Mr. Figgletoes' Toy Emporium

The Doll

With his package tucked protectively under one arm, Parker rode his beloved, rusty bicycle home. The bike was the last gift his father had given him before he died. True, it had been well used before he got it, but he had done his best to take good care of it.

Parker knew the house would be quiet and empty when he arrived, his mother still at work. She wouldn’t be home until quite late, after she visited his sister in the hospital in Spokane. Parker stashed his bike in the dilapidated shed behind the house, then let himself in the back door. A shiver of excitement ran through his body as he set the package on the table and unwrapped it. He looked down at the beautiful doll and smiled. “She is going to love this,” he said to the empty house. He took the doll to his room and set it on his bed. Rushing to the linen closet in the hall, he opened the door and rifled through the box of gift-wrapping supplies. He found a wide yellow ribbon. “This will be great. She loves yellow,” Parker said. He returned to his room and tied it around the doll’s center, pinning her arms to her sides.