7 YEARS AGO
"Mommy! Look! A dolly house! Can I have it? It is so pretty!" little Claira asked her mother at Shopko on her seventh birthday.
Mrs. Hope examined the price tag. "Of course, dear! Think of it as a birthday present from your father," Mrs. Hope said. The mention of the late Mr. Hope made Claira look at her feet, but Claira remembered what he always told her when she was near tears: "Brighten up because only you can put yourself down."
Claira decided that, even though she didn't know what it meant, she would brighten up. Giving her mother a huge smile, she gingerly picked up the box and placed it in the cart. Claira, forgetting her mother's
comment, about her father, shuffled next to her mother, proud of her new blue and pink doll house.
As soon as Mrs. Hope and Claira were home, Claira opened her doll house. Inside was huge, even though the outside was small. It had a whole bunch of rooms, a bathroom, three bedrooms, a bunch of walk-in closets, a kitchen, a dining room, a parlor, a front hallway, a pool that attached to the back side of the house, and a huge living room!
Claira had just found the Barbie doll that came with the house when someone slammed the front door. Claira's older sister walked through the hallway, looking about to either throw someone against a wall or cry her eyes out. When her sister got upstairs, Mrs. Hope started talking to Claira's older sister. Then Claira heard shouts and then a door slam for the second time that day, and probably not the last.
Claira wished she could stay seven forever. As she started to put her doll house together, she silently wished to herself, "I wish I don't have to live here when I'm fourteen. I never want to have to deal with yelling or slamming doors. I wish I could live here with you, Barbie."
As Claira left to eat dinner the doll house winked - as all magical doll houses should.
As soon as Mrs. Hope and Claira were home, Claira opened her doll house. Inside was huge, even though the outside was small. It had a whole bunch of rooms, a bathroom, three bedrooms, a bunch of walk-in closets, a kitchen, a dining room, a parlor, a front hallway, a pool that attached to the back side of the house, and a huge living room!
Claira had just found the Barbie doll that came with the house when someone slammed the front door. Claira's older sister walked through the hallway, looking about to either throw someone against a wall or cry her eyes out. When her sister got upstairs, Mrs. Hope started talking to Claira's older sister. Then Claira heard shouts and then a door slam for the second time that day, and probably not the last.
Claira wished she could stay seven forever. As she started to put her doll house together, she silently wished to herself, "I wish I don't have to live here when I'm fourteen. I never want to have to deal with yelling or slamming doors. I wish I could live here with you, Barbie."
As Claira left to eat dinner the doll house winked - as all magical doll houses should.
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