I have... strong preferences for stationary. Widths of writing utensils especially.

0.7 pencils and pens are horrible and awful and very very bad. Somehow, my handwriting never looks right in 0.7, and I can never quite get diagrams the way I want them.

This morning, I lost my last 0.5 mechanical pencil.

Tomorrow is the date of my most important final exam.

After frantically searching my bedroom for any replacement, and begging my parents to check their personal stationary caches, my dad finally brought out a giant, very luxurious stationary set.

"Try to look surprised at Christmas."

That set was something I've wanted for a really long time, and had spent months begging them for. Apparently it was a splurge for them, and my big Christmas present.

It also happened to contain the only 0.5 pencils in the house.

And they are really nice pencils.

Luckily for me, my mom doesn't know that I have it. As long as I keep the packaging pristine, I should hopefully be able to sneak the pencil back into the set tomorrow evening without her knowing I've seen it.

Hopefully.

TL : DR I lost a crucial stationary item the night before a big exam, and had to replace it with a piece of the big surprise Christmas present my parents had gotten for me.

Quick Update: Exam has been taken (and passed!), pencil has been returned to its box, gift has been re-wrapped and placed back under the tree. I’d call this a successful Christmas. Happy holidays, folks.