Becky lurked by the kitchen window, a black notebook open in front of her, pen in hand as though writing a story - but she didn't put a single word to the paper. The closest the pen got to the notebook was when she set it down, only to nervously pick it back up a few minutes later. The sheltered teen stared outside, like she had the past few days, waiting to see if the mailman would stop in front of their mailbox.

Because finally, after so many years, she had finished all her homeschool coursework. Even after her father left, even when her mom had to go back to work to support them and couldn't help her with it, the girl had muddled through. And finally, after so many years, she was done. Finally... after so many years... she had graduated high school. All she needed now was her diploma - that little slip of paper - to confirm to herself that she had truly done it.

She tensed when she heard the distinctive hum of the mail truck's engine. Her eyes widened as it slowed, as it stopped, and the mailman got out of the truck. And she nearly leapt for the door when she saw that, on top of a big brown box, was the envelope that could only be one thing. The girl practically fell out of her chair as she raced to meet him at the door,.

"Good afternoon," he said warmly, with a knowing smile, handing her the box with the envelope on top of it. "Looks like someone got a few things today!"

"T-thank you!" Becky replied, her excitement breaking through her usual shyness as she looked at the envelope. She quickly shut the door and set the mail on the table, box slightly tilted from the pen underneath it. She cracked open the packet, slowly revealing what she had been waiting for: that physical proof that she was finally a graduate and an adult. But even in her excitement, as she looked at the embossed lettering of her name on her diploma, something caught her eye on the box underneath it.

Her name. Again. But she had no idea what it was, or where it had come from. And after all that waiting, after all the thrill of her official paperwork, the moment of satisfaction paled in the curious wonder of receiving something else that she wasn't expecting. Carefully sliding the diploma back in its envelope, Becky opened the box that also had her name on it.

And inside, with a little note, was a computer. And not the old tannish box her mom had on a cheap desk in one corner of her bedroom: a brand new laptop, with all sorts of things she had never seen in her eighteen years. She started to pull out the laptop itself, but decided to read the note before she did so.

"Becky,

Congratulations! I hear that you graduated high school and are all grown up now. If you're planning to go to college, you're going to need a proper computer to do your classwork, so consider this a graduation gift.

-Uncle Eric

P.S. - I hope you'll keep in touch! Send me an email or something once you're up and running. :)"

Becky hadn't seen Uncle Eric in years. Technically he wasn't her uncle by blood, but he had worked with her mom for a few years after Becky's dad left. He used to come over and take Becky and her mom to places they couldn't afford otherwise: he even took them on a beach vacation one year.

Her mom never told her why he stopped coming over, but she was flattered that he still thought about her. And that he was kind enough to give her a laptop, of all things. Her mom worked long hours to keep food in the fridge and the rent paid, but she could never afford something like this.

She knew better than to set it up in the kitchen, where her mother could see. She would want to know where it came from, after all, and probably would not let her keep it - especially if she knew who had sent it. So Becky took it into her room and took it out of the box. She marveled at the sleek design, so different from the decade-old PC in her mom's room, and plugged it in.