| Wishful Thinking Page 6 |
| Twenty Years Later: |
| �Oh wow! A Melody doll,� the girl gasped, poking through the yard sale items. �I didn�t even know they made these things.�
�It�s a one of a kind,� the woman replied. �My niece used to be Melody. I�m surprised you know the name at all, as young as you are.� �I still have some the magazine pictures from her ads and fashion shows. It�s a real shame,� the girl�s mother said. �She just up and ran off like that. And you never even found the body. Do you really want to sell it? It�s so realistic looking and it would be your only connection to her.� �No, we�d rather be rid of it,� Vernon growled, leaving the house to greet the shoppers. �Our daughters have moved on to their own lives and this is nothing but a painful memory.� �Wow, her clothes even feel real, not like regular doll clothes.� The girl was bubbling with excitement. �There�s a whole wardrobe�s worth of stuff for her,� Tina added. �All kinds of accessories if you don�t mind the fashions being a little out of date.� �We�ll buy the whole lot,� the mother said. �We can buy newer clothes for her, what does a doll care what the fabric feels like?� The mother and daughter paid and left, never noticing the tears on the couple�s faces; a blend of remorse and of release. They never heard the breathed comment of �It was always better this way.� The girl was too busy thinking of the fun she�d have with her new toy and the mother was wondering what the doll would fetch on the internet once she outgrew it. It was just so odd that the doll wasn�t made with Melody�s trademark smile, but instead looked like it was sad and almost crying. |