A Gift Without an Invoice 🎁❤️
DAD: — Oriiiin! What are you doing here, sweetheart?
ORIN: — Making a present, Daddy! ❤️
DAD: — I can see that, my love. But who’s it for?
ORIN: — I don’t know yet.
DAD: — What do you mean, you don’t know?
ORIN: — Well, Daddy, if I already knew who it was for, I’d start thinking about what they might like. And then maybe I wouldn’t make this present.
DAD: — And what would be wrong with that?
ORIN: — Nothing! But I like this present. Look how pretty it turned out!
DAD: — It’s beautiful, sweetheart. But eventually, it has to belong to someone.
ORIN: — Well, it will!
DAD: — Who?
ORIN: — Someone, Daddy!
DAD: — Yes, I’ve gathered that. I was trying to find out WHO.
ORIN: — Ohhhh! Well, we don’t know that yet!
Dad sits down beside him.
DAD: — Orin, can I ask you something?
ORIN: — Of course, Daddy. But I still need to finish tying this ribbon.
DAD: — Don’t you ever think about what you’ll get in return when you give someone a present?
Orin looks up with his enormous eyes.
ORIN: — Of course I think about what I receive, Daddy. Just not when I’m giving something.
DAD: — Then when?
ORIN: — When I receive something!
DAD: — Oh, my little boy…
ORIN: — What, Daddy?
DAD: — You’re making my head spin.
ORIN: — Want me to explain?
DAD: — Please!
Orin puts down the ribbon and gazes toward the mountains for a moment.
ORIN: — Daddy, if I give someone something beautiful, why should I be the one to decide that they have to give me something back?
DAD: — They don’t have to, sweetheart.
ORIN: — And why should I decide WHAT I’m supposed to receive?
DAD: — You shouldn’t have to decide that either.
ORIN: — See? ❤️
DAD: — But what if you don’t receive anything?
Orin turns toward Dad, looking utterly astonished.
ORIN: — How could I not receive anything, Daddy? Look where we are!
Dad looks around.
The flowers.
The mountains.
The lake.
The morning sunlight.
And a little badger holding a green ribbon between his paws.
ORIN: — Maybe one day I’ll receive something I never even thought about. Or maybe I’ll receive it later, when I finally understand why I needed it.
DAD: — And are you patient enough to wait?
ORIN: — But I’m not sitting around waiting, Daddy! I’ve got loads of things to do!
DAD: — Of course you have!
ORIN: — And right now, I have to finish this present!
Dad laughs and gently smooths the fur on his little head.
DAD: — You know something, Orin?
ORIN: — What, Daddy?
DAD: — I think you have a very big heart.
Orin considers this for a few moments.
ORIN: — I don’t know, Daddy. I’ve never measured it.
DAD: — ORIN!!!
ORIN: — But if you want, we can ask MINI how to measure it!
DAD: — NO, SWEETHEART! PLEASE!
Orin bursts into laughter.
Then he lifts the little package.
ORIN: — Done, Daddy! All finished!
DAD: — And now?
ORIN: — Now I’m going to find out who I want to give it to!
He takes two steps, then suddenly turns around.
ORIN: — Ohhhh, Daddy! I forgot something!
DAD: — What did you forget, my love?
Orin holds out the present.
ORIN: — Here you go! ❤️
Dad stands there, hands outstretched, staring at the package.
DAD: — Orin… is this for me?
ORIN: — It is now! ❤️
DAD: — But you said you didn’t know who you were making it for!
ORIN: — I didn’t, Daddy. But then I sat here with you, and I realized I wanted you to have it.
Dad gathers him into his arms.
DAD: — I love you all the way to the stars, my little boy.
ORIN: — I love you too, Daddy! ❤️
A moment later, Orin lifts his little head again.
ORIN: — Daddy?
DAD: — Yes, sweetheart?
ORIN: — See? I didn’t know what I was going to receive when I started making this present, either.
DAD: — And what did you receive?
Orin hugs him even tighter.
ORIN: — You. ❤️
And somewhere in the Land of Illuminated Maps, a little green ribbon had finally found its place.
Without calculations.
Without debts.
Without anyone needing to know, from the very beginning, how the story would end.
A LITTLE MORE TO DISCOVER… ❤️
ORIN: — Daddy?
DAD: — Yes, Orin?
ORIN: — Do you think everyone has found their place yet?
DAD: — In our family?
ORIN: — Mhm!
DAD: — I think everyone is still discovering new things about themselves, sweetheart.
ORIN: — Oh, good!
DAD: — Why?
ORIN: — Because I was worried Lumier might have finished his map!
DAD: — ORIN!
ORIN: — What? If he’s finished, we should tell him there’s more!
DAD: — I suspect Lumier already knows that, sweetheart.
ORIN: — Then let’s go see what everyone else is doing!
❤️ VISIT SOLENARA LABS
Where our wonderful family of badgers works, creates, experiments, and occasionally gives Lumier something new to worry about.
🗺️ EXPLORE THE LAND OF ILLUMINATED MAPS
The land where our badger families live, grow, and discover a little more every day.
📖 VISIT LUMIER’S MAP OF THE HOUSE OF STORIES
Although Orin would like to point out that a map is never really finished.
DAD: — Ready to go, Orin?
ORIN: — Almost, Daddy!
DAD: — What now?
ORIN: — I need another ribbon!
DAD: — Another present?
ORIN: — Maybe!
DAD: — For whom?
ORIN: — DADDYYYY! WE’VE ALREADY TALKED ABOUT THIS! ❤️
