gabby+g+short+story

Gabby Gagliano The smell of the cookies baking in the oven seeped into her nostrils and she felt the warmth and spirit of Christmas. She had never been as excited as she was for this Christmas. “Eva, help me take the cookies out of the oven please. I burned my hand too many times to count.” “Alright mom,” Eva yelled back at her from the living room. Eva had nightmares about her mom’s cookies. They were always too undercooked or too overcooked, but she didn’t want to hurt her mom’s feelings. She herself wasn’t the best baker. She went into the kitchen and grabbed the Santa oven mitts to retrieve the cookies. She opened the oven to find cookies that looked like hockey pucks. All of them were burned to a crisp. “Damn! The other batch I had to throw out because they were mush, and now these are burned,” her mom said frustrated. Eva laughed. Her mom’s baking skills were still the same. “It’s alright; we can just buy some from Shop Rite later.” “I know, but I wanted to make them for when your father comes home in a couple of days for Christmas,” her mom explained to her. “I’m so excited. I can’t wait to see him. Do you think he still looks the same?” “He might look a little different Eva, I mean the war is a serious thing.” That word made Eva fume inside every time she heard it. W-A-R. She missed her dad so much and he was taken away from everyone because of it. “I just hope he comes home as soon as he can,” Eva told her mom. “He said he should be here for Christmas,” her mom said cheerfully. The next day, Christmas Eve, was so busy Eva, along with her older sister who was 22, went shopping for their dad. They went in town where there were 50 different shops in a row, all decorated for Christmas. It was tradition for them to go shopping there every year and there were always new, exciting things for the people who went. Eva’s dad always took the whole family there. It was also tradition for them to buy the best gingerbread house in one of the famous shops every year. Eva’s dad always helped them choose, but this year it was different “This is so pretty Stephanie!” Eva excitedly told her sister, watching the fake snow made of soap fall down from the little shops. Every shop was decorated with the brightest and prettiest Christmas lights. Eva saw Stephanie’s nose direct her towards the gingerbread house. “Look at the gingerbread house over there!” She pointed to a big gingerbread house in front of a little shop, intricately carved and frosted with the whitest and shiniest frosting she had ever seen. It was so pretty it looked almost unreal, like it was a painted portrait and not a real gingerbread house. Eva and her sister immediately went up to it to find out the price of the amazing gingerbread house. Eva looked at the price and then looked at her sister. “Let’s get it Steph, it’s perfect for dad.” “It’s a lot of money, but whatever let’s do it.” “Yay! Ok let’s pay for it.” They got back from shopping with their gingerbread house and a message on the bottom saying “Welcome Home Dad”. Then Eva saw their mom cleaning the kitchen. Eva wasn’t sure why her mom would clean on the night of Christmas Eve. She then saw her mom’s face looked very depressed and she didn’t look as enthusiastic as she normally did. “Hey mom what’s up?” Stephanie asked. “I’m sorry to tell you guys this but your dad isn’t coming home for Christmas. He has to stay in Iraq for a couple more weeks, maybe even months.” Everyone got very silent. Eva tensed and was in shock, trying to absorb all of it in. She had a horrible feeling of dread in her stomach. “Why?” “I don’t know. The note was very short, he didn’t say much. But don’t worry guys, we will still have a nice Christmas and we’ll hope for the best.” She failed in her attempt to cheer them up. Eva ran upstairs to her room as fast as she could and slammed the door shut. She cried uncontrollably, her whole body shaking. She wanted her dad home, safe and with everyone on Christmas Eve, not fighting in the war. She heard Christmas music playing downstairs and wanted to break the CD. //What is the point of all this//, she thought to herself. //We shouldn’t be celebrating when dad might be dying//. Eva went downstairs and saw her family near the Christmas tree, placing presents beneath it. Her mom saw her and gave her a tight hug. “It’ll be ok Eva, he’ll come home soon and everything will be fine,” her mom reassured her. “This sucks mom, I want him home especially for Christmas.” “I know sweetie.” Then they heard the door open and turned around. Eva saw her father standing there and she almost passed out. Tears streamed down Eva’s face “Dad!” Eva ran up to him and gave the tightest hug she ever gave in her whole life. “I missed you so much!” He picked her up and gave her a long hug. She could feel his strong arms when he picked her up as a result from the war. “We thought we should surprise you Eva,” her mom said through tears. “Best surprise ever!” Eva exclaimed. “Oh my god, look outside,” Eva’s dad said. Everyone looked through the window and saw snow falling outside. They were all in awe. It was the first time it ever snowed in their home state of Oregon.