A Lifetime

First and Last

I belong to a little girl named Marie. When I was brought into her world, I knew immediately that the little eight year old had everyone around her, wrapped around her little finger. One example is her step-brother, whose name was Alex. Alex would do anything for the little girl. I was the perfect example of his love. He sold his personal stash of weed, just so he could have enough money to buy an Easter basket.

You see, Marie's family didn't have a lot of money that year. Marie's mom had married Alex's father that year. So when they got married, Marie was moved away to live in the hot, humid South. When Alex, who was in his twenties, saw that his little step-sister pouting in the corner because the Easter bunny forgot about her, he took matters in his own hands. He went to the local dollar store, after selling his personal collection, and bought the biggest Easter basket he could. I was in this basket.

Being a stuffed bunny, I saw Marie go through many things. Good things and bad things, and she was always treated like a little princess. So you can imagine the look of pure happiness on her face when she saw Alex walk into the room with a basket full of treats. He spun up a story saying that the Easter bunny accidently left the basket over at his house. That when he woke up and saw the mistake, he got in his truck immediately and drove the short mile to her house.

Marie had a pure look of joy on her face. She ran and jumped in her step-brothers arms. Next thing I know, I'm yanked out of my comfy basket, and wrapped in the chubby arms of an eight year old. From that moment on, Marie never let me out of her sight. I went to sleep with her, and she brought me to school in her backpack.

I clearly remember one day when Marie got off her bus and we were the only ones home. We were watching Disney channel together when we heard a thump. She looked at me, but just shrugged and tuned back to the TV. Not even two minutes later, Alex's truck door was heard and he entered the front door. He came over to see if a potato had come over. Apparently he made a potato gun bazooka and had launched in at his house. The potato had made it's way over a mile away.

Many of Marie's days were happy, and when she stepped off the bus almost a year later and saw the moving truck in her driveway,she knew that she was going home. One of the last memories, for both of us, in the South was her running across the field that separated her house and Alex's. She made her mom wait as she ran across the dirt field with the dogs, and she clutched me by my ear as she ran. She knocked on the door and gave Alex a big hug and that should loved him. Marie turned around and never looked back. If she had, she would have seen the tears running down her step-brothers face. He knew they would never see each other again.

He was right. Three months later, Alex was in a car accident and died on the scene. Marie took it hard. She stayed locked up in her room for months, only coming out for school and dinner. I was shoved on the top shelf, and I never came down. I guess she didn't want to be reminded of her big brother. From the shelf, I saw everything. I saw her grow up until she was twelve and in eighth grade. I saw when she met Jimmy.

Jimmy was someone her mother was seeing at the time. They even got engaged. He treated Marie like his own daughter. However, right after her mom got engaged, he was diagnosed with cancer. He was only given two months to live. In the end he made it almost six months. Then he passed away. Again, Marie felt her life fall apart.

I was taken down from the shelf. I was taken down so she could throw me around her room. She yelled, screamed, and broke things in her rage. I knew she was only acting like this because she was hurting, but that didn't make it any better. She wasn't the only one hurting. I was too! I saw everything she went through. I was thrown around, yelled at, and beating for days. One day, I was thrown on the shelf, and she took her own life. She wrote a note I guess, and when her mom read it and broke down, I felt a feeling of disappointment, sadness, and even anger.

I realize that I'm selfish. I couldn't think about my life with her. What was I going to do when I lost everything I have ever known. I wonder if this is what Marie felt when two of the most important guys in her life, died. I won't know now, but I hope she realized that she had people who loved her. I know this. Her mom sitting in her room, clutching me to her chest. One week later Marie's room was cleared and donated to the homeless shelter, just what she would have wanted. I was given to a little boy who was orphaned. Hopefully, he has a better life then Marie. Hopefully, I will be better.