Holiday traditions have a way of bringing out the best intentions and the worst instincts at the same time.

So during a ruthless White Elephant game, a step-sister’s oddly specific request about LED lanterns complicated things.

From there, the spirit of giving took a very creative detour.

Keep reading for the full story!

You want a present under the tree? You’ll get a present under the tree.

To give you a little backstory, for Christmas my family usually hosts my dad’s side of the family and my step-mom’s side of the family, both of which are pretty large.

On average, these events can range from 20–35 people all having a good time under the same roof.

This particular Christmas, we decided to play White Elephant!

The exchange didn’t turn out quite the way this person hoped.

Unfortunately for me, the top two gifts I wanted were stolen from me, one after another, and I ended up with a box with two collapsible LED lanterns (which I’m secretly thrilled with because it’s handy for when I go camping / it makes me feel like a Tonberry).

My step-sister, who also loves camping, was pretty impressed with the lantern I got. When I told her I had two of them, I could see her eyes light up a little.

So in the spirit of generosity, they offered their sister one.

Since I can’t imagine a situation in which I’d need two lanterns, I was happy to give her the spare right then and there.

However, she wanted to make a request of me.

But then the sister had to go and make things difficult.

She didn’t want me to just give it to her, oh no.

She said, and I quote: “I want to find a present for me wrapped under the Christmas tree.”

So this mischievous mind decided to make her work for it.

At first, I was a little miffed that I had to wrap it up, but then I had a great idea. I realized she never specified how many presents she wanted to find, or what she wanted in the present.

So, being the troll I am, I spent the last 30 minutes wrapping up various presents in the shapes of lanterns, all with different camping supplies (and PBRs), and putting them under the tree with her name on them.

And the best part? None of those gifts have the lantern she seeks.

Never trust a troll at Christmas time!

What did reddit have to say?

This malicious compliance ended up having quite a different result.

Now this is how you make the best of any situation.

This commenter can’t wait to hear what happened next.

But this user thinks they could have done it better.

The lantern never surfaced, but the lesson sure did!

Vague requests and mischievous minds rarely mixed well under the Christmas tree.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a rude customer who got exactly what they wanted in their pizza.