Letting Go... continued

Elmo is a Replicon
At first I thought Elmo had gone out on the town and met a new friend. I saw him with a little girl at the mall, and in the book store with another little boy when I was with Daddy. I called out to Elmo but he ignored me, wouldn’t come to me. It was like I didn’t exist to him. Then I thought, wait a minute crazy, it must be his cousin. His identical cousin, if that is possible. Because he looked like my Elmo. And then I discovered the truth. I was ripping up The New York Times one morning and I saw a story in the business section. “Elmo Readied for Retail Push: One Million Ready for Shipping.” He was reproducing himself! The ego, the audacity, the affront to individuality and true souls connecting. Elmo was all ego and fur. This hit me like a ton of bricks. I couldn’t eat my oat meal that morning, instead spreading it around the table in an angry and desolate mood. My parents were not happy with this behavior, but clearly they didn’t care about what I was going through. No soothing words or heartfelt outreaches. They just said “Stop That.” If I could, I would. But how do you stop feelings! Elmo I love hate you.