“Are you ready for your last gift?” Jasmine’s mother teases. “It’s from Santa!”
Jasmine excitedly tears the bunsen beaker wrapping paper off the big box to reveal… a Coal Science Playset by the Smoggo Energy Corporation. The box includes pieces of coal, a lighter for burning it yourself, and a pamphlet on how coal is the undisputed King of Energy, now and for the rest of time.
“I guess Santa thought you shouldn’t eat those cookies, so he gave you a smart alec-y monkey’s paw version of the gift you wanted,” Jasmine’s mother explained. Upon hearing the explanation, Jasmine cries.
Jasmine would grow up to become a renowned food scientist, whose groundbreaking research led the FDA to ban cookies across the US. The Christmas gift she received when she was 5 altered the course of Jasmine’s life forever.
THE END