Wrapping Up A Little Bit of Trouble W.M. Akers My brother, Davis, doesn t know a thing about Christmas. He thinks the whole point of the holiday is having fun and singing songs and getting presents. He s wrong. Christmas is about wrapping paper, and that s all. It s December 20 th. The tree is decorated, the lights are lit, and my bedroom closet is full of presents. These aren t gifts for me I don t really care about gifts for me but gifts for my family. I got dad a dorky T shirt with some comic book character on it; I got mom a fancy new cooking knife; and I got my brother some records, because he s a weirdo and he likes old records. And now it s time for my favorite part of the holiday season. It s time to get out the wrapping paper. I carry two rolls of our nicest paper into my room, balancing them carefully with some Scotch tape, scissors, ribbon and labels. I make sure to point the scissors downward since my hands are a little too full to be carrying so much at the same time. I drop the load onto my bedroom floor, holding my breath for a split second, hoping the scissors don t land on my foot. They don t. Time to get to work. I don t know if I love wrapping presents because I m great at it, or if I m great at wrapping presents because I love it so much. Either way, it s one of the only relaxing things that happen during the crazy holiday season. For 15 or 20 minutes, I am in complete control. Any problem I might have whether it s a corner that won t line up right, a spot of untidy folding, or a limp ribbon I can solve easily. All it takes is a little time, a little focus, and an unwillingness to settle for second best. My brother is different. In wrapping presents, like every other part of life, he s always happy to be second best.
I wrap his presents first, because records present no real challenge. Just a few seconds of work, and they are securely packaged their wrapping paper exterior far more beautiful than the ugly album covers underneath. I m just finishing when Davis wanders into my bedroom. Hey Gloria, he says. You re supposed to knock! It s Christmas. I m wrapping presents in here! Well you re done wrapping mine, aren t you? I mean, those are obviously records. Yes, they re records. Don t look so grumpy. If you want to surprise people, you have to wrap a little more creatively. Since you re done wrapping my present, and I m done wrapping yours, can I come in here and wrap with you? Fine. Davis returns a few minutes later lugging a guitar case, a shopping bag, bongo drums, and an umbrella. What s all that junk for? I ask. I don t use wrapping paper anymore. Good. You d only waste it. That s a fact. What did you get Dad? I show him the dorky T shirt. He s gonna love that. I got him this old map of the city. They were selling at the flea market. It only cost $2! An old map? That s a pretty crummy present. No, think about it! He s always talking about how the city was different when he was a kid all the roads that have changed and stuff. Now he can remember! Hmm. That is pretty good. What about Mom? I made her this cutting board out of some driftwood I found. Pretty neat, huh? You washed that, right?
Nah it s saltwater. It s clean. I shudder and make a mental note to wash the cutting board before Mom tries to use it. You should probably sand it down more. She ll get splinters. Good idea. Who are the bongo drums for? Please don t give those to Mom. She hates noise. Nah, these are for Dad. Watch. He stuffs Dad s map into the bottom of the bongo drums. Bam! Now it s wrapped. That doesn t count as wrapping a present. Don t think of it as wrapping, then. I hid it. The important thing is he can t tell what it is by looking at it. He opens the guitar case and nestles the cutting board inside. Now this is wrapped, too. So Mom is going to think you got her a guitar? And then she opens it, and it s this awesome cutting board! I can t help but smile. What are you doing with the umbrella? Well I couldn t just get Dad a $2 map. So mom and I picked out this super nice, gigantic umbrella for him to keep in his car. You know, because he hates getting rained on. Everyone hates getting rained on. I don t know how to wrap it, though. Just lay it down, roll out some paper, and fold it carefully. I ll show you. I m sorry, but that s just boring. I ve got it! He s going to know it s an umbrella no matter what, right? So why don t we have some fun with that? What do you mean? I ve barely finished asking the question before the umbrella pops open in my face. You are not going to wrap the umbrella like that! You ll use up all the rest of the wrapping paper.
So finish what you ve got to do, and then we ll do it. Come on, Sis. It s Christmas. You are allowed to have fun. I can t let him know it, but it does seem funny. So when I finish wrapping the knife and the T shirt, I hand the wrapping paper over to him. Tape the end of the roll down there, he commands, and we ll just pass the roll around the umbrella until it s all wrapped up. That s gonna look messy. It s gonna look hilarious. So, I follow his instructions. We use the rest of that roll and part of the other one, not to mention all the scotch tape. None of the corners are tidy. None of the edges line up. It s the messiest present I ve ever wrapped. It s also probably the best. It looks like a five feet tall diamond, I say. Dad s gonna think we got him a giant diamond! This is perfect. Yeah only, one thing. What? How are we going to get it through your doorway?
Questions: Wrapping Up a Little Bit of Trouble Name: Date: 1. According to Gloria, what is Christmas about? A wrapping paper B getting presents C having fun D singing songs 2. The narrator is the person who is telling the story. Who is the narrator in this text? A Gloria B Davis C Mom D Dad 3. Read this paragraph from the text: I don t know if I love wrapping presents because I m great at it, or if I m great at wrapping presents because I love it so much. Either way, it s one of the only relaxing things that happen during the crazy holiday season. For 15 or 20 minutes, I am in complete control. Any problem I might have whether it s a corner that won t line up right, a spot of untidy folding, or a limp ribbon I can solve easily. All it takes is a little time, a little focus, and an unwillingness to settle for second best. Based on this evidence, what conclusion can you draw about Gloria? A Gloria thinks being in control is relaxing. B Gloria does not like solving problems. C Gloria is very easygoing and laid-back. D Gloria does not like the holiday season. 4. Based on the text, what does Davis think is the most important part of wrapping presents? A making sure the present is a surprise B making sure the wrapping looks neat C making sure the wrapping is colorful D making sure the present looks like a guitar 5. What is this passage mainly about? A Christmas decorations B trading gifts C last-minute shopping D wrapping presents 1
Questions: Wrapping Up a Little Bit of Trouble 6. Read these sentences from the text: My brother is different. In wrapping presents, like every other part of life, he s always happy to be second best. Why might the author have included this description of Gloria s brother? A to imply that everyone thinks Gloria is better at wrapping than her brother is B to show that Gloria thinks she is better at wrapping than her brother is C to make the reader feel bad for Gloria s brother because he is happy to be second best D to offer proof that Gloria s brother is a much happier person than Gloria is 7. Choose the answer that best completes the sentence. Gloria and Davis are both wrapping presents, they don t wrap them the same way. A but B so C like D also 8. What does the umbrella look like after Gloria and Davis finish wrapping it? 2
Questions: Wrapping Up a Little Bit of Trouble 9. At the beginning of the text, Gloria takes wrapping presents very seriously. What evidence from the text supports this conclusion? 10. How does Gloria s view of wrapping presents change by the end of the story? Use evidence from the text to support your answer. 3