Mr. Potato Head sat, thinking.
He knew that someday, the kids would outgrow him. But he didn't want that day to come. Ann-Maria and Derek were the perfect kids. They didn't throw him around or stuff his parts in various places. They didn't fight, for the most part. They just played with him nicely. Not once had he had to suffer through a fight over him.
But they were getting older now. Ann-Maria had reached the age of 11, and Derek followed at the tender age of 9. Mr. Potato Head had already detected them drifting apart; Ann-Maria tended to stay in her room and read or write, while Derek frequently headed out with his friends.
He had once seen Ann-Maria conversing with her reflection in a mirror, admitting her devotion to someone called Jessica. She didn't need him anymore. But thankfully, she still took him out and played with him once in a while.
Derek was much the same. He often went biking with his friends, and unlike when he was younger and always brought Potato Head with him in his bike basket, he had stopped. "Nothing against you," he had told the toy, "but I'm just afraid I'll forget you somewhere." But Mr. Potato Head knew that Derek was just trying to make him feel better, and the real reason was nothing like that.
Oops- Potato Head heard feet thundering to the door. He quickly froze his eyes and mouth into their plastic smile; although he was immobile, his face would seem different if he wasn't actually making the expression he was currently wearing. The door banged open, and Ann-Maria rushed in, Derek at her side.
"Come on!" she said to Mr. Potato Head, scooping him up and handing him to Derek. Then they thumped down the stairs and outdoors to the bikes, about to go on an adventure around the neighbourhood. Potato Head felt himself being plopped into the bike basket. His smile became a real one, not faked. Some things never changed.
