Up until recently at the SA we have been rather over run with toy donations to the point that all the toy boxes were full. It was awfully cramped at night when we all tried to find a spot to go to sleep but I never complained, I loved having lots of toys, teddies, plushies etc to talk to and no matter what time of day there was always somebody interesting that I could chat to.
Noticing the overcrowding problem, Pam – the manager of the SA decided to have an outdoor sale on all of the toys.
We got wind of this early and Doug began to organise who wanted to stay and who wanted to leave. Very few of us actually wanted to stay behind, I was a bit surprised and also rather sad that so many toys wanted to leave but I can understand just how lonely it can be without an owner.
The sale was to be held at a local school which was only about 100 yards away from the SA.
On the day of the sale Doug had ordered any of the toys that didn’t want to leave to go and hide under the linen shelves. Before the shop opened we all hugged, said our goodbyes and wished each other well. I felt myself getting upset but told myself that I had decided to stay behind (for reasons I’m not entirely certain of) and climbed under the vast sheets, curtains and duvet sets that were lay on the linen shelf.
Joining me were Lola, Daisy, Doug and Percy (who had to remain incredibly still so he didnt ‘ding’ and give the game away.)
Everyone else was packed into boxes and carried out of the door. I couldn’t help myself from crying, it suddenly felt very empty, seeing the toy box bare. Lola put her arm around me and Daisy quietly said “its all very sad, isn’t it?”
We spent the day in subdued silence, I secretly hoped that the sale would not be a success and that many of the toys I had only hours before said goodbye to, would return. After hours of waiting we heard the front door being unlocked and the chattering of voices. As I was under a big pile of linen I couldn’t make out much so with the others I just lay low and waited until everybody went home.
The only one to come back from the sale was Cosworth, a toy that teaches the alphabet and speaks in a very flat robotic voice. He didn’t seem much bothered about the fact that he hadn’t sold.
Climbing into the toy box was surreal, there was so much room! Lola had sprawled out, as she is quite a big rag doll normally she had very little space so this must have been nice for her, next to her was Daisy.
We had all settled down for the night when Doug climbed in.
“Cheer up you lot” He said in his gruff tones “It may seem empty now but you give it a week, this toy box will be full again before you know it.”
And with that he went to sleep.
