It's Christmas morning; I'm in the 2nd grade. I jump out of bed and go sit near the tiny tree I got to help pick out not too long ago. My siblings, Kameron and Tancie, were on either side of me, and I'm waiting for that one special gift I'd been asking for all year.
I pick up the first gift labeled "To: Trinitie, From: Santa". It was one of those hollow, cheap barbies we got every year from Dollar General. You know the ones with no hair and 3 colored wigs you can switch out. I hated those things. I didn't let that get me down though, I pressed on toward the goal.
Tancie and Kameron opened similar gifts, Kameron with a build-it-yourself racetrack and Tancie with bald barbies of her own. I had begun to wilt. I was down to the last gift, and still nothing. I can't remember what that gift was, but I do remember my heart breaking.
I hid my sorrow, though, and played with my new stuff. All day long, all I could think of was that which I didn't recieve. Tancie and I climbed into bed that night exhausted from the days excitement. My pillow was a little too high for comfort, so I lifted it to examine the problem. AHA! There it was! Dancing Barbie! I knew my daddy had secretly purchased it; I was a spoiled brat being the youngest and all. I ran in my parents room and threw my arms around his neck exclaiming, "Thanks Dad!"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," he said. "Must have been Santa."
For those of you that aren't familiar with this wonderful toy, barbie sits atop a remote controlled, pink, circular thing and dances in circles...a variety of directions depending on the buttons you push. I knew how expensive this was; I knew we coudn't afford it. And, I knew how much my Daddy loved me that day.
But, here's the sad part. We couldn't afford to get the Ken that is supposed to dance with Barbie. So, for years, Barbie danced alone until my toy finally broke down. I didn't care; but it really is eerie how much of a foreshadowing that was...
Trinitie