• Toddler Years

    Back in those days, I was just a kid. A short kid. In fact, I was so short that the tables in the classroom nearly touched my shoulder. I always took a dictionary and sat on that, on top of my chair, to try and look like an averagely tall toddler. Luckily, my friends had good manners and didn’t tease me about it. When April came around, my birthday was pretty close, and my teacher asked my mom if she would bake a cake, or make muffins or something like that for the birthday. So mom made cupcakes, decorated with sprinkles, two cakes (one chocolate, one vanilla) and everything was homemade. The class loved it. Now, at the time, the kids would bring in small presents to share. I got tons of stuff I wanted. A new Lego set, some new pool toys, stuff like that. But when the time came around for cake, I made a fatal mistake. …The candles were lit, the lights were out, and everyone was singing “Happy Birthday”. I was so happy, I completely forgot about how short I was. The last few words were fading now. “Make a wish!” they all said. I wished I could get some more awesome presents at home. Then, I blew out the candles. Unfortunately, I hadn’t had a haircut for a long time. Add that to the fact that the candles were freshly lit, and the wax was causing them to be a lot higher than usual. I also forgot about how close I was to the cakes… My hair burst into flames. The teachers screamed, and rushed for a pail of water. The kids laughed uncontrollably. I was just plain confused. What are they thinking? I thought. But then… Sploosh!! Water was pouring all over me.