The One Thing You Lost
What If You Could Get It Back?
If you were given a box that contained the one thing you miss the most that you lost, what would that thing be?
I heard this brain experiment on some social media site the other day, and it got me thinking.
Surprisingly, it didn’t take me long to land on the THING. In the later years of elementary school, I was pretty bored. I liked to read. I liked to write. I like listening to music. That was kind of it. So I tended to doodle and, well, fart around a lot in class.
I carried a note book around with me, starting maybe in the fifth grade or so, I think. (A practice I’ve carried on, I’d add, to this day.)
I’d jot down dumb poems or draw. I’d scribble logos of my favorite bands, or lyrics - basically to pass the time during classes I didn’t like. And once, I got caught.
For the life of me, I can’t remember the teacher’s name. But I do remember that I had just finished writing what I think was my first short story, a silly fan fiction three-pager based on Star Blazers, that classic late 70s anime.
I got caught. I got in trouble. The notebook was taken. I never got it back. That still sticks in my brain, still frustrates me years and years later.
If I had a box that contained one thing I lost, I’d wish it was that notebook. I’d like to see those firsts for me, those first words and drawings.
How about you? Here are the rules:
The box contains only ONE thing
The one thing can’t be a person that passed, but rather a physical item
The lost item must be a thing, not lost curiosity, or innocence, etc.
The item HAD to have been yours exclusively
The item would come to you in the exact form and condition that you lost it
So, let us know, what’s in your box?
I got a church stained glass window out of the garbage that they were throwing out. It was beautiful, about 6 feet tall by 3 feet wide. It was very detailed and ornate. It had some damage to it in one corner. I brought it back to my apartment and put it up in a corner. I was going thru a divorce and moved out. I never saw it again and maybe I'll ask my ex whatever came of it.
Fortunately or Unfortunately, I have kept so much stuff from my great grandmothers dishes to my original Barbie, to a Jon Perry collection. Now I really do not know what to do with the stuff. I am trying to lessen the load. I grew up taking care of things and keeping them, as we did not have much money and I knew I could not replace.