Valerian and Ulysses quickly discovered that there was a letter tucked beneath their packages as well. Each of them retrieved their respective letters and took a quick nce.


    After reading, all three of them wore expressions that could curdle milk.


    "What''s up?" Lisette asked, "What has Callie said to you guys?"


    "She wants me to throw away everything she ever gave me. She regrets giving me those things and doesn''t want them back, so she told me to trash them!" Valerian said, his face turning an impressive shade of stormy gray.


    "Same here," Ulysses said, furrowing his brow. "She even listed out what the stuff was!"


    Horatio stayed quiet, feeling aplex storm of emotions brewing inside him, unsure what to say.


    "A racing helmet? Gloves? When did she give me those?" Valerian scoffed after ncing at the letter, a sardonic smile on his lips. "I don''t even remember her giving me these gifts!"


    "I think she did. Didn''t we just chuck everything she gave us in the storage shed?" Horatio mused, his brow furrowing in remembrance.


    Calliope had indeed given them quite a few things over the years. But they''d always thought her gifts were impractical, so they didn''t even bother opening them most of the time.


    Lisette always cleared what she was gifting them. And they adored everything she gave. Calliope''s gifts, however, were often dismissed without a second thought.


    Reflecting on it, Horatio realized they''d never really appreciated Calliope''s gifts.


    "And now, she wants us to throw them away! Ulysses said, sounding thoroughly peeved. "Fine, we''ll toss them. It''s not like we needed her stuff anyway. She always send''s


    useless junk, not even wonds


    Valerian nodded. "Yeah, let''s just get rid of it all now."


    a look!"


    The Jewell family had another house they used as a storage space, where they''d dump the stuff they didn''t use often. Calliope''s gifts would end up there each year, unopened and forgotten.


    At times, Lisette would stir things up, further fueling their prejudice against Calliope''s gifts. Whenever they considered opening one of


    Calliope''s presents, Lisette wou


    pop up, specting about the


    uselessness of whatever was inside,


    and eventually, they''d lea


    the gifts


    unopened, fuming.


    This time, when they saw Calliope''s request to toss everything, they all felt a bit irked. None of them believed her gifts would be anything valuable. If she wanted them gone, then gone they would be.


    The three of them headed to the storage house without dy. Soon enough, they were standing before the pile of gifts and they paused for a moment, realizing that Calliope- really had been sending them gifts year after year, though they''d never bothered to open or acknowledge them.


    Looking at the stack now, it seemed she had indeed sent quite a lot.


    "Sending us rubbish every year, and now she has the nerve to tell us to return or trash them."


    Valerian snapped out of his daze with a sarcastic chuckle. "I might as well see what kind of junk she''s been sending."


    He picked up a random gift from Calliope, noticing the pretty wrapping but having no idea whaty inside. Upon opening it, Valerian froze for a second, "It really is a helmet?"


    She said she sent him a helmet, and it turned out, she wasn''t lying.


    Valerian furrowed his brow. "Just like Lisette said, she''s always copying her gifts. Lisette got me a helmet with her schrship money, an expensive one. Calliope''s helmet is probably cheap and flimsy."