The Magic Bottle

When I was little, my step-grandmother kept a bottle of blue colored water in her guest bedroom. The bottle was covered with fake jewels, held on by glue. This was both the best thing and the worst thing in their house. It was the best thing because it was the foundation of most of my under-five-years-old games. It was the worst because the damned thing kept getting me into trouble.

I was so fascinated by this bottle. I pretended the blue water was a magic potion. I would change what it did depending on the game, but it was always vital and important. Each jewel on the bottle (a collection of broken costume jewelry earrings) was also magical, every one designed to protect the magic blue potion in a different way. I was always the only kid there when I would visit. My grandfather was never home and my step-grandmother had lots of stuff to do. I was left to entertain myself. The magic bottle was my usual entertainment.

Of course, as I noted, I was under five at the time and the jewels on the bottle were held on by glue. On more than one occasion, they would fall off. And every time they did, I would get into trouble. My step-grandmother would yell at me. Sometimes I would get swats.

And yet........................................she never actually moved the bottle out of my reach. There was a tallboy chest of drawers in the bedroom. She could have moved the damned blue bottle onto it, or into a closet, or any number of places where I couldn't reach, and the whole problem would have been solved. Also, as an adult, I'm wondering if there was some kind of sentimental value to this bottle because......................................it was a bottle with fake jewels and fake blue water. How expensive and important could this thing have been? Did it warrent swats? Really?

Yes, I still have a lot of feelings about this. And questions. The games were fun though.