CONFESSION OF DISCOVERY AFTER 41 YEARS!

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New Prompt:
Write a story or poem about discovering something for the first time. Show the wonder or horror of it through your descriptions.

CONFESSION OF DISCOVERY AFTER 41 YEARS!

I must confess
that at age 9, I unexpectedly found
in an off-limits closet
my most precious Christmas gift:
a stuffed, almost-life-sized
German Sheppard dog whom I
had already named Prince,
in the store. I further confess that
I made numerous, furtive trips
into his closet to play with him,
hug him and talk to him despite my
best efforts at good behavior.
His (fake) stubby, brist'ly black and brown fur;
his (fake) pink vinyl-scented smiling snout
and his warm, soft artificial front paws
all symbolized love to me at an early age
in my lonely youth.
The joy at finding him there,
waiting for me in the dark, made up
for my Roman Catholic guilt over such
profound disobedience.
It is a secret guilt that I can remember,
live with and absolve myself of even now,
41 years later!