Twink Comes Home
Based on a True Story by Jennifer Marshall
Once upon a time, there was a little girl travelling with her grandparents. They were whizzing down the highway in their motorhome, just outside of Missoula, Montana, when the little girl decided to play with her Rainbow Brite Twink Doll near a window. The little girl did not realize that the window was open and before she knew it -- whoosh! Twink was gone! The little girl cried frantically, "Grandma, Grandpa --- Twink fell out the window!", but it was too late. There was no where to pull off and retrieve the toy.
When they returned to their home in Idaho, the little girl begged her grandfather, who drove a truck, to search for the little doll whenever he passed through the area. Each and every time the grandfather returned from a trip near the spot where Twink took his fateful flight, the little girl would run and meet him at the door, asking with great hope in her bright eyes if he had finally found her tiny friend. With sadness, the grandfather had to break the hard news to her that he had searched, but had not yet found Twink. The little girl slumped and turned to walk away, once again missing her beloved doll.
Many years rolled by and soon the doll was forgotten, but remembered from time to time and shared as a charming tale at family get togethers. The little girl was no longer little and no longer needed her doll, but she still remembered how sad she felt when she lost poor Twink and wondered what had become of him. Soon, she had children of her own and recounted the story to them. Her two boys sat and listened intently to the story of the wayward Twink, also wondering what had happened to him. "Perhaps we'll never know," their mother told them.
One sunny afternoon, exactly one week before Christmas, a strange, small white package arrived at the girl's house. Upon examination, the girl found that the package was from her grandmother in Arizona. "Probably Christmas presents for the boys," she muttered to herself. She tossed it aside and shuffled back to the kitchen to fill her mug with fresh coffee. But curiosity suddenly struck her and soon she was hastily tearing away the wrapping, eager to find the contents of the mystery box. A funny thought crossed her mind, as she opened the re-purposed Christmas lights box to find an item simply wrapped in a paper towel along with a note. "I really hope it's not a dead road runner or jack rabbit," she chuckled to herself. Her grandmother was well known for her quirky sense of humor and it would not of surprised her to find such a "gift" hidden inside. She set the oddly-shaped item aside and opened the note. Neatly written on a piece of yellow note paper was a letter, which read:
"Dear Jennifer,
A lot has happened to me since that fateful day I blew out of the motorhome window just out of Missoula, MT.
I do not blame you for the accident -- I know you were just having fun tippy-toeing me along the window sill and you didn't realize it was open -- a little tooooo close and out I went --- POOF!
I remember seeing your startled face as I drifted out. I heard your plaintive voice as you cried, "Grandma, Grandpa --- Twink fell out the window!" My little life flashed before me as I floated into space. I watched from the tangle of brush beside the road as the motorhome disappeared into the distance. Oh woe is me! And where is me?!
I lay there for quite a while -- through rain, snow, exhaust fumes, and the roar of traffic. Every once in a while your grandpa would go by in his big red feed truck. He would slow down and look for me. I would feebly wave my little arms, but to no avail --- he never saw me.
Then, one day a car stopped nearby, they had a flat tire. As the man was changing the tire, a little girl stood watching. Her father told her to stand back farther from the highway. As she moved back something caught her eye. It was me -- tangled in a bush. She gently picked me up and dusted me off. Oh, it was so good to be held again! I went to live with her for a long time. When she outgrew me, she put me on eBay. Your grandma found me and now I have found you again.
I am SO happy!
Love, Twink"
Tears streamed down the girl's face as she finished the letter. Her thumb gently caressed Twink's smiling face and she gave him a little squeeze. "Welcome home, old friend. I've missed you all these years. No more windows for you."
Twink now lives happily on the family's living room shelf, enjoyed and loved on by the girl's own children, far away from any windows or highways. He was finally home.
The End
