347 Satisfaction Never Guaranteed

He had his list. He checked it twice. Beside each item he had drawn a little box so he could check each off come Christmas morning. As Christmases went, he had done pretty well. Every year all of the boxes had been checked off as "RECEIVED."

The last time the boxes went unchecked was the Christmas he had asked Santa for

• world peace;
• enough to eat for everyone; and
• good will to all men.

The boxes had stayed empty.

"It's no use," he complained to his pastor. "They'll never learn. They're fools."

"You'll never be satisfied, child, if you ask for an impossible Christmas list like that."

"Well, don't you worry. I'm not gonna ask for stuff like that ever again! No sirree, not me. I've learned my lesson."

The pastor sighed.

He took one more look at this year's request list for Santa:

• Playstation 5 Pro
• X Box
• A "Ride 'em" miniature Tesla vehicle (batteries not included)
• Batteries
• A new bike
• A motorized scooter
• One less brother (he had in mind Tyrone)
• TV streaming subscriptions to Netflix, Max, Disney+, and Shudder.
• Drums

He folded the list in half and slid it into the envelope. He asked his mom for postage.

"Hmm..." she said. "The North Pole. That's going to be expensive. Did you and Tyrone finish cleaning your room?"

"No!" he answered. "Tyrone didn't do his half. I hate him!"

"Goodness!" she exclaimed. "Such a thing to say when your mailing your list to Santa. He's sees you, you know."

"Sorry..." but he wasn't. He kissed her anyway after she applied the stamp.

He ran out to the mailbox. The mail hadn't come yet, so he placed his list inside and raised the red flag for the postman to know there was something outgoing.

Something important!

On Christmas morning, he coudn't wait, but ran downstairs to the den to check out his loot. He opened his duplicate list and began checking the boxes.

"Wow," he said, having checked off all the boxes. He still wasn't satisfied. "The pastor's right. I'll never be satisfied. There's gotta be other stuff I need. Maybe next year."

"Has anyone seen Tyrone?" his mother called out from their upstairs bedroom.

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AUTHOR'S NOTES:

For Thursday, December 12, Day 347 of the 2024 Story-a-Day Challenge.

366 WORDS (without A/N)

ABOUT THIS STORY:

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