It was the eve to Christmas, Treasure had always wanted to spend it with his grandparents but the timing was never right in the past. This time was different, he got a call the week before informing him he was being fired from his job, he saw it coming. A blessing he thought, this way he would get to see spend sometime with his grandparents.
"Why, I haven't done anything wrong"
"We are currently laying off staff, you would know if you checked your mail"
He knew getting a job was hard but this wasn't the first time he was fired which meant he was going to find another. It was a 6 hour trip to his grandparents. He decided he would go early so he could have enough alone time with them until the rest of the family showed up.
"Buy bread sir with chilled coke"
Someone knocked at the window to the bus. He didn't eat anything that morning before leaving because he was already filled with excitement. His extended family made it a habit of throwing christmas parties every year at his grandparents house but never for once had he been in attendance. He only saw pictures and videos.
He was just going to wait until the driver stopped for a break and hopefully find something to eat at that point. He needed something heavy, not yeast filled dough. The sun shinned bright and hot. The traffic on the road made things worse.
"Maybe I'll manage that bread for now", the thought as he called out to a nearby hawker.
"I hope your drinks are cold"
"Yes sir, very chilled, will you buy gala too?"
He had no choice, buy what he could at that point or risk waiting another hour until the road cleared up.
Two hours later, the bus started to move as the number of cars on the road reduced. He finally got to his destination. The compound was smaller than he could remember. Maybe because the last time he visited, he was only 10 years old, everything seems big when you're a child.
"Treasure!!", grandma yelled not able to contain her excitement.
"Why are you standing there, go and help him with his bags", she told some kids playing around in the compound.
"Look how much you've grown, you can now even travel on your own, you even have a beard now"
He smiled sheepishly, grandma looked like she didn't age a bit after all these years.
"You must be hungry, come inside, I've made rice for you."
This was another reason to love his grandparent's house, there was always food.
"Where's grandpa?"
"He went out with Matthew to get some provisions upon everybody's arrival tomorrow"
Matthew was Treasure's cousin who stayed with them to help out with anything they needed.
"It's going to be a full house tomorrow, it's really good to could make it this time"
"I wasn't going to miss it for anything".
He took off his shoes and walked straight to the dining were food was already dished for him, this was what love felt like. His grandfather's car pulled up in the driveway some hours later.
"Don't just stand there, come and help Matthew with the bags".
It was not the welcoming he had expected.
"Oh Treasure, I didn't know it was you, when did you arrive?"
"Some hours ago"
"I hope they've given you food, please help Matthew with the bags"
The rest of the day was spent getting his grandparents up to speed with what had been happening in his life.
"Is your father coming?"
Grandma had always been keen on getting to see Treasure's father, they didn't spend much time together after he married their daughter but he called once in a while to check up on his in-laws.
"I don't know but he said he'll try to come"
He went to bed that night excited he was going to see the rest of the family the next day.
This story was written in third person and it is about the time I left to spend Christmas with my grandparents, I hope you enjoy reading.