Like Snow on the Beach

These days, I haven't been sleeping Staying up playing back myself leaving When your birthday passed and I didn't call... Then I think about summer, all the beautiful times I watched you laughing from the passenger's side And realized I loved you in the fall...

And then the cold came, the dark days When fear crept into my mind You gave me all your love and all I gave you was "goodbye"

So this is me swallowing my pride Standing in front of you saying I'm sorry for that night And I go back to December all the time It turns out freedom ain't nothing but missing you Wishing I'd realized what I had when you were mine.... I'd go back to December, turn around and change my own mind I go back to December all the time

I miss your tan skin, your sweet smile So good to me, so right And how you held me in your arms that September night The first time you ever saw me cry... Maybe this is wishful thinking Probably mindless dreaming But if we loved again, I swear I'd love you right

I'd go back in time and change it, but I can't So if the chain is on your door, I understand...

😭

Weird Barbie thought she knew what to expect as she had hobbled over to Stereotypical Barbie's Dreamhouse; she was Weird Barbie, after all, and in so being was used to a number of things other dolls would never be.

But she hadn't expected this - perhaps she'd not wanted to. There she lie - Stereotypical Barbie, who once had inspired awe and envy where ever she would go - now coiled in on herself in contorted positions on the floor; long locks of golden blonde haphazard and matted, they clung to her tear-stained face, swollen from that endless onslaught of tears. Her frail shoulders shaking, no sound came from the woman slumped on the floor - except every now and then a screeching, wailing sound, accompanied by the sound of roaring thunder from the black storm cloud up above.

Rain pelted down on the faded pink plastic of the Dreamhouse, ribbons of water like whips that doled out punishment to their surroundings. At her feet Weird Barbie saw the cardboard cutouts of boxes from times gone by: Barbie, a vision of joy, surrounded by magic, this pet or the other, her friends...and Ken.

When the sobs grew louder, time and time again in agonizing rhythm, Weird Barbie knew she thought of him.

And she had no idea how long they'd sat there on the rainsoaked floor, sharing silently in misery, Weird Barbie holding the girl to her chest, much as she had struggled to break free.

She would not stop shaking, and it seemed the storm would never end.

"...Babydoll, don't you think it's time you told me what happened over there?"

In the Real World.

The thought alone had Barbie's breath catching in her throat, causing her to choke, cough and sob, her once bright features dulled by tears, snot and drool.

Finally. Finally it had happened. Her outside and inside now matched. Never again would she be beautiful. Perhaps she never was.

"....Hkk....I....I can't! I can't, I just....I can't!!"

As she spoke, she reeked of heartache, desperation and despair, so much so that Weird Barbie was certain she could sense the scent in the air.

"Ssshh. Ssshh. Try for me, sweetheart. Try."

-"It was...good at first...and then it wasn't!!! It just wasn't!!! And I couldn't stop crying and I didn't know why!!! All the songs in the Real World...All the movies...They're all about him!!! I can't stop thinking about him, I just...I CAN'T!!! He was so good to me...All he ever wanted was just to be near me...And I just...I pushed him away...He used to look at me with so much love...HE USED TO LOVE ME AND I PUSHED HIM AWAY!!!! I'VE RUINED IT...Everything...Oh god..."