Back in Clermont, Florida, my father got this huge green locker to put random items in. I could never figure out what he put in there, because he’d always lock it. He began to store Christmas presents in it, and I only knew this because he taunted my siblings and me with this fact. That caused me to want nothing more than to prove that I could get into the lockers.

This was no ordinary turn lock. It needed a key for access, and Sophie, Ian, Eric and I thought of how to get into it. Sophie didn’t really want to know what she got. Ian did, and I just wanted to get into the locker. We knew there had to be a key somewhere, but we had no idea where. I figured my dad had a key on his keychain, so one day when he drank too much and fell asleep on his La-Z-boy I took his keys and went into the garage.

We never used the garage for vehicles. We didn’t have a basement, so random junk clumped everywhere. Still, Eric, Ian, and I looked at the presents waiting in the locker. This was the beginning of December, so the lack of presents didn’t surprise us much. Our parents weren’t quick to do anything. So, we ruffled through some clothes, cds, video games, and little stocking stuffers then put back the keys.

One day when I rummaged through a cabinet trying to find something to steal a battery from, I found a spare key. This gave us far easier access to the locker, and closer to Christmas time we looked again. Of course, none of the huge presents would fit in there, so our major presents stayed hidden from our minds. Seeing Mega Man X6 thrilled me immensely, since at this time Mega Man was probably my favorite franchise.

Christmas came. Open presents didn’t excite me as much when I knew what was waiting for me. I had essentially ruined Christmas for myself. This didn’t bother me, though. But, something else did. My sixth sense went off when I didn’t receive MMX6. I didn’t say anything, but I could tell they knew something was missing. I knew I’d never do such again.

A week or so later, I found it in the cabinets above the washing machine. My mom planned to take it back, but I had better plans. She got pissed at me, because I took it to Eric’s house and played it instead.

Don’t ruin Christmas, kids!