It was early December, probably around 1984. My father and I were watching the classic Rankin/Bass stop-motion production of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” On television, three characters from the Island of Misfit Toys sat around a campfire: the Charlie-in-the-Box, the Spotted Elephant and the Dolly for Sue, the seemingly typical doll whose problems were many years later revealed to be psychiatric.
“Looks like we’re forgotten again,” Spotted Elephant said, beaten down by the merciless cruelty of the world.
“Might just as well go to bed and start dreaming about next year,” Charlie lamented, retracting into his box.