The Mystery Gift by Alan Miller

As a TV news anchor, I occasionally receive some strange phone calls. I love conspiracy theorists the best. Back in September or October ( I can't remember exactly when), I got a call from a woman who works at the Tesoro gas station on State Street, right off I-94. She said someone had dropped off a tube with my name on it. It was actually a voice message, and I didn't give it much thought, thinking they must be mistaken. I wasn't expecting anything since no one told me anything about it. I finally called back, and the lady said the tube had my name on it, but she didn't remember who brought it. So a few days later, I finally went up there to take a look at it. Yes, it had my name on it, all right. And it also said don't open until December 25th.

Did it come from some deranged stalker? Why would he/she entrust the package to a gas station attendant? It's for moments like this that we have an unlisted phone number. Perhaps the mystery would be revealed on Christmas Day.

When we finally opened the tube, things became a bit more clear. It was a much larger version of a picture we already have on our living room wall. It's "A Farewell to Arms" by Steven Neal of Pendleton, Oregon. He had used my brother-in-law, sister-in-law and nephews as models in the original painting he had done, and Ana had requested a bigger portrait from members of the family. We figured out it came from Ana's sister Elena.

But there's still one big question. Who delivered it? If it was family, why in the world didn't they stop by and say hello? If it was someone else, did he/she really think that my name is so well-known in Bismarck that no matter where it was dropped off, someone would easily be able to track me down? At any rate, thanks to whoever preferred to remain anonymous.