The Gold Bag of Stones

Rylee had been dating her boyfriend Evan, for four years. They loved celebrating holidays together and enjoyed each other’s company. It was that time of year again, where lights were glowing, carols were being sung, and mistletoe hung from the ceiling. After four years Rylee thought to herself, “Although Evan has grown as a person so much, I feel like I have given him everything he wants!” Evan mentioned that he wanted a new CD, he considered it “very important,” and that it contained beautiful melodies that he could learn to play on the guitar. Rylee then pondered the idea of him wanting new things, and spending time doing those things, instead of being with her. This concerned her, as she didn’t want his love and affection to become limited towards her, due to “beautiful melodies.”

After a few days, she created a list of all the things that they could share and enjoy together. One… go ice skating, two… make snow angels, three… build a giant fortress, four… spin in circles until they feel like they can’t stand anymore. As the list went on, she came up with so many things that she knew Evan and her could enjoy, maybe herself more than Evan. She was excited to do all these activities with Evan, and listed as many as she could that would only be enjoyed around Christmas time.

 A few days later, Evan asked Rylee, “What would you like for Christmas?” Rylee responded with, “I would love a bag of beautiful stones.” Although her response seemed a bit random and general, she knew that carrying something that he got for her, in her pocket, would help her feel more grounded. Evan had no idea what to get Rylee, so he decided to stop at a local metaphysical store that carried crystals. He knew that Rylee identified with crystals that had many different meanings, helping with anything from remaining calm, to strengthening confidence. The crystals were beautiful blues, whites, oranges, reds and so many other colors. As he sifted through all of the crystals, he suddenly had a great idea. He walked outside the store, the door closing behind him with a soft jingle of the bells hanging from the wreath above the lettering “Balance & Love Metaphysical Shop”. He got in his red souped-up truck, and started driving towards the beach. He got out of his truck, closing the door behind him and walked down a small windy path to the sand. He was about to look for stones, but realized that there was a foot of snow covering any chance of him finding any. Luckily, he always had a shovel in the back of his truck, in case his truck got stuck in the ditch. He fetched the shovel from the back and headed back down to the beach, determined to find some stones for his girlfriend. Evan started close to the frozen lake and ended up coming up with nothing. He then began to dig closer to the forest, pulling out a white stone, a black stone, a cream-colored stone and a grey stone from the whole he had made. Evan then put them in his pocket and started walking back to his truck. He knew that the stones weren’t as brightly colored as the crystals in the shop, so he decided to find a dollar store and pick up some brightly colored paint and a paintbrush. Evan then headed home and went to work, painting words on the stones. After the paint dried, he put them in a gold bag he had found in his closet from a previous present that Rylee had given him.         

As Christmas drew near, Rylee and Evan became very excited for all of the festivities happening around them. Family dinners were assembled and devoured, and the smell of freshly baked gingerbread and hot apple cider filled the air. When everyone left, and there was only the presence of crumbs left from dessert on the table, Rylee and Evan decided it was time to open each others’ presents. Evan went first, so excited to see his new CD and be able to play it. He unwrapped a square box covered in little holly leaves and smiling deer, and as his present came into view, his smile dropped. It was a small deck of cards; handwritten with events that they could share together. It wasn’t what he wanted at all, he wanted the CD of his favourite band so he could play it over and over, to learn all the songs on guitar. He was a bit perturbed and reluctantly handed over the gold bag that held the stones he spent so much time creating. Rylee happily opened the gold bag, smiling at the fact that it came from one of the presents she had given him years before. She pulled out a white stone that had bright pink lettering on it saying “beautiful”, then a black stone that had white lettering saying “joy”, then a cream-colored stone with blue lettering saying “strong”, and finally, a grey stone with green lettering saying “confident”. Before Evan could explain himself, Rylee started to cry and said, “This is the most unimaginably beautiful gift I have ever received!” She then proceeded to hug Evan tight, feeling so much love. Evan felt a bit sad and misunderstood, but embraced her as well. Rylee let go and started to explain, “I am so sorry that I didn’t get you the CD you wanted. I was so worried about you paying attention to your music more than me so I got scared, and just wanted to create a gift where I knew that our relationship would be okay. The fact that you made these stones for me when I was struggling with my own inner battles of insecurity, means so much.” As Evan realized what Rylee was saying, his disappointment disappeared. He felt empathy for Rylee, that she struggled and knew that even though he had spent so much time and effort putting together his gift for her, that it didn’t matter how long it took her to put his together, or that it wasn’t what he asked for. She made a gift that showed she cared about him and that she wanted their relationship to be enjoyable, even when she was struggling internally with herself. Evan then went on to explain this to Rylee then started to hug and kiss her under the mistletoe hung from the ceiling.