violent shoot-em-ups. Your mother would really worry about you, then!"
Jane laughs.
"Well...", Karen dodges. "Do you still like the Spice Girls? I know that you only have one of their dolls."
"I really don't care much for them.", Jane replied matter-of-factly.
Karen's heart chills to a point not unlike the temperature of the melting flakes upon her face. "You never...like them??"
"Well, the only reason I even had anything to do with them in the first place was because my friend bought me the first Spice Girl Cd for my birthday --- everyone else liked them too so everyone in the family figured that I should get that stuff too. So I got everything -- a wallet, posters, that doll. I really wasn't too wild over it. And everyone listens to Brittney Spears, now."
"So..they don't make any Brittney dolls, then?", attempting to look unconcerned with this shocking revelation.
"I bought the tape anyway.... so you don't have to buy it for me. Thanks anyway."
Karen was in a bind. Considering that she was always a slight bit unnerved by the sight of amply-bosomed, vulgarly glamorous, young British women selling those precise attributes to those who are at an age where they still find boys gross, she ought to be relieved at this revelation in character and taste. But she had bought Ginger Spice, and a particularly impressive model. One who could sing. This on the basis of conversation she had heard around the house. Apparently, in the intern Brittney, in the name of popularity, had thrown her spears in Jane's general direction. Jane had been sacrificed for the new faith, a doctrine whose slogans differed from the previous one. Jane became a willing convert, and like most converts to a new faith, unsettle those who supported her in the old one, especially if there was something at stake. Karen was in much trouble, and was stuck for answers. She used to be so good at finding the right presents. Has she lost her touch.....?



*

"Hmmm, I don't think that the girl's coming back.", Carol says, referring to the store clerk. "Well, I'll just have to go without storage cabinets this year."
Janet ran her fingers over the needles of the phony tree. "You know, Victor is probably right..... Karen's not going to enjoy this thing. Maybe I have to get something a little more practical... like an alarm clock or something. I don't think she even has one."
"Could work!", Carol smirked.
Suddenly, Janet's face turned to worry. "Oh, shit!", and after a moment of her hand over her face she sighs, "I didn't put any change in the parking meter!!"
"Don't worry about it, Janet -- there's no use turning back time. We might as well just calmly pick up the alarm clock, and then go through the checkout....and hope for the best!!"

*


She shopped alone, without the unnecessary distractions of people attempting to influence her decisions. Anne wanted nothing more than to get everything finished today. So she wasn't about to get other people filling her head with wrong choices.
She was the closest to the video section of the department store at this point. She knew that Jane would be hoping for a movie underneath the tree, although exactly what sort of movie ought to be there was a point of debate. Anne faked the ignorance for her daughter; she knew exactly what sort of movie her preteen daughter was demanding, and Anne's heart felt the pressure from either side of the debate
The first thing she noticed was the display facing the alise. The children's movies were highlighted, mainly due to the fact most all of them were in clamshell cases. Some nine-year olds never quite grew out of these films yet -- the Disney cartoons were big, and also the Mary-Kate and Ashley Oslen videos. In many cases, these videos were innocuous to a fault. Every attempt was made to drain these films of any harshness or conflict, the sorts of things that happened in real life. The Olsen's alternative universe was a place where everybody was nice, or at least never dangerous.
Down the path was where the more adult factions of life were hidden. Anne looked at all the possible titles -- movies she didn't think were suitable for such a tender mind.
She held one particular video in her hand. It wasn't the one that she wanted, but it was still of a similar class. The cover's design spoke a lot in light of its unsubtly. An image of a face, discolored to emphasize the physical paleness, the presence of blind fear. The title was torn with a bleeding wound.
It was habit to look at the synopsis on the back cover, even if one found little intrigue with the product itself. Her eyes didn't quite focus on the text, as they were too apprehensive from the pictures of knives and screams and blood.
"Wow, that was an awesome movie!", came a muffled voice. The sound awkwardly penetrated the metal rack which stood between Anne and the obviously young voice.
"Didn't you like it when she got her head taken off?î, came another voice. Anne was horrified. Her eyes could not see who spoke, and she was unwilling to look. She'd be too pained at the corrupt look on their faces.
"It was so gross. I loved it! Mom kept telling me that I shouldn't watch it, but she never turned it off.", said the first voice.
A third voice, a girl, began to speak. "I thought it was pretty scary, I covered my eyes, but it was still cool." A good reputation-saving technique.
Apparently, they had noticed another, completely contrary type of film. "That was ewww!î, the girl said, which prompted laughter from the other two. "You could see that girl's boobs a lot -- I didn't like it. There was too much kissing in it."
"Ahh!î, one voice growled. "Those are shitty movies, anyway."
Anne wished she was the parent, telling them that its better that those movie stars were kissing each other, and finding themselves without clothes than being sprayed with blood and other organs, and finding themselves without crucial body parts.



*


The two bodies, one young, one trying to regain her youth, hobbled back to the street where Karen lived. In drenched clothes, the tow were visibly tired and cold, and nervous for the moment when they would finally receive an amount of warmth.
"That was fun. I hope we can do it again soon -- the weather has been pretty nutty the past few years. It might rain tomorrow!!î
"Did you really have fun! I think you're too old to have fun!î, Jane giggled.
"Why do you say that?î, Karen felt that she had to be on the defensive.
"I just think you are....! You don't really know what I want for Christmas, because you're not a kid like me.", she said ominously.
"Why do you think that?î, she laughed.
"I don't know -- you're not a kid.", she peeped. "I mean, you got a boyfriend!!", she teased.
Karen grinned.
"How gross is that ??", Jane continued, obviously making fun of Karen more than being genuinely serious.
"Oh, you don't mean that!!", she commented wryly. "you've seen him before, haven't you? He's not that bad, is he?"
"I guess....", she mumbled, as if she was unsure of her own statement.
"Well, I liked to think of him as a good friend, maybe a best friend.", Karen continued. "When you're older, you'll probably would like to meet a person that you can share your whole life with." She felt as she were rambling. A pre teen wouldn't understand this yet.
"I guess so....", again. "What is his name again?"
"Victor!", Karen answered, surprised. "Why? Is he that forgettable?", she laughed.
"Have I seen him before?", she asked. "I don't remember."
Karen curled her mouth, unsure whether Jane was being flippant, or if she really were serious. "Su...Sure, you've seen... him... haven't you?" Bafflement. "You see me a lot, surely you've seen him a few times."
"You talk about him a lot....", she says seriously, before crumbling into a smart alecky tone. "... I think he's imaginary!!"
She tried to retain her light composure, but in her mind Karen thought this really strange. Why didn't Jane remember Victor? Did she not like him? Or was this really true? But why would Karen not introduce Victor to Jane? Karen could not have been subconsciously avoiding having Victor as a part of her life, not likely.....

*




Janet retraces her steps from the mall to the parking meter, her mind backtracking over its own mental path, attempting to discover whether she actually had been forgetful in nourishing the meter with its silver delicacies.
"Let's just hope there isn't any bad news when we turn that corner.", Janet intones.
Despite her utterance of halfhearted hope, Janet was to discover the dreadful sight. As the corner was turned, she walked noticeably faster, and was more anxious in her heart when she saw the street cop issuing the dreaded ticket.
"Is this your car, madam?", the officer queried, guessing at the demeanor of the woman's whose stationary vechile was being penalized for not taking to the street.
"Ummmm... yes, yes.", Janet exhaled, embarrassed. "I was so rushed, so absent-minded..... I forgot, I forgot.....", slurring the words, repeating them without force.
"Christmas does that to you.....", Carol said, more steadily. "The pressure is enormous."
The cop's face remained distanced. He's heard it all before. "Well, most people would be scurrying off to another place by now...", he says with a smirk.
"Well....", Janet looked at the cop with innocent, heartbreaking eyes. "I'm sorry."
"yea......", he paused, then continued with his ticket. "Well, I can't let this go; this is the worst time of year for parking. Downtown Charlottetown is notoriously bad for this sort of thing. There's cars circling the block for 30 minutes just to get a damn spot so they can pick up something quick.", he said, not unkindly.
Janet felt crushed. She felt as if she stuck a knife into somebody's time schedule, just so she, selfish Janet, can stick to her own schedule.
Carol on the other hand wasn't feeling so guilty. "You're gong to give her a ticket three days before Christmas!?", she simmered.
"It's my job....", he said. "I have to buy gifts for my family somehow."
He passed the ticket over to Janet.
"Have a Merry Christmas.", he said, as he left them to ponder their fate.
"I can't believe that he'd.... do such a thing!", Carol said, angered.
Janet looked at the ticket. It wasn't really all that much. Five dollars. But five dollars out of hundreds spent for the purposes of one day -- a day that, when it was conceived, had nothing to do with presents, money, and other frivolous pursuits.

*


"Hi, Mom!", Jane smiled. "Did you buy me my present!"
Karen's jaw dropped in stunned disbelief. My God, that was rather bold, even for her. She looked up to the girl's mother, whose expression was a slight bit more stern.
"Now, Jane, that's not the way to talk to your mother.", she snipped softly. Anne's face appeared close to shame, disappointment.
"But, I want to know if you got me a movie!", she said breathlessly, desperately.
"There's still a few days left before you can find out, little one!", Karen smiled, trying to lighten the mood.
"No. I never got you a video.", Anne stated, abruptly, hoping to stifle the ceaseless questioning. "Surely, you'd like something besides a video -- you'd be just sitting in front of the TV all day, soaking up mindless junk, getting excited, seeing stuff you shouldn't see at your age......" She noticed as she spoke that she was sounding like a religious pamphlet, written badly. But she didn't know what else to say. She had an epiphany of a kind, and she couldn't shake it.
"Okay....", Jane said, defeated for this round. She turned to Karen. "It was fun today."
"Well, I enjoyed myself too.", she answered truthfully.
"Thanks a lot, Karen.", Anne said, looking apologetic. "At least you're in proper clothes now.... I didn't want to have to phone your mother...." She laughed slightly, embarrassingly. She was rather picky about things, wasn't she. She knew that she was.
Karen laughed herself, while hoping to sweep this foolish topic away. Any more and it would be grating on her nerves.
Jane was dressed in her outdoor clothes. "Bye, Karen...", she said.
"Bye."
The mother and daughter left to the car, Anne walking about fifteen feet ahead, appearing rushed, focussed on another destination, Jane seeming to be unconcerned about making the effort to catch up, when there were so many distractions clutching at her.

*

The cop was only doing his job. It was that job that allowed him to buy gifts for his family. How could you blame him? Everything was as it should be. The world needed those forgetful people, such as Janet, so others could not be deprived of the funds needed to snatch up those last few remaining items off the rack.
Still, Janet felt less than impressed with the officer for doing what he did. The boldness of him. All this concern over five dollars, over what to buy for Christmas, really overtook her conscience, as it did with everybody at this moment. There was only a thread of recollection on most people's minds on what the origins of December 25 were alleged to be. The day was sacred in the minds of many, and was certainly so to many two thousand years ago. Now, however, the day was celebrated in the sort of fashion that the individual who supposedly inspired the creation of this day fought against. The Son of God wouldn't have succumbed to the temptation of money, of greed, of avarice, and all of the nasty results of those equally brutal vices. He would have hoped, if not demanded, that those shoppers who suffered migraines and other forms of insanity from intense decision making to acknowledge their sins of the pocketbook and exchange them for salvation. We don't want your cash here, just your faith.
But apparently the messiah of the past didn't die for our sins. He just died. He was replaced, quietly, by another one -- one who wore a red suit and rode a sleigh pulled by reindeer. One beautiful fantasy replaced by another. Except that this new messiah started a cult that was devoted to the mere mortal and physical. The people who believed in Jesus believed in something apart from the physical world. The people who believed in Santa Claus reveled in the physical world.
Janet was worried about what gift to buy her daughter. Carol was wanting to find something suitable for her husband. The police officer needed something for his family, and was willing to get five dollars from a poor sucker to help his cause, even if indirectly. The new disciples......
.......but the shock and disappointment of the parking ticket had subsided, however, and she and Carol were more amused than upset at this point.
"God, this is some Christmas present from the City of Charlottetown, eh?", Carol laughed.
"Actually, it's the City of Charlottetown that are looking for the present, I think. They do this through extortion."
"Ahh, we all extort during this time of year. Especially the children. Mommy, Mommy, I'll love you forever if you get me a new Sony Playstation game! The cop performed a more blunt form of it, is all...."
Janet pulled over to Carol's house.
"Well, I guess I'll be seeing you sometime after Christmas.", she said to the departing friend.
"That's if my presents aren't so exciting that I don't want to leave the house.", Carol said.
"You sound like a ten year old.", Janet laughed.
"Sometimes it<s better that way -- ", Carol replied ominously. "Then you can't get parking tickets."
"Bye.", Janet smiled - before driving away.



*

"I saw Karen today."
"Yes, I heard that Jane was over today." Janet said, speaking from her end of the phone line to Anne.
"I had to laugh when I saw her still dressed for bed at 11 am. It was sinful.", she laughed. "But my God, you shouldn't tell her I told you that... she'd be a little upset."
"Oh, these kids who can sleep all hours of the day, and wake up whenever they want to.... never worrying about anything. I keep telling her that she'll be in for a rude awakening someday."
"And is she waiting in fear for that day!", Anne asked.
"Well, if she is, she's keeping it a tightly guarded secret.....", Janet responded.
"Anyway, I should probably let you go.....Karen's going to drop by, I take it, and I don't want her to guess that I said anything.", laughing nervously.
"Alright then....bye-bye.", before the two broke the connection.
Janet hung up the phone, and pondered on that damn parking ticket. Wasn't it too much to ask that perhaps the police and the city could waive the parking fees for at least.... a week! Or something!!
She looked at the piece of paper that contained the important data -- luckily, the province wasn't quite up to the gouging of other jurisdictions. The bill for overtime on city property was only five dollars -- not much, but what a waste!
"Hello"
The voice startled her, and the ticket fell from her hands. Even though it was that of her daughter.
"Don't you ever knock!", she jibed at her unruly daughter.
"hey, you're my mom! I don't need to knock -- you'll always accept me!", she said, giggly.
"Sure!", she moaned, sarcastically. "That's what you think..."
Karen stuck out her tongue.
"Hey, is that mine!", holding up a wrapped object.
"Yes, of course... you're such a nosy person, aren't you!", Janet laughed.
"Thanks, Mom,", she smiled wickedly. "...so you finally have it all done, don't you?"
"Sort of-- I'm afraid I'm not like you, I don't know who you take after.", as she passes the gift over to her daughter.
"That tradition is coming to an end for me, I think. Jane's going to throw her gift in my face."
"Oh, you can't say that for sure. Jane adores you, she wouldn't get that angry, she'd understand."
Karen gestures to the outdated purchase on the table. "I wish people didn't experience trends.....why can't we just get nice things that never go out of style? Well... I know that we all like to get things that we want to get... but why should it be a big deal? I've been thinking to myself that this isn't really what Christmas is about....."
"Hmm... are you getting religious, now?", Janet joked. "Don't make me feel guilty, by bringing up all that stuff."
"Nah, it's not even that. I mean, most people can't truly relate to something like that. It's all stuff in a book, just like... Santa Claus is stuff in a book, so to speak, for people who don't believe in it anymore. All I'm saying is that Christmas... is about what we already have. Wow, I'm sounding so cliched today!!!", she laughs. "It's a good feeling to get up on Christmas morning. Just to be around the family, and the tree. All that stuff. It's -- it's not even the gifts that are really important. Why do you think I buy them so early? I really don't want to rush around - or stand in lines for hours. I don't want to waste my time on trivial things. Hey, I wouldn't have been able to spend time with Jane today if I were like you!", she scoffs lovingly. "Getting crushed by equally crazed people!"
"Oh, by the way, I saw Victor today in the mall. Are you going to get him to come to the dinner?"
"Sure,", she said, halfheartedly. "As long as I can keep him away from the TV. And as long as he doesn't get cranky or whatever dark mood he might fall into!", she sarcastically laughs.
The two remained silent, wondering how to switch conversational gears after what was a few heavy subjects.
"It would be kind of cool....", Karen started, knowing that it would be best to just say all she wanted to say. "... if we didn't have to pass gifts around -- if perhaps we were just able to walk in other people's shoes, and enjoy knowing those people -- to say that it was worthwhile being here with the rest of you. Instead of worrying what other people can do for you. And all those feelings were enough to let people wish each other a Merry Christmas."
"I wouldn't say that, dear. You--- you have to buy something for somebody. It wouldn't be human of us if we didn't. It'd be selfish!"
"Oh, I know...", she groans sadly."I'd feel pretty crappy myself if I forgot to give someone who was promised a gift. But sometimes I feel it's too much bother. It would be better to just be happy with everybody else...... you know, family, boyfriend.... whatever...."
Janet and Karen stood, both possessing gifts that were borne from an inability to comprehend the true feelings of the recipients. Such a natural impossibility never dampened their noble yearly attempts to try sensing the particular demands and fancies of the soul.
Christ, I'm going to have to return this synthetic bimbo in the next few days, Karen thought, I'm sure that the CD-ROM will last a few months longer.
I hope Karen will like this new alarm clock, Janet hoped. She looks so awfully tired for her age, she needs to sleep right. Anne said she was still in her nightclothes when she phoned.
.......the faith is secured for another year. These people still cling to the physical world, to the spending of cash for things that people may or may not want, to the risk of falling apart in their mind and in their pocket book, just so the day of Christmas can continue. The world still prays to the god of capitalism, and He is happy. Amen.

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