Time Gone By

Did you know that bears love Christmas too? It’s often told that all we do during winter is hibernate, but we may have some secrets kept away from the rest of the world. Ever since I was little, I always dreamt about Santa Claus and how he brings presents to kids who’ve been behaving well this year and offers coal to the ones that have been bad. As a kid, I never thought too much about it, but now, it feels more like a way of bringing people; both friends and family, together.

I don’t remember how old I was exactly. It was a long time ago, and I was still a kid, yet I remember it all just as if it were happening yesterday. It was Christmas Eve, and everything seemed to go on as usual. Our Christmas tree was tall and beautiful, filled with the shiniest of ornaments. At the top, over fifteen feet from the ground and touching the roof of our small cave, there stood the most incredible star anyone could’ve ever seen. How my father even got that high up to place it there was way beyond me, so don’t ask! Moreover, you could already smell all different types of fish being cooked by our neighbors. It simply is an amazing feeling that is hard to describe, isn’t it?

During the evening, my father and I were watching TV. As is on every single channel on every single Christmas Eve, Home Alone was running, so we decided to watch for the thirty-six-millionth time. Just as we expected, the events went through the exact same order that we all remembered they would, but we enjoyed it as much as we would any other year. To be frank, I mostly just fiddled with my bracelet most of the time. I’ve had it almost since birth, from I don’t even know how many Christmases ago, yet I’m still amazed by how much I love those turquoise marbles.

Right as the movie ended, my father and I both heard my mother shout that dinner was ready, and that we should come to the dining table. As to be expected, food wasn’t yet on the table, because that’s how bear mothers do things. About thirty-five minutes of chitchatting later, the food was finally ready. Now we could finally enjoy our pickled herring, salty cod, baby scallops and regular non-pink salmon before going to bed and waiting for Santa to drop by.

As we were ready to feast and gain even more weight than we did before ‘hibernating season’ started, we heard a very loud roar in the forest that seemed to scare all the crows away. A few moments later, a large shadow could be seen outside. Both my mother and father stepped towards the entrance of the cave to defend me if something were to go wrong. As the shadow became bigger, a fur similar in color to ours seemed to reveal itself. My parents went from being ready to attack, right down to shedding tears. I was too afraid to approach them, so I stood back, left wondering what had happened…

***

I could see my parents coming back into the cave, telling me to come out of wherever I was hiding. We had a guest! When I saw him, I didn’t even know who he was. Both of my parents said in unison “it’s your uncle!” At that point I was left wondering where he came from, or what happened to him and why I never met him. It all felt like a very convenient situation to further the plot of a random story written by a college student with absolutely no imagination, but that’s just my point of view. Despite not remembering who he was, both of my parents told me that he even used to hold me in his lap from time to time when I was still a baby. It was kind of like Santa asking a good kid for what he wishes to receive next Christmas. But yes, because if I didn’t have the faintest idea who he was, I was sure to remember that very precise event!

They invited him in, and my mother immediately started cooking more food so he could join in on the feasting. It’s not like we didn’t already have enough food to feed five more bears, but why leave any fish uncooked? At that time, I was still scared of the unknown, so I didn’t exactly know how to react when, what was then to me a stranger, came into our home completely unannounced. My parents talked to him until mom finished cooking, but I hadn’t built up the courage to ask him anything. He was talking about anything and everything to them, and whenever he asked me something I simply nodded or shook my head as a response. He understood I was quite shocked to see an unknown relative come out of nowhere and that I couldn’t immediately just open up to him, so he let me be for a while.

After dinner was finally prepared, we could all say our prayers and eat. Suddenly, I felt exhausted. I was more focused on eating than anything else, so I could go to sleep early. After about an hour, most of the food was gone. My parents and my uncle spent a lot of their time talking as well. I overheard the reason why he’d been gone for such a long time without contacting them and why my parents never talked to me about him. He said he was a spy sent on a long mission, not long after I was born. Even the roar from earlier was him scaring off a wolf sent to spy on him, but he made sure he wasn’t followed when coming into here. I feel like that was made up by him so he could grab the attention of an impressionable kid. It didn’t seem to work, but who knows? Perhaps he was telling the truth. My parents said they didn’t want to me to be scared, but I think they didn’t know much about what he was doing out there either. In any case, I never really asked about him as far as I remember. It was mostly just me, my father and my mother.

I got off my chair and thanked my mother for the delicious meal, thinking that I could now go over to my room and sleep, waiting for Santa to bring his presents.

“That’s a nice bracelet” my uncle said, “may I take a look at it?” he then asked. I gave him an unsure look, but his eyes told me there was nothing to fear.

“Sure”, I replied afterwards.

“You know who gave you this bracelet?” he asked in a rather happy tone. I shook my head, simply knowing that I’ve had it for a long time.

“How long ago did you receive it?” he asked.

After this final question it suddenly clicked. The most cherished item I’ve ever had was a gift from him. Suddenly, as if the whole story didn’t seem convenient enough, I was reminded of a memory in which I could see that very same event he just indirectly described. I hugged him and decided to stay up for a little longer…

***

I was so excited for the presents that I woke up before the sun even shone. I opened all the nicely wrapped gifts as soon as possible. A remote-controlled car, some nice sweaters, a board game and many more materialistic things that I probably shouldn’t remember, nor do I. Those were just the highlights. After I opened everything, my mom said that there was one more gift left. I unpacked it very carefully. It was a framed picture, of a very young kid, a baby even, sitting in his uncle’s lap, receiving a shiny bracelet as a Christmas gift. I started crying and hugged both of my parents while holding the picture in my hand. Maybe Christmas truly brings people together. Maybe it’s better to give than to receive. Or maybe, we should learn to be open with our friends and family, as they love us unconditionally no matter what.

I still keep that picture next to my bed and look at it from time to time. It helps me fall asleep. A long time has gone by, and I haven’t seen him since. Maybe one day that mysterious figure I know as my uncle will decide to visit us once more, so I could show him what I’ve learned.