Journalist. Mother. Bunny enthusiast. Pop culture junkie.

Journalist. Mother. Bunny enthusiast. Pop culture junkie.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Where's Rachel?


When I was a little girl, my parents quickly learned that sending me to my room as a punishment was, in fact, not a punishment. I loved my room. All my Barbie dolls were there.

So, when I got in trouble, they started sending me to the home office.

At first it was boring. But after rummaging around on the desk, I discovered a massive carton filled with pens and pencils.

 
Putting my twisted imagination to work, I began to play with the writing utensils like they were dolls. Each pen and pencil had a name, a personality, and a family. For example, the blue pencil, David, was in love with the State Farm pen, Denise. But he was already married to Megan, the chewed up red pencil. The faded pink eraser was their daughter, Lindsay.

The pens and pencils in that carton were an entire village. It was like a soap opera, filled with family drama, romantic scandals, and even a random bank robbery when an erasable pen stole a bunch of paperclips at gunpoint.


I was so caught up in the little world I had created that I started to prefer playing with the pens and pencils over my own Barbies. I would rush home from school, running straight past my bedroom, into the office and dump out the carton of pens.

The anticipation was killing me. Would Rachel, the Yellow Pages pen finally realize that her husband, the Dr. Epperdink MD pen, was cheating on her with a pink highlighter named Gwen?! Was Rick, the black Sharpie, going to get cold feet at his wedding with Sarah, the red Bic pen?

I couldn't wait to start the show!


One evening, I dumped out the carton, ready to play, when I let out a gasp.

Where was Rachel?!?

RACHEL WAS MISSING.

I scoured all over the office. How did she disappear?

I ran into the living room, where my dad was watching the news.

"Where's Rachel?" I demanded.

He looked up, perplexed.

"Rachel who?" he asked.

"Rachel, the, the, pen," I sputtered, in panic. "The Yellow Pages pen! Where is she?"

My dad stared at me.

"The Yellow Pages pen?" he repeated, blankly. "That pen wasn't working this morning. The ink is out. So I threw it away."

I shrank away in horror.

"You what?" I whispered. "You threw her away?"

With tears streaming down my face, I ran back into the office.

"Where are you Rachel?" I wailed, digging through the trash can. "I'll find you! Oh my god!"


She was nowhere to be found. I ran into the kitchen, rummaging through that trash can, throwing garbage all over the floor, desperately seeking out the Yellow Pages pen.

My parents ran into the kitchen.

"You're making a mess!" My dad roared. "You better clean that up!"

Finally clutching the discovered Yellow Pages pen, now covered in ketchup, I glared up at him.

"You killed Rachel," was all I could manage to croak.

My parents stared back at me, speechless.

Then they had a long talk in the living room.

They came back into the kitchen and told me I was no longer allowed to play with the pens and pencils.

I was devastated.

To make their point, they hid the carton from me in a locked desk drawer.


That moment marked a changing point in my life. Staring at the locked drawer, I realized that playtime was over. It was time to grow up.

I moved on.

But I never forgot.

And now sometimes when I look at a pen, for a split second, I think I see her personality stare back at me and she winks. And it jolts me back to life.

But then it fades away as quickly as it appeared.

24 comments:

A Very Sweet Blog said...

jennifer, i don't know what to say about this one! hahahaha personality pens. that is a first for me. my mom and dad were often puzzled when i had an enthusiasm for playing with little cars. hahaha i would make streets of play doh, little signs, a whole damn community. the cars were people. LOL i was really small then though (nursery school). you never cease to amaze me girl.
http://www.averysweetblog.com/

Chicago Chic said...

My name!!! Haha this is too funny!

Shannon said...

I can't love this enough. This is something I would have done if I was just a smidge more creative.

But then again, I named ALL my Barbies Felicia, so maybe I needed to be WAY more creative.

Regardless, love this story...tons.

Jade | The Jade Aesthetic said...

I should not be this riveted to a story about pens but omg this needs to be made into an actual soap opera. REALLY enjoyed reading this haha. You might have something here with anthropomorphic pens...

JadeFungBlog

Sherin said...

That is pretty epic. I wish I knew as a kid - we would have been great friends.

Imogen said...

I love this. I had quite an imagination as a child, I never did this but it is similar to something I would have created. Even now I can see how this would work and how they could have different personalities based on colours and everything. I can totally see how you might temporarily think about it when you see a pen now...I'm at my computer desk with a jar of pens next to me. I can't help but decide which one looks most like Rachel to me...I seriously never grow up.

Konad-licious said...

My Miss 4 is exactly like this and can play with anything. Rather than stop it, we love it and encourage where we can. She is so freaking cute and so is her imagination.

ROXTHEFOX said...

I was pretty much lol'ing the entire post, especially the bit about the State Farm pen and your vivid imagination. I think the fact that you can make something so funny have a philosophical meaning is a true testament to what a great writer you are. I always love your personal stories, especially since there's always some sort of moral 'punch' at the end.

In other news, I made my barbies have sex with their cars. *Shrugs*

WWW.ROXTHEFOX.COM

The Dainty Dolls House said...

You bust me up!! I used to make personalities out of simple objects. I had an eraser once that I drew a face on and took it everywhere, my mom thought it was junk and threw it out, was well upset, haha! She bought me a new one but it wasn't the same :))) xx

Aditi SoSaree said...

U r born creative..!
I think thats the cutest n smartest thing i have heard till date...giving personalities to pens is soo cool..i wud love it if my kid (whenever i have one)does that..!

Aditi
So-Saree
www.sosaree.blogspot.in

French Girl in Seattle said...

A wonderful piece of writing my dear! Congratulations! Imaginative and entertaining. I am sure that Rachel, wherever she may be, remembers you as well... Veronique (French Girl in Seattle)

meri said...

Love this :) You should have a series about the pens and the sordid lives they lead in their desk drawers...I for one would read/ watch that@

Unknown said...

Is fantastic you have such a wonderful imagination to make a game of everything, I used to be the same, and is what kids nowadays should do, indtead of being completely adicted to video games.
Loved the post
Kisses and have an amazing weekend.
www.city-aholic.com

BonBon Rose Girls Kristin said...

Your creativity knows no bounds lady!

Fashion Gossip said...

Great story, love your blog :)

Audrey Allure said...

Haha, I've played with random objects when I was little too - great story!

Johanna L. said...

You've had such a vivid personality! I love that! Great story, I'm so happy you shared that with us :) ♥ xo

A BRIT GREEK said...

I love how your imagination ran wild as a kid, pens huh? Lol!
x.o.x.o

Blond Duck said...

That's so sad. I gave a personality to stuffed animals, never pens.

FASHION TALES said...

I was happy and sad for your little pens reading this! Thinking in colour ... that's what I did growing up, never pens though. You had quite the imagination, of course it makes sense that you would be a writer! Enjoy the week dear! x/Madison

Amber Lucas A Mused Blog said...

I love it. And I can see the little spark of why you probably became a jouranlist. Oh of course it's not THE reason why, but I can see the connection.

Beautiful story.

Unknown said...

Jennifer, you had an amazing imagination from childhood itself. Thats what makes your writing so compeling now. Wish you had been able to continue playing with yuor pens. But well, you can now fill a carton with pens, pencils, erasers and start all over again :)

BTW, I used to give personalities to marbles and play with those. I even had a carriage to drive them around ;)

http://everythingthatclicks.blogspot.com

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