Part Of A Lifetime
A little imagination
A little toy house
Those Little toys
A little girl
A little doctor…..
But that time was gone
Somewhere down the path
Dreams to chase
Wishes to fulfill
A family to feed
A life need to live.
Somewhere down the path
Everything has changed.
Lock the door, she sighed heavily, another day of works is done, but somehow, seeing the distress in her patient family's face make her wanted to curse herself, why is she the one who have to tell them that?, that her department had tried their best to save him, but came an apology which she have done her best, but the hand of life release her patient and leave her behind, facing his crying family.
Sometime a life of a doctor can be fun, she can do what she wishes to do a long time ago, helping others to solve their problems about their health, and seeing the smile on all of their faces, but then again, it's was all of her imagination, it was simple, like her drawings in her old notebooks, but then, this is real.
Sometime real life sounds bitter than her imagination.
But right now, she can't bear the fact that one of her patient has gone, into another reality, and she already did the best to delay the inventible, the man was already gone, but the question is when?.
7: 34 PM, EST
Somehow, remembering that fact made her misses that old toy watch, where the time never leave, it just stay at 7: 34 like she set it to be, it's the time when she opens her old clinic for toys, and the time never move, just once, she wanted to help others, no matter what time she set it at, and seeing the smile on their faces is worth it, for her hard work of fixing them.
But here, time moves slowly, it counts the time left for her to save someone, each counts like a hammer to her head, and a nail to the patient's coffin, for her, time was something so luxury in that room, even the air is depressing, so heavy that could crush someone who couldn't handle to pressure that she have to face every day, and now she's locking the door to it, swing her bag on her shoulder and left with a sigh.
Get to her car, opens it, and drive herself home, but something in her left behind the hospital that day, maybe her bitter thoughts perhaps?, her confident?, even Dottie Macstuffin, the doc, didn't know what she left behind, but it was something that she could not remember, for once, she would just let it go, don't even bother with it anyway.
It was more simple than this, her imagination, it's so easy to solve a problem, not so complicated like life driven it to be, maybe the real world is a wakeup call for every child growing up, and their imagination is a dream which they lived in, before everything changed them, everyone had to grow up, and she too, was no exception.
She wake herself up, when she decided to grow up, her old toy house was kept in the storage, her old toys in the attic, and herself changed through her age, falls in love, marriage, have a family, have a job, a life which she are living in, a bitter reality.
But she was familiar with these thoughts before, and every grownups have to face it, it's regretting to have wake up, but then, if she didn't, her life will be a standstill, it just stop, and she was still playing with her imagination friends that she made up to have their own smiles and joy, denying the reality, of real people and real responsibilities.
Just one patient's gone, and Dottie already devastated, her only patient passed away not because her fault, but she still blame herself for being so powerless to help him, make him smile again, instead she brought tears to his family's eyes, she was confuse, she was helpless.
For the first time, even the great Doc Macstuffin doesn't know what's wrong.
Why is she still thinking like this, with childish thought of returning to her old self, of that little girl with two pigtails with freckles that she hide her for so long, burry her in the depth of her own mind while she's busying growing up, why now? That little girl has to come back and haunt her again?
Maybe she's not; maybe she is haunting herself, maybe she was unconsciously walking toward the storage, pulling out the parts of her old toy clinic and started to rebuild in the yard with her mother watching, and she doesn't know that the old lady was creeping a smile in her lips.
Dottie ran into the attic, doesn't bother to change her outfit, and check the boxes for her beloved toys she loves so much, but in her mind she desperately taking back her control, but that little girl was so strong with her body, she carries them all down the yard, enter the house that was too small for her to standing up, so she neatly stacked them all into places.
But something was missing
''Mommy, what's going on?''
A little girl with her hair down standing behind her, with her skin like her own, and the voice too, was that her 18 years ago?, with her eyes sparkling looking at her own, before she noticed the stethoscope on her neck, Dottie's face fill with joy, and make a small way for her daughter to walks in, and something happened like she know 18 years ago.
Whenever she put that stethoscope in, a purple life erupt with sparkle in its track, like something magical, it gave life to her beloved toys, but right now, it was not her imagination, but it happening right now, right before her, and her daughter's eyes.
And the entire toys rose from their places, and walking on their own toward Dottie, with their eyes all wide and their mouth dropped in shock.
''We miss you, Doc!'' A stuffed dog – like lamb shouted first in excitement.
''Where have you been, Doc?'' A purple hippo in the toy's nurse dress spoke next.
''Don't leave us again, Doc!'' And the rest shouted and swarm around her leg, and hug with all their toy's strength could gave.
She didn't notice a tear stripping down her check when she knell down to their level, and hug them all in her arms, oh how she miss them all to, how she remember the times she wanted to do this, but then it will not be regularly but this will do, but then something hits her.
It's not just her imagination, when the toys shifted their attention to her daughter, who was standing with her mouth dropped in shock.
For the first time that night, Dottie smile, and she already know what to do, it's doesn't have to be her to be here with her friend any longer, the little angel next to her was the answer she needs all along.
''Do you want to be doctor Macstuffins?, honey?''
A nod
Her smile becomes bigger, while all the toys cheer in celebration.
Maybe reality is not so bad after all, and her imagination was not just a dreams, it's a part of a lifetime.
Her lifetime.