Appointed by J. F. Jenkins

of those and found them to be great tools. But tablet was fairly new terminology for him. He’d heard it a few times but never quite understood what it meant.
    Zes was flipping the box over in his hands, shuffling the contents inside. “It’s kind of like a laptop, only it’s flat, and there isn’t a keyboard. They’re touch screen. I showed you them last time we were at the mall.”
    â€œOh, that thing.” Anj shrugged. Not something he was interested in learning how to use. His phone had a touch screen, and that had been a huge leap and a headache to learn. The feel of solid keys was much preferred.
    â€œThanks, Mom!” Zes said, and it was clear he was beaming.
    Their mother placed an envelope into Anj’s hands. “And this is for you.”
    Curious, Anj opened the envelope and pulled out a piece of paper. First he ran his fingers over it, trying to see if maybe it was written in braille. Next he smelled it to see if there was something unique about the paper, but he couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary. He turned on his sight spell, gave himself a few seconds to adjust to the flood of colors, textures, and depth washing over his eyes, then read the words.
    â€œWe’re happy to announce that you have been accepted as a recipient of a guide dog…?” Anj raised an eyebrow and read the words a few more times to make sure he hadn’t blended any of them together or mixed up any of the letters. He glanced at his mother and saw a huge grin on her face.
    Zes was also smiling. “We’re getting a dog?”
    She nodded. “I thought a guide dog would be a good option for you when you go off to college. You’ll have time to get used to him over the next few months.”
    â€œWow, I don’t know what to say,” Anj said, truly speechless. They’d never had a pet of any kind in the house. It wasn’t exactly practical for him to get a guide dog. He’d been managing with the cane for so long just fine, but the gesture was sweet all the same. Still, his emotions were mixed.
    â€œWe’ll start the classes over break. It’ll be wonderful.”
    â€œThank you, Mom.”
    â€œMerry Christmas, sweetie.”
    â€œMerry Christmas.”
    ****
    Later that night, Anj and Zes sat out on the four-season patio. Their mother had gone to bed around an hour ago, and their respective girlfriends were bonding in the living room. As part of the Christmas tradition, they each got into their sleep clothes for the night and a mug of something warm to drink, and then found a place to sit. Zes had a cinnamon herbal tea, and Anj had decaf coffee. While Anj would have preferred regular, their mother refused to keep it in the house because caffeine might stunt the boys’ growth.
    â€œAll right, ready?” Zes asked as he handed his brother an envelope-shaped present.
    Anj nodded and gave Zes a small, poorly wrapped box about the size of a baseball. “On three, okay? One, two—”
    â€œThree,” Zes said, and they both ripped the paper off their presents.
    Now that they were alone, Anj didn’t feel many reservations about using his sight spell. His mother didn’t like it because she didn’t want him to become too reliant on the gift, a sentiment he shared. But this was a special moment.
    Under all of the wrapping paper, there was an envelope. He tore it open and peeked inside to find tickets, two seats for the orchestra located downtown. He loved downtown. Their mother, of course, thought it was too dangerous for him because he didn’t know his way around and there was so much going on at once. But that was part of what made it fun for him. Gazing up at the huge skyscrapers and taking in the sounds of the street were highlights for him. And the orchestra was by far his all-time favorite place to visit when there.
    â€œWow, Zes, this is wonderful, thank you,” he said with the deepest sincerity.