Who would have thought things would derail so quickly? In a few hours all their family plans–for holidays and beyond–were thrashed, and weeks of preparations rendered meaningless.
Ricardo tossed and turned in his bed for some time, finally falling asleep minutes before Christmas. This year his family would all receive midnight in their dreams.
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December 24th, 2027; for Ricardo it had started as normal as the day before Christmas can be. He woke up early and motivated, having bought all his presents the day before was a big plus.
After having coffee and a toast, he took the defrosted turkey out of the fridge and cut it out of its sealed bag. The raw poultry smell was overpowering, much more than chicken could ever be. He opened the store-bought marinade and spread it all over the turkey–massaging it with his hands–the still frozen patches biting at his skin.
That was the part that mom didn't like to do, which was why Ricardo was in charge of the turkey for Christmas Eve. It's just a drained and defeathered bird's carcass, all meat comes from one. Well, not all meat now. There were those lab-meat burgers nowadays.
The house was silent all morning long, so much that Ricardo could hear the cars passing through the street. Dad was doing a half day at the office and Mom had gone to deliver the presents for the kids of the family–she would be coming back with a ready-to-eat meal. Minerva hadn't waken up yet, she had stayed until late in the night in the VR machine.
Ricardo washed his hands and stored the marinated turkey in the fridge –it was done for now. He went up to his room and searched the pocket of the jeans hanging on his chair for a small felt bag. He smiled thinking how he got away with buying it just under Amelia's nose. He couldn't be a hundred percent sure she didn't notice, but at least she pretended she didn't, so he'd do the same.
He was free until lunch, and then until the small snack they would eat when Amelia comes to visit in the evening. In times like this he was tempted to get into a VR game. They must have improved a lot since the last time he tried. He knew the simulations he did for university got a lot more realistic as the years passed by.
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Mom arrived with the lunch around 2 pm, yelling for her children to get to the dinning room. Ricardo had been lazily checking out places around Córdoba in his laptop–he felt kinda guilty he hadn't helped much with the trip's planning–so he was already prepared to go down when he heard mom's car entering the garage.
“Can you get Minerva?” asked mom as soon as Ricardo entered the room. Dad was already in there, checking his cellphone.
“Yeah.”
Ricardo turned around and went up, passed by his door and stepped in front of Minerva's. No noises could be heard from the inside–she was either in the VR machine or sleeping–probably the later, since he hadn't heard her leaving her room for food in all morning.
*knock knock knock*
No response from Minerva; Ricardo silently opened the door. The room was as messy as he remembered, gym clothes laying here and there, the pink bedsheets almost completely on the floor. A dirty plate and a half-empty glass of water on the desk completed the decadent image. And the culprit was splayed on the bed, the sun beaming over her from the thinly veiled window.
“Minerva, lunchtime,” said Ricardo, tapping her softly on the shoulder. She moaned and turned around, not willing to get up just yet.
“Minerva,” insisted Ricardo, sitting on the edge of the bed.
“Yeah, I listened,” said Minerva with her eyes still closed, finally accepting to acknowledge the call.
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The lunch was a simple meal of rolled chicken and cauliflower souffle. They could have ordered pizza if they didn't have to accommodate for Minerva's diet.
“Seems like we'll be able to meet the last milestone before next weekend,” said dad, very pleased with himself.
“That's great,” answered mom, patting dad on the back.
That was really great, indeed. When they had planned their vacations months ago, dad's current main project was supposed to be done by October. But November went by and dad was still at it. Leaving with it finished and delivered would make them enjoy the trip with a lot more ease. Things were finally getting into place.
“How's the turkey going?” asked mom.
“It's marinated and waiting to be put in the oven,” answered Ricardo. “We'll have plenty of time after Amelia leaves.”
“Everyone, remember she'll come at seven,” added mom, looking towards Minerva. “Be ready for her.”
Minerva, she just sitting at the table, eating mechanically without lifting her head. Now that Ricardo was free from his worries, he could see how she didn't talk at all when Amelia wasn't there to pull her into the conversation.
Finishing her food, Minerva stood up and raised her plate to move it to the kitchen, dropping her knife in the process. She quickly picked it up and fled to the kitchen. Something definitely is amiss, mom and dad surely noticed it too.
A couple of minutes later, they could listen Minerva's hurried steps on the stairs and her door closing. Ricardo didn't say anything, nor his parents. Minerva was acting weird, and that scared everyone in the house. They could only wait for Amelia to arrive and hopefully fix it.
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Ricardo had decided to shower and get ready early, that way there wasn't a chance he'd find himself out of hot water in the middle of the process, already naked and wet. On his way he passed by Minerva's shut door–she surely was in the VR machine–that's all she did these days when she wasn't with Amelia.
Feeling the hot water pouring over his body, Ricardo closed his eyes and pondered. He was such a coward, it was time to admit it. Four years ago, both his group of friends and his family went under crisis in quick succession. And he could never get them truly back. He didn't even try to. It was easier to detach himself from everything and wait for a miracle to happen.
Maybe the trip to Argentina was the miracle.
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Ricardo was down the stairs as soon as the doorbell rang. He wondered if he should check on Minerva–no, surely she's in the living room already.
“Merry Christmas!” exclaimed Amelia as she crossed the door frame. Mom didn't waste any time to reply, hugging and kissing the teenage girl.
Amelia had arrived at 7 o'clock–on time and perfectly produced–it helped that she lived just one block away down the street. She was even wearing matching heels to go with her red summer dress.
“Merry Christmas, Ricardo,” said Amelia, getting close and pecking him on the cheek. She didn't even need to stand on her tiptoes.
“Christmas' tomorrow,” Ricardo couldn't help pointing it out.
“It's the same,” said Amelia, laughing.
“If you say so,” replied Ricardo.
Contrary to his expectations, Minerva wasn't downstairs yet. Even when dad came down a few minutes later, she still didn't give any life signal. Mom went to the kitchen to bring cookies and soda, taking the chance to prompt Ricardo towards the stairs.
“I'll check on Minerva,” said Ricardo, excusing himself.
She probably lost her sense of time and she's hurriedly getting ready.
He went up the stairs, trying to listen for any sound coming from his sister's room. Nothing. He knocked on the door. Nothing. He finally entered, coming in front of an active, blue light-leaking, VR machine.
Really, your best friend comes to visit for Christmas and you'll rather be in a VR game.
He didn't hesitate to press the forceful disconnect button.
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Ricardo hadn't waited for Minerva to come out of the VR machine before going back
It had been a mistake.
Half an hour passed; first carol compilation finished playing; cookies had come and gone; Minerva didn't appear. Their parents were visibly pissed but–just as Ricardo–they didn't want to make a scene in front of the guest.
“She might be busy, there's an event in Virtual Connection,” said Amelia, trying to defuse the situation. “Let's start with the gift giving.”
Ricardo didn't waste any time, going to the back of the sofa and pulling out his suitcase with all the presents inside. He had brought it down while everyone was in their rooms getting ready. Amelia got on her knees and opened it, taking out the bags containing her gifts.
“Did you plan this together?” asked mom, smiling with her eyes.
“We met in the mall by chance,” answered Amelia, giving mom and dad their respective presents.
Putting down hers, Mom opened the cupboard, taking out a long, flat box. “From all of us.”
“Thank you so much,” said Amelia, hugging mom again.
Then she opened her handbag, taking out a small rectangular package.
“This is for you, Ricardo,” said Amelia, demurely putting it in his hands.
Ricardo seized the chance and took out the bag that he had been keeping in his pocket. “And this is for you.”
“Oh, thank you,” said Amelia excitedly, giving him a half hug.
“We should open them,” said mom, a finger already scratching the tape on her package.
“Yeah, it's like Christmas already,” said Amelia, siting in the sofa next to the long box.
That being said, everyone started to open their presents. Amelia's was a yellow party dress, not too revealing, but it was adult's clothing nonetheless. Ricardo remembered their family leaving to buy it at some point last week, of course he didn't go with them.
Ricardo also opened his present, it was a metal, wide-lead mechanical pencil. He had seen a few students around the campus sketching with them. This one looked a lot nicer than those. He turned towards Amelia, coincidently exchanging glances.
“Thank you so much, I had my eyes on it,” said Amelia, showing the silver bracelet he had given her on her wrist.
“I'm glad you liked it,” said Ricardo. “Your gift will be really useful.”
“Did you buy it yesterday?” asked Amelia.
“Yeah, did you notice?”
“I knew you bought something; I hoped it would be this.”
When they were passing by the jewelry section of the department store, he remembered Amelia stopping to look at that particular item before getting lost in the crowd. It turns out, Amelia not only helped him with his Christmas shopping, she even chose her own.
After they had finished opening Amelia's, Ricardo took out his gifts from the suitcase, delivering them to his parents, which prompted them to do the same. And that's how they all ended up opening their Christmas presents early.
“This color is really nice,” said mom, holding the lipstick from her gift box set. “Did Amelia choose it?”
“Yeah, you know I wouldn't know,” answered Ricardo.
“Thank you, Amelia,” said mom, laughing.
“Hey! I was the one who paid for it.”
Things were animated for a time; they could almost ignore the pile of gifts still under the nativity scene, sticking out like a sore thumb. But whenever there was a lull in the conversation, Minerva's non-presence made itself felt. It lurked the room like a ghost.
Amelia left around 8:30; Minerva never appeared.
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With Amelia gone, mom immediately went up the stairs to check on Minerva, everyone else following behind. As they got closer, they could hear some noise coming from her room. It sounded like crying. Mom made the last distance in a blur, trying the doorknob.
It was locked from inside.
Minerva was undoubtedly crying, they could confirm it by the time Dad procured a copy of the key. Mom opened the door slightly, sliding inside and closing it behind her.
Ricardo and his dad patiently waited outside, as silent as they could, listening attentively. Mom's voice sounded warm and consoling. Minerva, on the other hand, was progressively raising her volume, ending with a full-blown sob.
“I WON'T GO!”
After what seemed like hours, mom exited Minerva's room, turning off the lights as she left.
Christmas got canceled.