Be Careful What You Wish For

That’s me when I was five years old. And what you see is the perfect example of “be careful what you wish for.”

This picture was taken on my actual birthday and that big smile was because I had been begging for a Patti Playpal doll all year and my parents scrimped and saved to make my wish come true. I was the youngest of three children, my brother 12 years older, my sister 8 years older, and I wanted a younger sibling. Patti was the closest to making that happen and I was beside myself with excitement. There she was, my little sister.

But take a good look at Patti, her cute dress, her pretty hair, and her scary, freaky eyes! What you may not know about Patti Playpal was that her arm stuck out and when you touched her hand, she would walk, just like Frankenstein. But I was soooo happy.

Until bedtime.

When she stood in the corner of my room against the wall.

With her arm extended.

And those scary eyes somehow glowing in the dark.

I’m not sure the exact time I fell asleep, but it was hours after I went to bed. And when I woke up in the morning, I hated that doll. I was terrified of her and I wanted her out of my room, but what could I do? I couldn’t tell my parents after they sacrificed to buy her for me. And even though I didn’t want to play with her anymore, I had no choice because I didn’t want to hurt them.

At night, I tried facing her in all different directions, but it didn’t matter because I kept imagining her turning slowly and walking (or lurching) over to kill me in my sleep.

And so, this was my first “be careful what you wish for” lesson. I’ve had several throughout my life, but I usually do take a moment to think about possible cause and effect consequences.

Patti Playpal is probably the reason the Chucky movies scared me to death. That franchise hit me hard.