• To be a doll is the greatest thing, I’d been told. I had of pale complexion, golden blonde hair that shimmered in the sunlight and my eyes were an aqua sapphire. Every other toy was jealous. They always commented on how I was the favourite toy, that every little girl wanted me and begged to just take me home. Of course, the girls would grow older but I never expected this --- just left on a chair placed in the corner to only collect dust. Who would be jealous of that?
    I remember the day Jessica brought me home. She couldn’t put me down. Tea party after tea party; I was so full I felt like a stuffed teddy bear. I couldn’t be happier to be pulled around. She never left me behind. I was her reassurance and her best friend. I was always by her side until Christmas one year.
    Jessica got herself her first Barbie. She was a doll of pure perfection. I remember it clearly because it was the first time I felt sorrow.
    “Mommy, I want to be just like Barbie when I grow up.” Jessica had said.
    It was the last thing I heard before being devoured by the colourful and shiny wrapping paper.
    Everyday after Christmas was a war for attention between me and the doll of perfection. I hated that Barbie. She was the reason I started to collect dust. Now she was the one enjoying the tea parties. Soon, a whole Barbie army filled Jessica’s room. They all wore different outfits; astronaut, officer, vet, the list went on. Of course, the Barbies collected dust like I did in time. But at least I got the chair; the army was hidden away in the closet. The closet had become a graveyard of old childhood toys.
    Jessica had grown over time as well. I watched her changed. The colours turned from pink to blue. She started to listen to profound music and apply make-up like a Barbie. She was no longer the sweet girl that picked me up in the toy store. Jessica was a grown woman – like a mother. I just sat there collecting dust and waited for the day she take me to her teddy bear tea parties again. Those days didn’t seem to come around anymore. She seemed to have parties without tea but with boys.
    Years seemed to pass. Finally, she picked me up and stared at me with a bright smile. She was hugging me again; I couldn’t believe the joy I was feeling. Then ground from under me was moving as we went down the hallway. I was placed down again, into a caged bed. Before me was a small little girl, so tiny and sleeping just as Jessica did.
    “Here you are Ann. A beautiful dolly,” Jessica said as she left me there.
    Jessica was a mommy. I felt the dust just float away from me, I felt new again. There was a sparkle in my eyes again, I felt alive. To be a doll is the greatest. Every little girl adores you.