Forgetting Cip

“Don’t you remember?”

“No”, she said while shaking her head.

“But how is that possible? It only happened a few hours ago!” exclaimed Josh.

But what was it that they talk about? Why can’t she remember? All these thoughts might jump around the reader’s mind from here to there as no one could understand what happened from just two very confused sentences. Therefore, let me take you back to where it all began…

           It was one hot summer night and both Josh and his sister were playing in the attic. Their mother was against this endeavor, as the roof space was the hottest place in the house, but they did not listen. Josh’s sister sneaked out of the room and started climbing the stairs to the top of the house one by one, followed by Josh who was giggling when the stairs squeaked. He was three years older than her, but still he was only nine years old and couldn’t say no to such an experience. He was only thinking of the fact that their mother might either be angry at them, or, not finding them for a long time, she might actually be delighted they are safe. Josh told himself that he only wanted to make his mother happy – especially that she stopped smiling after their father left.

           Josh’s father was a pilot and a very talented one for that matter. He was gone most of the time, flying over their house from time to time and then Josh would be outside in the garden, waving at the sky in hopes that his father would see him. After every such period, when his father was home again, he would ask “Did you see me waving?” and his father would always reply that he did even if that answer, as we all know, was a lie.

           The problem with this is that lying seemed to be the best skill his father had, as he managed to hide away a whole other family – a new mommy and three other children that were all younger than Josh and his sister. When Josh found out, he was thrilled; he thought he will gain so many new siblings, but, instead, he lost his father. And when he would think about his mother’s unhappiness, he would whisper to himself that he lost his mother too…

           Arriving to the attic, the door was shot closed, as in there the magical decorations for Christmas were under lock. The children couldn’t wait to open them all and decorate themselves as Christmas trees and light up the whole place in cheers and jolly songs. “Just imagine, a whole new Christmas in July,” Josh would tell her sister while going up the stairs, tip-toing in their soft, clean socks.

           Then, dear reader, imagine the disappointment on these children’s faces when they couldn’t enter the attic and adorn themselves as Christmas trees. But I did say at the beginning of this story that the children were playing there. “How could this be?” you might ask. Well, we will now find out what Josh’s sister cannot remember.

           The door was locked, as it has been mentioned, and Josh was peeping through the little key hole to find a way to get in. And from that whole, a spirit has emerged! No! It wasn’t a spirit, it was a little elf, a little Christmas elf! His hat was red and a little on the side of his head and his shoes were bigger than his body.

“I am the gate keeper of all Christmas decorations!” the elf bragged. “You shall not pass!”

           The children were shocked and a little scared, but the elf giggled and whispered to himself “you shall not pass” once again.

“Did you really believe me?” the elf inquired. “Really, really believed me and got scared?”

“I was not scared!” Josh exclaimed.

“Yes, you were,” his sister criticized while stepping on his toe. “You grabbed my hand and your nose started shaking like it does when mom takes us swimming and you’re afraid of the water.”

“I am not afraid!” he replied.

“Yes, you are!” scoffed his sister, crossing her arms and facing another way.

“If you’re done arguing,” the elf reiterated, “did you believe that I was the gate keeper?”

“Of course we believe you if you said that,” Josh’s sister answered. “You are a small being that appeared through the peephole with your red hat and your big shoes.”

“Are you really the gate keeper?” Josh asked raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, yes I am. My name is Cip and I truly guard the Christmas decorations… of this house.”

“This house only?” observed one of the children.

“Yes, terrible fate to be guarding only this house when my bigger brother is responsible with the guarding of an entire country”, lamented the elf.

“Is your name chip, like a computer chip?” asked Josh.

“No, it’s Cip, C-I-P” replied the elf, eye rolling. “Why do you humans always ask that?”

“It is a very interesting name,” Josh added. “I’m Josh and this is my little sister. Could we come into the attic and play with the decorations, Cip?”

“No, you could not,” snapped Cip. “I am the keeper of the Christmas decorations and no one is allowed to use them until it is Christmas time!”

“But we want to have a special Christmas in the summer time,” Josh’s sister wept. “And we will not use them. We just want to play with them,” she added.

“Oh, well, if that is the case, I do not see why not let you in,” Cip thought out loud. “If I remember correctly, and I do, as I never forgot anything, there is no place in the elf law that stipulates one cannot play with the Christmas decorations outside of Christmas – it only says one shall not use them. In this case, you may enter.”

           The lock made a sound as if it opened itself and the door started moving. The children’s eyes sparkled with joy and enthusiasm that the door was now open and they could enter. Josh looked at his sister and she looked back at him. They held hands and entered cautiously in the attic that now seemed to be a magical place.

           They looked around and saw the Christmas decoration boxes. They ran towards them and opened them all! Tinsel and decorated, colorful globes and stars emerged from the box and filled the room with sparkle. Josh plugged in one of the Christmas lights and the children built a Christmas fort. They were playing with Cip, that played make-believe as if it was Christmas and they were giving imaginary gifts to each other and playing with these said gifts.

           After a while, their mother realized the house was too quiet. She snooped around, thinking the children might be playing hide-and-seek, but as she did not manage to find them, she immediately thought of the roof space and of how the children were not supposed to go there. “But the attic is locked,” she said to herself, walking towards the stairs. As she started climbing, she yelled the children’s names, but they were too busy playing to hear her voice.

When the mother reached the top story and saw the door wide open and the disaster her children made littering everything with decorations and sparkle, she suddenly screamed: “JOSH!” The sound of his angry mother made Josh stop playing and he peeked outside the little decoration tent that he built with his sister.

“Yes, mother?” he said with a trembling voice.

“What are you doing in the attic when I told you not to come out here?!”

           His mother was truly furious. If smoke could come out of her nose, it would! Josh began telling her about Cip and how he unlocked the door for them and so they built this castle of decorations and were playing gift-giving, but his mother did not want to hear a thing. She told them to immediately pick up everything and put them back into their boxes. They weren’t going to use any technological device for two whole weeks! No more cartoons after lunch, no more music at night – Josh was devastated.

           What made this situation even worse is that his sister did not say a thing. Josh was the one to do the talking and when his mother punished them both, he urged his sister to say something as well, but she stood there, silent.

“Come on,” he said, “don’t you remember?”

“No”, she said while shaking her head.

“But how is that possible? It only happened a few hours ago!” exclaimed Josh.

           Josh’s memory of these past events started fading away as soon as he uttered those words. He did not seem to remember the elf’s name or how did they get to the attic in the first place. Whose idea was it for them to go there? All these thoughts were racing his mind faster than he raced his sister to go upstairs. What was left for them to do was to clean the place and accept the time-out their mother gave them. If only they could remember why they were there…