When I was a around 6 my family moved into a new house. My parent's wanted us to be a part of the community so they made sure we met all of our neighbors. On one side was a girl a few years older than me named Sally, and on the other was an old man named Mr. Johnston. I thought Mr. Johnston was really creepy at first. His skin was paper thin and he would fall asleep on his front porch with his teeth in his lap. I didn't like Mr. Johnston at all, at least not until the day he gave me Daisy.
"Mindy, over here sweety." Mr. Johnston called out to me one hot summer afternoon.
I approached tentatively, afraid his teeth would fall out yet again.
"Do you like dollies, by any chance, Mindy?" He asked giving me a gummy smile.
"I love Dollies, Mr. Johnston, they're my favorite toy." I said back excitedly. As afraid as I was of Mr. Johnston, my love for dolls was far greater.
"Well then do I have a surprise for you. How would you like a new dolly. Well she's not exactly brand new, but she'd be new to you." Mr. Johnston said as he slowly got up from his rocking chair. "She was my daughter's when she was your age. She's gone away now though and I feel like her doll would like a new home."
"I'd love to meet her Mr. Johnston." I said giving him a gap toothed smile.
I waited outside excitedly and after what felt like an eternity, Mr. Johnston came back holding a large plastic doll. The doll was incredible. It was the same height as me and made of hard plastic. It's clothes were old and faded but still in good shape.
"This here is Daisy." Mr. Johnston said as he handed the doll to me.
It was heavy. Much heavier than any doll I had ever held before.
"Thank you Mr. Johnston. I'll make sure to take good care of her!" I said cheerfully.
"That you do Mindy, that you do." Mr. Johnston said as he sat back down in his chair.
I hurriedly took my new friend home to show her off to my parents. They seemed concerned that I had stolen the doll from Mr. Johnston but he assured them that it was a gift.
For the next few months Daisy and me were inseparable. I would take her absolutely everywhere with me and she would sleep in my bed with me. It was only inevitable that she would get damaged somehow, especially given how old she was.
We were playing tea party when I accidentally knocked her off her chair and cracked the side of her head on the floor. I immediately burst into tears, I had just hurt my favorite doll; my best friend. My mom came rushing in and saw the scene and scooped me up in her arms, doing her best to comfort me.
"Dont worry little Mindy, Mommy's gonna make Daisy all better. I promise" I remember her telling me as she carried me around the house.
Once I was finally calmed down, my mom and me took Daisy to the toy repair store downtown. They told us that it was a pretty severe crack but they were gonna do the best they could. It could take a few days though.
A few days later my mom received a call from the toy repair store. I couldn't hear what they were saying on their end but they sounded furious at my mom. I remember her telling me she had to run out real fast and take care of some stuff but she would be back in a jiffy.
When she returned home I was so excited to get Daisy back. I missed my best friend so much. Instead my mom returned home empty handed.
"Where's Daisy Mommy?" I asked her confused.
Tears began to well up in my Mom's eye's. "Um Daisy's not coming home anymore sweetie, but come on we can get you a new best friend." She said as she took my hand.
"But I don't want a new best friend Mommy, I want Daisy." I whined.
"Daisy's gone forever. And never take anything from anyone without my permission again!" My mom snapped at me as tears fell down her cheeks.
I was scared and confused. Did I do something wrong. Was there something wrong with Daisy. I rode in the car with my mom silently until we got to our destination. We were at the local pound. My heart lit up with excitement and that night we brought home my new best friend Max the Mutt.
Max quickly replaced Daisy in my heart, and Daisy faded into what was only a memory. Until last week. I was cleaning out a box from my parents attic when I came across a box full of family pictures. There in the middle of one of the binders was a picture of me sitting next to Daisy. The memories came flooding back. I brought the picture down and found my mom sitting in her living room.
"Hey mom, look what I found. An old picture of me and my doll Daisy" I said with a smile as I gave her the picture.
My mom began shaking, tears welled up behind her eyes.
"Is everything okay Mom?" I asked her worriedly.
"I was hoping you'd forgotten about Daisy. I was hoping you'd never remember that sick joke that monster played on you." She said with a tremble in her voice.
"What do you mean Mom. Mr. Johnston?" I replied.
"You're old enough now, you deserve to know the truth." She began. "Do you remember when you knocked Daisy down and cracked her head."
"Yeah of course, and then a few days later is when we got Max right?" I said
"Yes. The reason why we got Max was because of what they found when repairing Daisy. You see they weren't going to be able to patch her head up very easily, so they would have to remove the broken pieces and replace the whole section. However when they took the pieces away they found something inside of Daisy." My mom said with a glassy looking in her eye.
"What do you mean they found something inside of Daisy?" I asked unsure.
My mom suddenly looked directly at me and grabbed my hand. "I'm so sorry Mindy. I should've looked at your doll before saying you could have it. I should have given it an inspection or something. I should've been a better mother." My mom pleaded with me.
"Mom what did they find inside of Daisy?" I reiterated.
"Inside of your doll, was the remains of Mr. Johnston's daughter. He had cut her throat and stuffed it in that plastic tomb years before keeping her young and perfect forever. And when he was done with her, he gave her to you as one final sick stunt. Daisy wasn't just the dolls name. It was his
creds: yuebeo
