⌚ A Little Attention

2. A Gift

Jacob looked down at the box in his hands. He couldn't believe that this was happening, and part of him wanted to look around for someone hiding, ready to leap out and laugh at his confusion. Or, thinking about how the production values of this little stunt were likely way beyond the technical ability of a couple of high school jocks, he wondered if he should be looking for a film crew instead. But there was nothing; no sounds but the rustle of leaves created by Dad and Leah in the distance.

He looked at the box again. It could have been a jewelry box, the kind of elaborate thing you expected a ring to come in, with complex gold tracery around the edge. But this was more complex than any he'd seen before, and if it was a ring in here the sheer volume of elaborate padding it would be packed with implied that it would be worth a lot more than anything he would even consider buying for the girl of his dreams.

"What is–" he said and looked up, only to see nobody in front of him. Well, that was no surprise. Whatever the trick was, it must have been hard to arrange, and if they kept it up too long he might have spotted the joins in the costume, or seen the strings that were supporting the weird girl. But he was impressed that she'd gotten out of sight without him even seeing movement.

"Right, very funny guys," he said, and shook his head as a more obvious show of disappointment. "I'm supposed to think there's something expensive in here, right? Then I open it and it's empty, or some lame joke. Tell me it's not a glitter bomb, will you?"

But even knowing it had to be some kind of prank, he had to know who was behind it. He couldn't just throw it away and miss out on the endgame. So he held the little jewelry box in both hands, and pushed the front of the lid up with his thumbs. The lid rose slowly, and beneath it a second lid seemed to be folding apart like a blooming flower, some elaborate mechanism that must have cost a small fortune to make. And there, right in the middle, there was the gleam of sunlight on... crystal?

No. It was clear plastic. He grabbed the ring and gave a gentle tug, and realised that nestling in the soft white padding was the last thing he had ever expected. It was a pacifier. A baby's pacifier, the thing he'd been sent to find. Except this wasn't one of the little things that Leah was forever leaving all over the house. This was brand new, gleaming, and seemed larger than he would have expected. On the back there was a decal that looked kind of like a smiling clock face, with little hands that were separate pieces, perhaps movable. There were no mold lines where it had been formed, and the yellow and orange splashes of colour on the thing weren't just coloured plastic or a simple print; they looked like they could have been added by hand. Looking close, he had to guess that this was some kind of artisanal, one-of-a-kind pacifier that could only be sold online. Because of course, no matter what kind of crap you're making, there's someone on the Internet willing to buy it.

"What the hell?" he asked the air, but there was still no response. "This is what I wished for then? A pacifier? I was just ..."

He stopped as soon as the words were out of his mouth. He'd muttered about looking for a pacifier just before the weird little fairy girl appeared. But that wasn't enough time for them to have set up something like this. Could it be a coincidence that the 'wish' was what he'd been looking for? Or was Dad somehow in on this? It would have made sense of him suddenly being dragged out of the house for no good reason, but he still couldn't believe it. It would be too much effort, surely? And what could the old man have to gain by pulling some silly stunt, when he was already running himself ragged trying to make a screeching little brat happy?

"What's the moral of the story, then?" he asked the air as he strode angrily back towards where the remainder of his family had sent him away. "You think I'm being childish or something? At least I'm pulling my weight, looking after myself. I got a job. I got homework. I got matches with my friends. I got so much in my life, and you still want me to look after the baby. If you want to say something just say it, I don't like the stupid games."

He slammed the box shut, but was frustrated by the faintest click as the mechanism folded quickly and elegantly closed. He rammed it into the pocket of his jacked, growling under his breath, and realised that he was still holding the pacifier in his other hand.

He didn't want to put it in his pocket; it would get covered in lint, or scratched by any loose change that was in there. Even if it was a babyish little thing, he didn't want to damage something that someone had clearly taken such care to make. And taking the box out again would only have made him more frustrated in his current state of mind. It was the kind of mood where he couldn't bear to take a step back. And then, with the kind of logic that suggests that one more drink wouldn't be such a bad idea, he made a decision.

"Fine, you're calling me a baby? I'm a baby then. Come and laugh." Jacob indignantly put the pacifier into his mouth. It was a decision that would come to change his life soon enough.