The Guiltily Late Gift Errand Solo Closed

It was Christmas time. Katrina wanted to feel happy and Christmassy, but she couldn’t quite make it work. Every time Katrina tried to have fun, she ended up worrying herself so much that she couldn’t enjoy anything. Paranoia squeezed its way into her every day mental thought. It always took her sarcastic inner voice to force herself to even start doing something fun. The hallways were decorated. All conversations swirled around the holidays. It seemed like everything going on just boiled down to Holidays. If she could just have a break. Winter break was in a few days but that wouldn’t be a break. The entire time she would just be spending trying to convince the guardians she hadn’t met yet that she was everything she had written into her letters.

With nothing more to do than be anxious for her and everyone else’s safety and figuring out how to keep everything a secret. It took much bugging of her conscience to get her to decide to do something else for a change. The school secret santa errand. It sounded fun and couldn’t be too hard. Besides, all of her gifts this year were handmade too so it wouldn’t be too much more difficult. Finally, Katrina signed up. It didn’t seem like a big action, but at least it was a promised escape from day to day life.

Katrina decided on the perfect gift. A blanket. Everyone likes blankets, right? They were warm and soft and soothing. And to crochet it would be a repetitive task that wasn’t too hard. All Katrina needed was chunky yarn and her fingers. She wrote up an owl to her guardians and shipped it off with the family owl, Fluffles.

A few mornings later, Katrina received several bundles of thick yarn. She headed to the library to find the crafting book she had found a few months prior where she had found the instructions for chunky knit blankets in the first place.

Days dragged by and Katrina spent an increasing amount of time in the hidden room she had found. The Room of Requirement. She could always find an escape there. However, with the time she spent escaping she also spent forgetting her previous obligations. One of these being the Secret Santa itself. She had forgotten to write it down on her todo list and as she spent her days escaping, less and less time remained for her to get the blanket done. It was only when Katrina was packing up a few days before break that she found the book she’d borrowed from the library.

Katrina sat herself down in the library and hand knitted like her life depended on it. It took a while to figure out exactly how she was supposed to do it in the first place. By the time she had gotten it down, it was already too late. Katrina received the owl from the librarian. She’d gotten some coal and a letter. She had missed it. And now, someone was likely without a gift. Well, surely they’d have gotten something from the librarian, but it wasn’t from her the person who was supposed to have been responsible for making something.

Instead of wallowing in the rising guilt. Katrina continued to knit. Even long after her hands were aching and her mind was numb, she continued to knit. Surely she could give a late gift? Hopefully her Secret Santa could forgive her? Well, it was a secret after all, the person wouldn’t know to be upset at her directly. Katrina continued to weave her fingers through the loops, endlessly pinching and pulling, knitting her late present.

At some point, Boomerang leapt onto the partially knit blanket spilling over Katrina’s lap. He began to purr and soon fell asleep. The approval from her familiar pushed Katrina to continue. If Boomerang liked it, her Secret Santa surely would too. She would just have to be sure to rid the blanket of any extra Boomerang fur before she sent it out in the off chance of allergies. The last thing she wanted was the blanket to have a nasty surprise attached.

Row after row after row. Katrina was eventually on her last skein of yarn. More than a few hours had passed and dinner was swiftly approaching, she had knitted from just after breakfast, through lunch, and on to right before dinner. There were a few mistakes here and there, an extra loop here, a missing loop there. But overall, the blanket didn’t look incredibly rushed. It spilled over her lap and onto the floor and was incredibly soft.

Katrina rushed to her common room, stored the yarn under her bed, and raced down to the Great Hall, eating her dinner as quickly as she could without making herself sick. She ran right back to her dorm and back into her spot into the library once more with her nearly completed blanket in hand. The last skein went by faster than the previous. She could almost see the surprised smile on her Secret Santa’s face. She hadn’t forgotten. And now they had a late present. She imagined late nights they might spend wrapped up in the blanket. Cozy nights studying. A protection against the cold perhaps. Hopefully something that they’d love and appreciate.

At last, it was complete. With hands tingling from the repeated task, Katrina stood up. She clutched the corners of the blanket in her hands and watched it spill to the floor. It would hopefully cover any bed. It ended up a bit larger than she’d intended, but that just meant more people could cuddle in the warmth. Or perhaps just one person could be covered in a layer or two. It was complete.

Katrina grabbed the tag she’d made and tied a loop around a loop on the corner of the blanket. On the tag was the name of her Secret Santa. All she had to do now was send her gift out! Sure it was late, but it was certainly better than nothing.

WC: 1008 | Errand Complete | Thread Complete
Note: the errand isn't technically eligible since it was late... but I still did it because I wanted to