“It’s -It’s-” Jayda exclaimed, excitedly opening the small, unusual present. She couldn’t wait to find out what surprise her Grandpa had in store for her. Could it be a special pen? Or maybe it would be lip gloss?

     With the present finally opened, she revealed what was inside to her family watching.

     “A screwdriver?” she said in a quiet, less excited voice. This was not what she was expecting. Just so she did not seem ungrateful, she forced a smile and added in an even less ecstatic, “Thank you, Grandpa.”

     Her grandfather smiled back. The rest of the family intently watched as she waved the black and yellow screwdriver in the air, then shoved it into her pocket.

     Her mother stood up and said, “Well, that’s the last gift. Who’s ready for dinner?”

     “I am!” Jayda’s uncle Fred immediately answered, standing up. The rest of the family stood up and followed him to the kitchen. The only two who stayed in the living room were Jayda, who was sitting on the floor, and her grandfather, who was sitting on the couch. Jayda’s grandpa got up, tapped his granddaughter’s shoulder, and said, “Come with me.”

     Jayda reluctantly followed him to the back door. Once she caught up, he handed her her coat. She heaved a huge sigh. They were going outside, where the ankle-high snow was in the 13-degree Fahrenheit weather with the gusty winds. The two of them bundled up in winter clothing and go out the back door. They walked through the snow-covered backyard into the old, refurbished shed. Her grandfather propped the door open because it could not be opened on the inside.

     “Grandpa it’s freezing out!” reasoned Jayda, pulling out her phone. She pulled up the weather channel and showed it to her grandfather. He gently pushed her hand aside and the hand holding the phone landed face down on the table.

     “We won’t be long,” he assured her. Then he stepped away from the wall and the workbench which belonged to her father.  “You know Jayda, you could come out here and assist your father in his work.”

     Jayda, acknowledging her father’s job, responded, “I’m not really a woodworker, to be honest. I’m more of a… cosmetologist. I’m thinking about starting my own business!”

      The rest of her family had all given her cosmetology-related items, aside from the purse her sister gave her.

     Her grandfather nodded, “You could still learn a little…”

     Jayda sighed. He did not understand.

      “I don’t really want to…” she humbly answered.

     Her grandfather’s expression changed from happy to sad, “Well, you can always change your mind… Woodworking is a great line of work. I was just suggesting that you could get ahead sooner… But if this isn’t what you want, that’s ok.”

      “Thank you for understanding,” Jayda said, smiling. She hugged him.

      “Alright then, let’s get to dinner…” started her grandfather, walking out the open door.

      “I’ll be right there!” she called out. In the shed, she pulled the screwdriver and her phone. She took a picture of the gift and opened her messaging app. She typed in, you think you have bad gifts look at what I got!! It doesn’t even go with anything I have!! Before she could send it, the phone turned off.

    “Ahhh!” exclaimed Jayda, trying to hold back her frustration. “It’s dead!”

    “Jayda!” called her grandfather. “Are you coming?”

    Jayda set everything on her dad’s wooden workbench, unpropped the door, and left with it closing behind her. The two walked inside. Upon coming inside, she was met with a scene.

     “Lenny!” shouted her mother to her brother. “No texting in the kitchen!”

      Jayda laughed. She should tell her friends about this. She reached into her pocket and was stunned when she could not feel her phone. She checks her other pocket just to be sure. This was an emergency!!! She ran out the back door again and did not add any extra layers. She was sure she would be right back in. She only made enough time to put her boots on. She burst into the shed and saw the phone that she had left on the workbench. She walked to the bench and grabbed her phone. Abruptly, the wind started howling much louder than before and the door slammed closed behind her.

     She turned to look at the door and realized in a panic that she had forgotten to prop it open. She was locked in! At first, she tried running up to the door and twisting the doorknob. It was jammed. Her father never got a chance to fix this side of the doorknob; he had promised to fix it when it got warm out.

     “Why couldn’t he fix it sooner?” angrily murmured Jayda. The shed is not well insulated, so Jayda began to feel the cold.  Her adrenaline had worn out. She pounds the door with her fist in frustration. No one knew she was out there!  There were so many people in the house, that no one was bound to notice she was gone. At least, not right away. Jayda tried knocking the door open, but it did not open. She tried her phone, but quickly remembered it was dead.

    She stood shaking and chattering her teeth for a minute. It was too cold for her to wait for someone to come find her.  She had to find a way out, and quickly. She looked around rapidly. How could she escape? There was a window, but it was locked shut on the inside and the outside. Her father didn’t use the shed in the winter and locked it up tightly.  Because of this, there were no tools in the shed for her to use to get out. She was stuck. She kicked the door, hardly able to hold her frustration back.

     “Why does it-t-t have to be so c-c-cold out?” she remarked, shivering. “Wh-why d-d-did I have to r-rush outside without a c-coat? Now I’m left to freeze out here!”

    Why, this was almost as bad as… wait a minute… How could she have forgotten? She was so desperate to get out that she completely forgot and overlooked that she had the exact tool needed to open the door. Relief flowed out of her as she laid eyes on the screwdriver, rushed over, and grabbed the item she didn’t think she would ever use.

     After many minutes of unscrewing stiff screws, the fourth screw was out, and Jayda placed all of the doorknob pieces and screws onto the workbench. Her father could deal with it later. At this point, she could not stop shaking from the cold. She arrived at the back door with only her T-shirt and jeans. As soon as she tried to turn the doorknob, she realized it was locked.  She forgot her key.

     “EERRRRGGHH!!!” she shouts in annoyance. She stands still with the wind blowing right against her. She looks down at her screwdriver and then back up at the doorknob. Back and forth. Back and forth again. Then she ran up to the door and rapidly pounded it with her fists. No more unscrewing, she was so impatient, she was about to break it down. A minute later her father appeared at the door and unlocked it.

    “Jayda?” he asks. Jayda ran up and hugged him, she couldn’t be more grateful. She was relieved to be inside again, even though she was freezing. Later she was in the living room all bundled up.

     “Going out like that is reckless!” her father warns her. “You could’ve froze to death and no one would’ve known!  Why in this world did you go out?”

     “I-I for-forgot my phone…” answered Jayda, showing off her phone.

     “I have a feeling she learned her lesson,” Jadya’s mother assured Jayda’s father.

     Jayda smiled and held the screwdriver in front of her. Maybe she should keep this handy. It might get her out of tight spots in the future. What a wonderful gift, if only she realized how useful it was. She put her phone on the charger, and it turned on. She went to text messages, put the picture up again, and typed in its story to all of her friends. Then she texted her Grandfather and wrote: Thank you Grandfather for the best gift ever. Her Grandfather responded: Don’t thank me, thank God.