creepy crawlers!

----"Happy Birthday!"

Everyone was smiling. Their clean, young, happy faces squinted in the flash of camera's as Jake blew out his candles. It wasn't every day that this remarkable man would turn 5. No, it was more or less only today that that would happen. Lovely. Jake had two very nice young parents, Dan and Jan, and they'd bought him a present.

Of course, they didn't just buy him the one. There was an RC car here, some big-boy boxers there, really all sorts of things in every nook and cranney of the home. They loved him very much.

But there was one toy in particular, one which Jake had been very vocal about.

He pawed through the piles of wrapping and cardboard, sniffing like a beast at bay. This was his hunt, and he'd soon have his prize in hand. Just as soon as he could find it. His hands damp with sweat and his breath heavy, little Jake reached into the remains of a box which had once held a sweater from grandma, and beheld it.

Jake's eyes widened, and he pressed his face against the plastic. It was his. The creepy crawler set, before anyone else had it. I Was his. Quickly ripping into the poor cardboard, he undid the twist ties and pushed the gel packs out of their holders, and the oven onto the tile floor.

Dan smiled behind him. He looked down to his son expectantly.

Jake looked up, his face as serious as it could be with such tender young cheeks. "I wanna do it now."

----