From Our View

We Wait

We wait.

We wait expectantly.

We wait expectantly for him to come and get us.

It's been a very long time.

According to Tot Clock, it's been almost 4 years since he last had a play date with us.

His name is Charlie. Charlie Williams. He's the oldest of 4 kids soon to be 5.

His imagination is great; with millions of themes and characters floating around just waiting for their time to shine.

I've been many things from a space pilot to a homeless beggar; sheriff to time-traveler.

Charlie has grown up a lot in the past couple of years. He's going to a larger school and is always spending time with friends. He never has time for us anymore. Some of us are dying; literally. Batteries run out when old and not used. We lost a lot of good toys this year alone; scout, transformer dog, dragon man. Action figures with lights are going out quickly. Soon all that will be left are Legos, even my voice box is dying. No one is going to want to play with a toy with a broken voice box, the noise is too scary for little kids and not scary enough for big kids.

Something big happened today! Charlie came home from school and opened his toy chest, he saw us for the first time in a long time. He picked a few of us out and left again; he's gone now. Some toys are worried that he threw them out, others fear that he's torturing them. But I know Charlie well. He loves his toys and would never want any harm to come to them.

Charlie was away for hours and when he came back...the toys weren't with him anymore. He flopped down onto his bed and slept for the night while we in the chest began to panic. Even me. I thought I knew him well but I didn't after all. He probably sold them or trashed them, but...oh, charlie how could you?

The chest was opened again for the next several days. Toys going but never coming back. We all feared when we would be chosen and pretty soon there were 5 of us left. Me, an action figure of a long-forgotten hero; Caleb, the dancing graduation bear Charlie got before high school; Angel, a stuffed teddy; and two Lego people, the only ones Charlie ever played with.
We felt special but worried. We would recount moments of bliss from Charlie's childhood and when no one was around we'd walk the room we once shared with our boy.

One day Charlie came home happier than ever before. We heard him rush up the stairs and then we heard nothing. Minutes later Charlie walked into the room with what looked like a folded sheet in his arms. He walked towards the chest, opened it, grab me, and sat on his bed. Being held after so long felt good; I felt loved again. Charlie placed me beside him on his bed moving the sheet that was covering something. A small sigh came from the sheet and Charlie picked me up again and I now saw what, or rather, who was in the sheets. It was Charlie's new sibling! A small, small baby girl. Charlie spoke to her softly while still holding me in his hand. "Hey, sweetheart. I want you to meet someone." He spoke. The baby's eyes were open and looked at Charlie with wonder. Charlie spoke again, "This is Captain Gold, leader of the new frontier. He was my favorite toy when I was a kid and just like all the other toys that I've placed in your room, this one is yours. You have to remember to take good care of them because they are very special to me. When you're older, I'll make sure I always stop to play with you." Charlie's stood back up now, still with baby and me in hand. He walked out of his room and into the hallway. He walked down the hallway and past the stairs. He walked into a small room on the other side of the house with the name Avery on the wall in pink. This was the nursery, this was Avery's room. On the walls were shelves and on those shelves all of Charlie's toys that he had been taking from the chest for days. They all looked new, fresh, and full of life again. Charlie set me down on the dresser and placed the baby in the crib. He picked me up again and turned me over, then said "Well, Captain Gold, looks like we have a new mission. Restore you and the other and get your fleet placed into Avery's room so she can play with you one day. Thanks for the memories Captain, here's to many more."