Davey shifted his body so at least one of his eyes could look at Jeff, since most of his face was smooshed against the box.
“But they’re cool! You can build a hundred different things with ‘em!”
“Why waste your time? You could already have a Wack-O! toy shaped any way you want!”
Davey’s eyes filled up with all the hurt a kid his age seemed capable of.
“Gee, Dad…I kinda like building.”
Jeff sagged under Davey’s disappointment. He almost caved – and then an orange sticker caught his eye, rallied his spirits for one last defiant attack. He grabbed the box and held it in the air. Inside the plastic casing, a cauliflower with sunglasses and muscled arms clutched a Buick-sized ray gun.
“Come on, Davey, we could get you a Wack-O! Super Fightin’ Vegetable Commando! Whaddaya say?”
“But Dad…”
Davey looked from Jeff, to the box, and back to Jeff again.
“…those suck.”
***
Two hundred people in line, Jeff thought bitterly. Two hundred people in line, all with different toys my company is selling, and the only Wack-O! executive in the bunch is carrying a box of freakin’ Legos.
Thank God no one from the board meeting was here to see this little travesty.
Davey beamed up at him. “Thanks, Dad.”
Weary and beaten, Jeff grumbled, “Yeah, yeah.”
Davey ignored him and started prattling on to anyone who would listen.
“This is gonna be so cool I’m gonna build a thousand things tonight I’ll even go to sleep when you tell me to it’s so cool I got a toy that doesn’t suck I hope Santa brings me more toys that doesn’t suck – ”
Sometimes, Jeff thought, maybe it wasn’t so bad if your kids were trapped silently off in la-la land…
Brian.
Jeff looked around in alarm, then down at Davey.
“Where’s Brian?”
***
Jeff and Davey dashed out of the toy store, looking wildly in all directions.
“Brian?”
His boy hadn’t been in the store. Nowhere. Not in the girl’s toys (thank God), not in the bathroom, not in the storage area where the indignant clerks had yowled and cried as he pushed them aside to look for his son.
“Brian!”
Jeff hadn’t even realized that he was still carrying the box of Lego’s as he and Davey raced out into the mall.
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Copyright © 2008 Darren Pillsbury. All rights reserved.
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