Little Sally could barely hold in her excitement as she lay in bed waiting for her parents’ alarm. Everyday, it rang at 7:30 on the dot but today was special because once that alarm rings, Sally can tear op
en the big blue gift box that was waiting for her under the tree. The suspense had been killing her all month, she had been waiting for this day since she woke up to it find it under the tree on the 1st of the month. Turning over to face the blinking alarm clock, the analog screen displayed 7:27 AM. Sally kicked her legs like an excited horse before jumping out of bed. She had been waiting for so long those last three minutes did not matter to her anymore. ‘What harm could just a few minutes do?’ she thought to herself as she opened her bedroom door and peeked her head down the hall. Her parents’ bedroom door was still shut, and no noise came from beyond it. Sally felt bad when she saw the door and she knew she should just wait the last few minutes for her parents to wake up, they would love to see the look on her face when she finally sees what is inside. But those feelings so regret were washed away when she looked down the stairs to see the blue box. It looked even more enticing than the previous night’s. Without a second thought, Sally was putting her foot on the first step and was making her way down to her presents.
She thought the creaking of the stairs would wake her parents, but she successfully made her way to the ground floor without being noticed. She walked over to the tree to finally get a good view of her gift. The box was a majestic blue and the ribbon that held it together looked like an expensive silk. Sally knew her parents had money, but she did not think it was this kind of money. She also did not have the best year in school and was shocked to have gotten such a nice gift. Sally looked up at the clock that rested on the wall ,7:28 was the new time. Just two minutes she had to wait. She looked away from the clock and at the box again. She really, really wanted to know what was inside. She knew her parents would be mad but, how could they stay mad at her on Christmas? Kneeling to be level with the box she grabbed the pretty silk that held the top together and gave it a tug, undoing the bow and letting the lid become loose. Sally knew she could stop now and get way less of a punishment but she’s already in so deep, no turning back now.
Sally pushed away the ribbons and gripped on the lid of the box. There was a moment of hesitation before she lifted the lid into the air and threw it to the side. Peering down into the gift box, two eyes looked back up at Sally. Two cloudy, glossed over dead eyes. Sally screamed as she kicked the box away from her and scooted back as far as possible. The box fell over and out fell her ‘gift’. A head that looked nearly identical to her own fell out and was now resting on its cheek, milky eyes facing her. The hair was matted and dirty, the mouth was hung open at a disgustingly uncomfortable angle with heavily rotted teeth. Sally was still screaming while she deciphered its facial features. The head was so similar to hers; it even had a mole on the same cheek she did! The skin was the same tan color as well, why would her parents get her this?
Sally continued to scream as she stood up to run away from her own decapitated head. She ran back to the stairs but right was she was about to ascend them, she noticed both her parents at the top. They were both staring down at her, her father smiling and her mother with a deadpan look. Sally stopped her hysterics and tried to calm down before yelling up to her parents “MOM, DAD! Get down there is a head in the present box!” To her surprise her parents did not react at all, just kept looking at her with their different expressions. Sally was even more confused now. A strange silence fell over the family as they stood on the stairs, the wind blowing outside filling Sally’s ears in response to the silence.
“I told you she would peek.” her mom spoke up, not changing her scary expression. “Yeah, she’ll never learn.” her father said to her. Sally was scared, confused, and embarrassed of her impatience as she listened to her parents. She knew she shouldn’t have opened the present, but she did not think the consequences would be so traumatizing. Her mom started to come down the stairs, walking slowly without much sound. Sally watched as she went over to Sally’s dead doppelganger. Sally felt so horrible for looking at her gift early, if that was going to be so intense she would’ve waited years to look in the box. A sick feeling rose in her stomach when her mom turned her head to look Sally in her face again.
“What, you don’t like your present, Honey?” her mother said as she gave the head a firm kick and sent it into the wall. The head hit the floor with a squishy noise and Sally knew she would never be sneaking a peek at another gift again.
