The Father

Sickening Plastic

The day finally came. The day I packed my bags, said my goodbyes to people who didn't really care, and got in a fancy car with three strangers. I had a beautiful woman as my driver. She sat still in her seat with over controlled poise. She seemed too elegant for the simplest day to day tasks. She had reddish brown hair matched with a set of big red lips curved in a smile.  Upon entrance to the vehicle she informed me in a low intriguing voice that there would be “two more stops”.

The lady in the passenger’s seat exceeded the driver in weirdness. She was also very beautiful in build and form. She had dark brown hair and a pair of unusually shaped eyes that simply started straight ahead. She looked out of the dash window with a wide grin on her face that exposed her large glistening perfect teeth. She said nothing at all.

I must say…The two of them, very, very creepy.

The third occupant of the car was a girl who looked of the Asian descent. She appeared short and had little shapeliness to her body and was mostly flat chested. She wore glasses framed in shiny black plastic, and had long lifeless black hair that she kept tucked behind her ears. She seemed to be shy and carried a reserved innocent cuteness that made me believe she might be like me.

As I settled in my seat preparing for a long car ride and clicked my seatbelt into place I caught the girl’s glance and tried to be friendly, fruitlessly hoping to obtain some new friends along this adventure. I wave at the girl and gave the best smile I could for someone you might just meet. This only ended in disappointment. She appeared almost repulsed by my action and shifted as to slant towards her car window and away from my attempts at kindness.  This would be a very quiet car ride.

I sighed feeling more melancholy than usual I shifted away too, and questioned what made me an undesirable friend. It just didn’t make sense to me.

I decided not to dwell on it, and began to absently stare out of my car window and lose myself in the flashes of colorful vehicles passing by in a steady stream. As time went on, I found myself wondering about their destinations, and above all their lives. How different could the lives of true families be?

Would I ever be blessed with absoluteness of the ties of blood? Destined to love forever, a family of my own creation? I didn’t know, but hoped fervently one day I would because no one wants to be alone.

As time went on we began to approach the next stop, or so I was informed by the creepy driver when she spoke for the second time this entire trip. She said in the same skin tingling voice that it was, “Five miles till we reach the orphanage of Amber Richards. Please remember to make her feel welcome. It would be the proper thing to do.” When the generic words escaped those lips, it contained a seemingly robotic tone.

When we got to Amber’s, me and the Asian looking girl, were told we could get out and walk around or take a bathroom break. We just had to return to the car after ten minutes passed. I sprang from the car as quick as I could and stretched out my stiff body.

This time I didn’t even attempt to try and play friendly with the Asian girl. I just set off on my own walking around the outside Amber’s orphanage eager to take in some fresh air. It was just best this way, me on my own as usual.  

My first observation of Amber’s home told me it was much nicer than my own. It definitely seemed better funded. I’d give it five stars. It was constructed of red brick and had the greenest grass I had ever seen. The shrubbery was artistically crafted into the shapes of many interesting animals and important people. There were fountains and well-tended gardens.

As I walked and took in the sights I came upon a giant statue. The gray marble was in honor of the funder, DAD. It was no surprise. Of course DAD had given away money to this place. DAD was simply amazing, beyond it even. I only wished he had chosen to donate to my orphanage.

I looked at my watch and realized I had better get back to the front of the building, near the car. My ten minutes were almost up. It was time to meet Amber. Hopefully she’d be nice, at least more so than the Asian girl.

I made my way to the front and when I reached the car, I believe I did a double take. There was Amber and her entourage saying goodbye. She blew kisses, waved as if she were at a pageant, and shouted “I’ll miss you” to the swarms of followers. She was completely different than how I had pictured in my head.  Amber was nightmarish. This much I could tell already. I feared her.  She was the classic American girl. She was perfection. Amber wore pink from head to toe. She had perfectly tanned skin, pretty long blonde hair, amazing legs, a small torso, and had just the right amount in the chest area.

I crept up to stand beside the car just out of sight from everyone. There was no way I was going to do introductions in front of this large crowd. I could hear everyone talking from this distance especially Barbie.

She was a magnet for attention. All eyes were focused on her. She was surrounded by girls. They all looked as if they may cry, but you could see they were genially happy for her. It looked like exactly everything I had wanted, when I had won. Barbie had it all.

“Oh you guys! I’ll miss you all so much. I don’t know what I’m going to do without you all with me. I’ll be so alone! Who is going to tell me when my hair starts to frizz, or check my teeth for gross stuff ya know? I think…yep…I’m gonna cry…I-I-ddon’t wanna go without…”

After her little speech her nose started turning red and her big blue eyes wielded up with tears. She grabbed hold of one of the many girls and sobbed on her shoulder while everyone else “awwh’d” and patted her back with support.

By the time all of this had taken effect my mouth was hanging open. I couldn’t believe it. This girl had so much power. Though, I could see right through her. She was a transparent shallow being. She cared about no one but herself. She was crying false tears. It made no sense to me, but honestly I never understand people worked.

This seemed to go on for a while. I only wanted to get back on the road, but she had a lot of stuff to pack. It was surprising to me, that an orphan could own so much, but then again, this was Barbie. Finally the other orphan, who I had met first in the car, had returned from our break. She walked right up to the masses of people with what seemed like little thought and simply watched for a while. She stood on the outskirts, of them all studying Barbie. Then she spoke and everyone turned questioning the new voice.

“Hi Amber! You don’t have to worry about a thing. I’ll be there to keep you company. And I promise, you can count on me!” She stuck her hand up as to swear it, and you could see she was serious.

“By the time this trip is over we’ll be best friends.”

She was super friendly. There was no way anyone could doubt that smile or her voice. She wanted nothing more than Barbie’s friendship and a comrade to join her on this trip to DAD’s.

Barbie sniffled a little as to show she was moved by this. She wiped her eyes, and attempted to clear the smeared makeup, and made her way over to the girl. All her followers obediently cleared a path for her. The girl stood there smiling encouragingly and Barbie asked, “What’s your name?” sweetly.

“My name is Marciella and it is great to meet you Amber!”

“That is such a pretty name!” exclaimed Amber sounding almost surprised. “I’d love for us to be friends!” and that was that.

I was even more shocked at how everything had progressed. How did she make friends so easily while I had none to call my own? People are weird.