A prompt a week - 26. Frank's Toys - Prompt 391

I normally just ignored most people at the job since the day I got an anonymous letter complaining about the figures I kept on my desk. While most of the office was married and kept pictures of their children, wives, or husbands on their desks, I was unmarried. So to bring a little smile to my face I had found five little figures of Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, Aquaman, and the Flash to brighten up my little corner of the office. Instead I got a note complaining about the sexist portrayal of women and how the men had unrealistic body images. Last time I looked they were cartoons and comic book character so how real could they be?

While I never even noticed most of what my coworkers had on their desk, I found the whole thing really upsetting and hid my little collection in desk drawer. So while everyone else had plants and photos, my desk ended up being bare.

All things change and the change for me came when Annemarie was hired. She was short blonde bubble of energy. She seemed to float into the office from the day she was hired with a smile and wicked sense of humor that made everyone smile. Two weeks in and she had the desk along side of me.

“Alright gloomy. Why don’t you ever chat or hang out with anyone here at the office?” Annemarie finally asked me when she came in for work on Monday.

“I’m not gloomy.”

“Sure you’re not. Pigs fly, and look out there, money does grow on trees.”

I heard one of the other office workers snickering. I frowned and turned back to my work.

“Damn, Frank. You’re a hard one to get to know.” Annemarie shook her head and fired up her computer.

The day seemed to fly by, but after lunch I found Annemarie sitting at her desk with a few people standing around. I slipped passed and sat down just in time for head to come popping onto my desk.

“What the hell?” I asked as I picked up the little head with a very old fashioned hairdo.

“Would you mind passing that back to me, Frank?”

I handed it back and watched as she slid the head back onto a very ornate little doll.

“What is that?”

Annemarie looked at me and smiled. “That is my Marie Antoinette action figure with detachable head.”

“You’ve got to be kidding.” I looked over in shock and awe. The toy was fantastic and I’d never heard of such a thing.

“Nope. I found it today while I went out for lunch. There is a new toy store on the corner of Grand and Johnson. It’s called Tops in Toys.”

The group around Annemarie’s desk slowly vanished and I waved her over to my desk.

“You sure you want me over there? I mean I might talk to you.”

“Very funny. I want to show you something.”

Annemarie came over and I opened my drawer and pulled out my little figures.

“Hey, those are cute.” She paused as she picked them up and looked them over. “I remember them. Why do you keep them in your drawer?”

“Because…well… people here don’t like toys.” I paused and then finally told Annemarie about the note I got and why I kept the figures in my drawer.

“That sucks. Who would do such a thing to you? Now I know why you don’t put anything out. Sorry, Frank.”

“Yeah. So, I just don’t know who did it and since then I just try to keep to myself.”

Annemarie bit her bottom lip a moment. “Go the store. They have all sorts of strange stuff. You might find something new to put on your desk. This time if anyone says anything, you won’t be the only one with something strange on your desk.”

I guess because Annemarie played with her figure all day I couldn’t seem to get the idea out of my head to go to the store.

It might have been cold and rainy as I walked down Grand Avenue but it was hard to care once I spotted the store. In some respects it looked like it belonged on a movie set. It was the corner store but it was all black and white outside the store. Where the sign should have been was a huge top hat that had different figures that seemed to pop up out of the hat as you stood and watched. Written across the hat was Tops in Toys.

Walking into the store was like walking into a playground. There were your basic toys and some board games in the very front, but that gave way to some stranger toys. There were a collection of horror scream queens, monstrous boyfriends, and a collection of an angry mob which was complete with pitchforks and torches. There were figures of King Kong and Godzilla for sale. Glow in the dark figures as well for those that have been exposed to radiation.

There was a section called Characters of History where I found Annemarie’s Marie Antoinette doll. There was a Van Gogh figure with detachable ear as well as a bunch of other historical figures. The Cleopatra doll came with an asp that wrapped around her neck and hissed.

I felt like a kid in a candy store. I found myself buying the scream queens which was a collection of different women posed like they were in various horror movie poses. I bought a Godzilla and a Van Gogh. All of the figures were for my desk.

The following morning I got in early and set them all on the corner of my desk. This time there were no letters about the sexist figures or inappropriate body types. I found Annemarie bought the boyfriend group of guys turning into monsters and the angry mob group. Our desks began to alternate as every other week one or the other of us went to Tops in Toys and found some new thing to switch out. Instead of people saying anything negative, we had more people swing by just to see what new thing we had found. Eventually my superhero collection made it back on my desk as well, but now people comment how much fun they were. Annemarie became a great friend at work, which made my new boyfriend happy because he no longer was dreading hearing how my day at work was.