Trigger Warning
With frenzied haste, I
ripped off the Christmas wrapping
from a tiny box.
Could it be a ring?
Could he be telling me he
was in love with me?
I lifted the lid;
to my utter delight, I
saw a diamond ring.
But something was wrong.
Those were not my initials
etched inside the band.
It wasn’t my ring.
It was meant for my sister—
I misread the tag.
I found my own box;
to my utter disgust, it
held a Barbie doll.
How could he do this—
treating me like a small child?
I’m thirteen years old.