Windows are brilliant, marvelous things. They can shield you from some items while still being able to see. Shop windows allow you to get a glimpse of what’s inside. Tommy Rogers, a little boy with a curious heart loved windows. That, and video-games, of course. In his two story house, on Lincoln-berry Street, he would stare through his window, and just like that, he knew a lot that would happen that day. For example, on Monday he dashed up from his bed in the upstairs room to go stare out the window, and he saw all the trash bins outside, so he knew the garbage truck would be coming today, and so he told his dad to go walking now rather than later to spare him the stink. On Tuesday he saw a few people setting up a yard sale, so he told his mom to go to the bank to get some cash. Wednesday he saw Christmas lights start to go up, and hence looked at his calendar, and saw it was the 20th of December. On Thursday, he saw his buddies go get ice cream, so he asked his mom if they could go too. Finally, on Friday, yesterday, he saw all people from every age run out of their houses to have fun in the snow, So he woke up and dragged his family out of the house to have fun in the snow too.

On Saturday, he slowly got up from his bed, and took a deep smell of air. He could smell gingerbread wafting from the kitchen. He could smell the wonderful smell of hot chocolate. He could not smell the usual sock smell that wafts around the house when you have a kid under 15, and Tommy was 10. Someone had done the laundry for him, which meant guests were coming soon, and they couldn’t wait for Tommy to do his laundry. This could only mean one thing – Tomorrow was Christmas. Instead of checking the calendar, he dashed to open the window. The Christmas smell was there. The joy was there. The snow was there. Christmas was arriving the very next day. Relatives were arriving now. Yes Tommy, now! Tommy swiftly wore some clothes, and with double the speed ran downstairs to answer the door.

“My, my, my,” said Tommy’s aunt, “This place really is a beauty.” She wasn’t kidding. The living room was up near a wall with a TV, and it had 2 rocking chairs and a couch right next to the fireplace. The dining table was a long one – how else were they going to fit all the guests? The kitchen was large  enough for multiple chefs, but close enough so that Tommy’s mom could quickly and effortlessly get to all the sections of it. It had one island, because mom needed a place to put the food before she sent it to the dining table. It also had a little camera booth for food. The Staircase was hidden away in a corner, so you couldn’t see it till you’re right up against it, but if you’re at the top of it you can see almost the whole house. Tommy’s family didn’t have the space for a tree, but they had presents nonetheless!

As the pile of presents grew, Tommy asked his mom why presents don’t have windows, and everyone laughed. His mom said it was for the surprise factor, which was another thing Tommy didn’t get. Why have a surprise factor? What do we gain from it? All he knew was one thing. He wanted to know what was inside them. Tonight, he decided he was going to do it.  At night he unwrapped all of his presents. He had a bunch of cool toys, but he didn’t get the one he wanted. He wanted the Newest Legend Of Zelda. He got a bunch of lego sets, an adventure book, a mario game and cards. He was pretty disappointed. He then carefully wrapped them all up again, and put them back in the pile, and went back to sleep.

On Christmas Morning, he wasn’t as happy as he was last Christmas. He gloomily walked up to the window, and was about to open the blinds, but didn’t. He didn’t want any more spoilers. He wanted to just continue the day. He opened the door and slowly walked down the steps. After church, it was time to open presents. He opened them all, one by one, and then instead of playing with them immediately, he went to walk in the snow. The Sun was shining brightly in the sky. The birds chirped in the trees, and even the spirit of Christmas could not cheer him up. Then he walked back home for lunch. His sadness was no one’s fault but his own. He was the one who had opened the presents. He ruined it for himself.

Once he ate lunch, His mom had an announcement to make. There was a surprise present. He was super excited about it. His sadness became wonder in an instant. He slowly opened up the present. It was the Legend of Zelda game he had wanted. He played until it was dinner time. He had a blast. Sadness could no longer overcome him.

Tommy’s mom was glad she had thought of that idea. It cheered him up and taught him a valuable lesson. Windows were great, they were transparent, you knew what was going to happen. However, sometimes, things are meant to be a surprise, unexpected, secret.