Sixteen Birthdays and Christmases

Meri got her first birthday gift when she was six. She always assumed that had been her first, because the concept had felt entirely strange to her.

After morning prayers, the Abbess had called her down to the garden (the air inside the convent grew stale rather quickly, and she would always end up coughing), where a few of the sisters had been gathered around the table. On it was a strange box that had the name MERI scribbled on it in messy handwriting. Her name?

Abbess Sophia explained that today, March 5th, was the day she had been born six years ago. And in celebration of that day, like Christmas, people were given gifts. Since it was her birthday, the sister had gotten together and got her something.

"What was it?" she had asked at the time. They told her it was a surprise, and that she had to open it to find out. But looking back, noticing the faces that were a mixture of curiosity, slight apprehension, and something else entirely, they didn't even know that the gift would be arriving at all.

Inside was a crucifix. It wasn't made out of any plastic or metal that would scratch or burn at her skin, but wood. Whoever had made it didn't seem like they were great at woodworking, it was a bit uneven in thickness, and one side had some odd discolorations in the grain. The whole thing was on a simple cotton cord.

Meri put on the necklace and didn't take it off for almost ten years.

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License