I. This is NOT a Christmas Story
II. Was it a Dream?
III. Christmas Dinner
IV. Johnny Five is (Still) Alive
V. Cabin Fever
VI. Brand New Day
VII. Show and Tell
VIII. Awkward Silence
IX. Christmas is Just Another Day
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Afterword
I remember the night I thought of this story. It was a week after my birthday. My son had just fallen asleep and I laid there in the dark, thinking about what I was going to do with myself. I had no job and Christmas was coming up soon. I felt so alone, like the world was about to crush me and I was just delaying the inevitable. I thought about how much I used to love Christmas when I was younger, and as recently as last year I was always looking forward to it. In 2008, when I originally wrote this, I was not looking forward to it at all. I had no money, the few friends I had were always spending time with their family, and my family was busy, with my grandma in the hospital. It was just my son and I, every night and day of that month. I thought of all this, and how nice it would be to get help, and how that stuff only happens in stories.
In Christmas stories there is always that one moment that clinches everything for the main character and he gets it all because he gives everything of himself, because Christmas is about giving and such. I thought how funny it would be to write a story of the reality. The reality that you must be a giving person to begin with in order to really be that kind of person on Christmas. A story about how we as people put on faces for each other and don't actually act as we wish to around others, how we are like robots, in a way. I wanted to get that message across just like a kid's special would, except this would be an adult's version of that, but still simple and to the point. I didn't want anything too long or detailed, just the story, and the meaning behind it. I then remembered a list I had read earlier in the day of the most useless toys of past years, and the Nintendo toy "R.O.B." was on there. I thought about much I always wanted a "R.O.B.", just to say that I had one. I thought of how much fun it would be if I got one and it came to life. That's sort of how the two ideas met; the problem was that I wanted to make a tale about the human soul, not a Christmas story. Christmas just would serve as a backdrop, because during that time of year every emotion is amplified by the idea that we should all be super happy and joyous and caring. Christmas is our benchmark to see how far we've come, and New Year's is the "final tribal council" so to speak.
As I did some research on "R.O.B." I noticed two names that were the main characters of the games he was used in for Nintendo: Hector and Victor. I didn't want the secondary main character to be male, however, because I wanted someone opposite of Hector that was exactly the opposite in every way. I felt a female would also establish how Hector has a tendency to even push away a potential lover that is right in front of him, through his actions and choices. "Victoria" was close to "Victor", so that's how I came to the names (that's a little inside joke, I don't know if many got it though). I think we all can understand why I named Hector's real son "Robby", and I also hope you understood how Hector's relationship with ROB was like father and son, and the ironic tragedy that he actually HAD a son he could have had a bond with but chose not to due to his insecurity.
"Grace" wasn't really a focus on the story, but she had some powerful lines. She was ripe for potential character background and could have actually been given her own story, but it would have taken away from the point I was trying to make. She was symbolic in that she represented something Hector had at one point in his life, "grace" and "Grace herself. When he lost that, when he lost himself in drinking and letting life get to him, he hit the real rock bottom. In life, as I've come to learn, you never hit the bottom hard enough to keep you there, you always wake up, and you stay there as long as you want, no one will care and no one will stop you. You become meaningless at that point; no matter how much you drink or how much money you spend. Hector never climbed out of "rock bottom" because, as Hector said himself, he "never faces his demons". He just lets something else in life distract him, and pretends to move on. At the end, he had everything a person could want from life, except the one thing that was rightfully his: a son that loves him and understands him. He didn't nurture that bond, so he lost it.
That's sort of the antithesis to my relationship with my son. I have never left his side, no matter how bad or difficult things have been. I even almost had him taken away from me, but I was just myself, I believe in myself a lot, and I do love myself and who I am. I think what most people don't realize is that I'm constantly looking at new things and new ideas to enhance myself, to satisfy my thirst for understanding and knowledge. However, this story was a reality check for those that think you must sacrifice everything for what you want. You don't need to sacrifice, because sacrificing means giving up something you want, when you really want something, you never give it up, and it isn't a sacrifice, it's just growing. Anyway, I do hope you enjoyed reading the story, and I hope it hit you in some way, or at least passed the time for you. Any time you have a bad day, or feel down near the holidays, I hope the last words of the story come to mind, because it's just another day in life.
I dedicate this story to my son, who has shown me what it means to be a man.
rating: 4
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