In the long long ago when I was but a wee mumbles we had a cabin on a lake. Beside this childhood, wonderland was an even tinier cabin where an ancient man soaked and preserved by beer and cigarettes lived. He was both terrifying and fascinating as all such people are to the young. He liked my dad and gifted myself and my sister each with an item as was the custom among adults of that era.
I was given a ceramic skull. The skull was just big enough to fit in the palm of my hand and I adored it from the moment I received it. I named the skull William after Shakespeare because for some reason all depictions of Shakespeare I had seen had a skull in it. I blame Hamlet.
The fastest of friends the shortest of journeys
William was the very best paperweight and confident. While I have always struggled to maintain a journal I found telling William about what happened during my day and any stuff that upset me reduced my worry and helped me work through my emotions in a healthier avenue than the others available. He would also keep my pencils from rolling off the table so just a total bro all around.
Unfortunately, my journey through life with William at my side was only to be the briefest of sojourns. I came home from school one day and William was gone, missing from my desk and nowhere to be found in my room. William had fallen foul of the Hodag. Mired in the nasty end of Christian mythos and believing William to be a sign of devil worship and deviancy he was removed from my custody and likely cast into the bins never to be seen again.
To this day I am sorry I could not protect that ceramic skull, but at least William will never be forgotten.