"Naa koy isend na link diha nimo." says Layla as she grins from across the table.
Anika rolls her eyes. She knew that her bestfriend was the type of person who would spend all of her money.
"Unsa naman sad? Sa Shopee na sad na? Mahal lagi ang shipping fee." Anika complains.
"Sige ra gud. 12.12 sad bitaw ron, where's your Christmas spirit?" Layla teases, as she sends the link to Anika on messenger.
Anika smiles as she opens the link to a 150-peso portable humidifier. Her parents only gave her 200 pesos for a christmas gift that she should split between her and her younger sister. She also thought that she could still wheedle out some money from her grandparents. Besides, she assumed that her 5-year-old sister does not need the 100 pesos so she decided to spend it for herself.
On the other hand, Anika’s younger sister takes out some papers and glitter pens to write a letter to Santa for their school project.
"Dear Santa Claus," she began to write.
Beside her were printed pictures of the gifts she wanted to recieve. A new jacket, some cute leggings, a sketchbook, headphones, phone cases, markers, watercolor, pencils, and many more.
"Mao diay ni ang akong mga ganahan nga regalo karong Pasko, Santa Clause. Gisend ko na lang ni para di naka maglisod og pangita. Mapalit raman sad ni sa Shopee", she continues to write.
Satisfied with all her requests, she excitedly tucks the letter in a small envelope. The next day, she googled the exact location of the North pole and went to the post office with her mother to send the letter. The staff looks at Anika with a smile thinking how cute it must have been that a nine-year-old girl still sends a letter to Santa Claus.
On Christmas eve, Anika celebrates with her family as usual. Her mother spent a lot of money on the food even though she said that they didn't have enough money to buy her new shoes for school.
“Para na sa mga bisita nato!” her mother argued. “Kana na lang daan nimo na sapatos gamita kay mao man sad na imong nadak-an”, as she continues to justify the expenses.
Their neighbors always visit and join them with their noche buena. It is the time of the year that her mother uses the special plates tucked inside a glass cabinet. Even her father manages to find enough spare change to buy bottles of soda.
Earlier that day, her humidifier arrived and she was suddenly 150 pesos poorer. She now has a new humidifier but with 50 pesos left from the 200 peso christmas gift that she received from her parents.
The clock strikes at six o'clock in the morning of December 25th, Anika wakes up early while her parents and sister are still asleep. In the stillness of Christmas morning, she enjoys a hot cup of coco when her phone suddenly rang. She opens her phone, and in the dim light of the living room, she read the words:
"Good day, you have a delivery! TN is 780589276769. Contact (xxxxxx) at (639077657576). For COD, please prepare the exact amount. Photo proof of delivery will be required by our rider. To ensure public safety, J&T is disinfecting parcels and conducting contactless delivery. Thank you!"
She blinks. She didn't know J&T delivered this early in the morning. Suddenly there was a knock on their door. She runs over to open it, only to see a man dressed in red.
"Ma'am, J and T delivery from Shopee" The man glanced behind her, "Ah, miss, andiyan po ba si Anika Sanchez?"
The girl nods her head, "Ako, I'm Anika Sanchez."
The delivery man nods, and hands her a couple of parcels wrapped in red. "That would be 4,700 pesos po."
“Pero, wala man ko nag order..” she says with a confused face.
The delivery man shakes his head again, "4,700 pesos po lahat Miss."
Last December 20, her younger sister saw her grinning as she was too busy helping their mom with the dishes. So she opened the Shopee app on her sister's phone and clicked "checkout" on the bottom of the Cart without her sister knowing.
"Merry Christmas ate!"