A CHILDHOOD FRIEND

A CHILDHOOD FRIEND(Regina Mazur) CHILDHOOD FRIEND
When I was a little kid, I had many different ideas as to who I wanted to be when I grew up. First I wanted to be an astronaut, simply because I thought that it is really cool to wear a space suit and fly in a space ship far away from earth. Then I wanted to be a bus driver because in my imagination they met so many different people from all over the world while driving the bus. however, all of these ideas somehow dissipated and the one that I just couldn’t give up no matter what was: being a boxer.
I really became obsessed with being a boxer, I just couldn’t get it out of my head, I kept seeing pictures in my imagination of myself on the boxing ring, while being declared a champion. Eventually this obsession got to me so much and I started bugging my dad: “Daddy can you buy me a punching bag?“ My father, who was used to me coming up with different ideas, didn’t take me seriously and kept ignoring my requests, but I just wouldn’t give up, and I kept bothering him all the time. “Please dad, please” I kept whining, “Can you get me a punching bag”. “What do you need it for? “He finally asked. “I want to become a boxer” I explained to him. “Really, How much does a punching bag cost?” he asked.
“It really does not cost a lot of money" I said, "just a few hundred dollars” “Well my friend” said my dad “You will just have to do without one”. I was so upset that I had tears in my eyes. My mom however, who heard our conversation, felt bad for me and wanted to be helpful. She said: "Nicky come over here let me show you something”. I came over, she opened a big old chest which was in one of the closets and after some digging pulled out a gigantic plush stuffed Teddy Bear. “Here” she said, practice with this, it’s just as good as a punching bag, even better, look at his stuffed tummy, it’s just right for what you need.”
I was ecstatic, I grabbed the bear, put him on the couch and got ready to practice. The bear just sat there looking at me with two of his very different eyes, one was yellow and the other one was made from the black button. I wasn’t even sure how it got to be that way, he looked like he was smiling and telling me: “Go ahead throw a punch, I am ready for you”, and all of a sudden I remembered how I was playing with this bear when I was very little, and how I took him to bed and cuddled with him. I remembered how I used to put him next to me at the table when I would eat and how I tried to feed him and get his face all dirty in whatever food I was eating and how after all the abuse that he took from me he still remained my friend.

As I stood there remembering all these things, I just couldn’t bring myself to punch him any longer. I actually felt a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. My mom, who saw me standing staring at the bear and didn’t see me punching him, came up and said “Hey Nicky what’s going on?” I just turned my head away so that she didn’t see my tears. “It’s okay mom” I said, "it’s nothing."