Today’s prompt:

What was your favorite toy as a child?

I was five years old when Santa brought me Barbie’s Friend Ship plane. My first real flight wouldn’t come for two years later, but I loved imagining flying the friendly skies. I carried the plane with me everywhere. To school, back home, to friends’ houses. I loved imagining where Barbie was flying to, which sparked my love of globes and maps. I made up elaborate stories about where she was going to and what she was doing.

Not necessarily a toy, but my favorite pastime was reading. In the winter I would curl up on our couch, in front of our wood stove, and read from dawn until dusk. In the summer I would find a place in the grass, and do the same. My favorite thing was to finish a book in one sitting. I remember finishing Jane Eyre during a power outage, during a winter snowstorm, reading by sunlight then candlelight.

I eventually was able to fly on real planes, and engage in real adventures, far better than what I had imagined when I was five. But my favorite pastime is still reading a complete book in one day, curled up on the couch.