Saturday, December 25, 2010

This was Toby’s best Christmas ever!! He woke up to a mountain of presents, even ones he hadn’t dared ask Santa for. A brand new Playstation 2 sat amid the chaos along with two amazing new games: an adventurous SpongeBob game and Spyro the Dragon. There was also a football, a blue and orange frisbee, a fresh pair of shoes, a stack of new clothes, and not one but two big stockings overflowing with sweetness and joy.

His favorite present, however, wasn’t something you could buy at any store. It was the one he wished for the most: his dad was there when he woke up. Now, they were about to relive one of his father’s favorite memories from when he was a kid. His father brought a treasure trove of his old building blocks and action figures. They were going to have a castle war, just like his dad and opa used to do. Toby must have been real good this year.

“Alright, boy,” Anton began explaining with a giddy smile on his face. “You go first.”

Toby was adding the finishing touches to the castle he had constructed, spread out before him like a grand fortress. It was made up of small, worn wooden blocks, relics of Anton’s childhood. Faded and worn 80’s action figures stood behind these blocks, poised and ready for a surprise attack on unsuspecting opposing forces trying to invade. Perched on top of these blocks were little, green, plastic army men ready as the castle’s first defense.

Thanks to years of construction experience and countless block wars with his biological father, Anton’s castle was far more elaborate than Toby’s. There were blocks on top of blocks, blocks reinforced with other blocks, and a very strategic hiding spot for his leader ensuring victory over the inexperienced youth in front of him. There was no way Anton could lose. He decided to take it easy on the boy.

“Pick the marble, golf ball or tennis ball and roll it at my castle trying to knock down the walls of my base. Then it’s my turn. Whoever destroys the other’s castle first, wins.”

“Or if I find GI Joe, I win!” Toby interjected excitedly as he tried to remain as calm as possible.

“That’s right, boy. If you find my leader, GI Joe, first you win. That’s not going to happen, so when I find your leader, He-Man, I win.”

“Who is He-Man? I can’t member,” Toby asked.

“How do you not remember who your leader is?” Anton asked, now positive he was going to win. “He’s the blonde guy with the funny haircut and muscles.”

“Oh yeah,” Toby laughed. “He’s the one that you chewed on his hand.”

Toby stopped suddenly and tilted his head toward the window with a slightly fearful look in his eyes and asked, “Did you hear that, Dad?”

“Hear what, boy? All I hear is the sound of a little boy afraid to lose to the castle war champeen of the world,” Anton teased.

Toby grabbed the tennis ball first and took aim at the tallest building in his father’s base. He took one quick, little wind-up and rolled the ball as hard as he could. His aim was perfect as the ball struck the rickety, five-blocks-tall tower causing it to come crashing down. The pieces of the tower began ricocheting off the other buildings, doing very little damage to the heavily guarded surrounding structures. As the tennis ball slowly came to a halt, it had just enough roll left in it to hit one particular block that just so happen to be off by itself with little to no protection. After the collision, the block began wobbling forward and backwards. Finally, the block collapsed forward, exposing one individual action figure…GI Joe.

“I won! I won!” Toby exploded with excitement.

The joy on Toby’s face made up for the frustration of a one shot defeat from a rookie. Anton wouldn’t let it happen a second time. He immediately started picking up his blocks to rebuild his base.

“Good job, boy. You got lucky,” Anton insisted. “I want a rematch!”

“You bet, Dad!” Toby exclaimed with glee.

Toby was beginning to rearrange his pieces when he heard the strangest sound in the distance. He had no idea what it was, but he heard it a lot when he was alone. It sounded familiar, almost like hissing, like Mimi Zumo’s cat. Oh well, no matter. He beat his dad!

Trying to ignore the noise, as it was beginning to scare Toby a little, he squealed in excitement to his father, “Thanks, Dad! This was the best Christmas ever!”