Hamlet and Thank you cards

The other day I was in our local department store picking up a few items. I’m one of those people who always (and I mean always) writes down what I need before I enter a store. Rarely do I ever come out with something that is not on my list. That particular day I needed detergent, a binder, and a box of Thank you cards. As I was walking down one aisle to get to store’s back corner, I passed a display of Lego minifigures.

For $2.99 you could get an unknown but always interesting little Lego character. In this series (series 8) there were 16 different figures available. There was a pirate, an alien, and even a football player. There was a fairy, a DJ, and a tiny Santa Claus. These little guys came in small sealed packets and you took your chances with which one you got. But of course, not only was there no Lego minifigure on my list of things to get, but I can also tell you that I truly did not need a minifigure in my life.

What I needed was a box of Thank you cards.

And yet those minifigures called out to me. “Buy me,” they whispered in my ear. “Take me home.”

I have always been a sucker with regard to surprises that rely on luck and chance. One of my all-time favorite gifts was a candle that had secrets buried in the wax. I watched that candle burn for hours as it slowly exposed each of my tiny treasures. I enjoy taking a chance and then figuring out if somehow the world is trying to send me a message.

So I said, “what the heck,” and I put a Lego packet into my basket.

Kid that I am, I opened the bag as soon as I got to my car in the parking lot and I immediately put it together.

I can honestly tell you, without doubt, that I ended up getting the neatest Lego minifigurine ever made.

“It’s perfect mom,” my daughter Addy told me.

“Wow,” said Spencer, “it’s like it was made just for you.”

This is the Lego minifigure that the world decided to give me on my way to buying a box of cards – a little tiny Hamlet holding his good buddy Yorick’s skull.

Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio; a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy; he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! My gorge rises at it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft. Where be your gibes now? (Hamlet, V.i)

Indeed, although I’m not sure where my gibes are now, I do know that my little Hamlet now sits near my computer, holding what remains of Yorick and giving me enough inspiration to get this post up before midnight.

***

Wendy Thomas is an award winning journalist, columnist, and blogger who believes that taking challenges in life will always lead to goodness. She is the mother of 6 funny and creative kids and it is her goal to teach them through stories and lessons.

Wendy’s current project involves writing about her family’s experiences with chickens (yes, chickens). (www.simplethrift.wordpress.com)

There are still 15 other figures in this series, just saying.

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