Among all the little girls and boys, Ms. Marsha Sussman was the eldest kid in the neighborhood. She had an illuminating personality enabling her to lead other kids in organizing fun activities. Marsha had an elder teenage brother Mike who was more serious. He would tease his sister still playing with “the babies”. One summer morning, Marsha noticed a moving van pulled in front of a recently vacated house, two doors away from her own home. A young couple with two little children in tow disembarked, opened the backdoors of the van, and started unloading furniture. Always friendly in nature, Marsha rushed towards the new family and welcomed them in the neighborhood. She then introduced herself to the children, five years old Keri and two years old Neil. Later, Marsha would introduce the new kids to other neighborhood children.
Six months later, the newcomer young couple planned to celebrate their wedding anniversary with a candlelight dinner. They inquired Marsha whether she could babysit their children for a couple of hours one evening. Marsha agreed, showed up at the correct day, listened to the specific instructions, and immediately engaged the kids with fun activities. Later, as the couple was enjoying a lovely dining experience, the lady jumped out of her chair. Her motherly instinct would alert her “something worrisome happening in the home”. They left the restaurant, rushed home, and parked the car in driveway. And that’s when both heard a banging noise emanating from their basement room and feared the worst. Entering the house, they found Neil who was undergoing proverbial “terrible twos”, locked both Marsha and Keri inside the basement room, while tormenting them from outside. He explained to his parents that this was due to their refusal allowing him to watch his favorite show “Teletubbies”, a British invasion to American TV at the time.
Twenty five years later, recently Marsha was getting ready for her upcoming wedding. After a stressful day of wedding-planning, she fell asleep on her sofa. In a nightmare, the scene from her being locked inside a basement room during childhood appeared, with the added twist of her now being a prisoner of all the characters from that show. She woke up sweating and screaming “Oh my God, I forgot to invite Neil.” Next morning, Marsha called Keri (they remained good friends over the years) and learned that Neil, now being a high-ranking naval officer was in an assignment somewhere in the Indian Ocean. She sent him an invitation through US Navy’s high-security mail system. On her wedding day, Marsha, gorgeous in her white wedding gown, began walking down the aisle along with her father. She noticed seated Neil, clad in his white naval uniform decorated with badges and medals for bravery.
As she passed him, he tipped his hat, whispering “Teletubbies, forever.”
Six months later, the newcomer young couple planned to celebrate their wedding anniversary with a candlelight dinner. They inquired Marsha whether she could babysit their children for a couple of hours one evening. Marsha agreed, showed up at the correct day, listened to the specific instructions, and immediately engaged the kids with fun activities. Later, as the couple was enjoying a lovely dining experience, the lady jumped out of her chair. Her motherly instinct would alert her “something worrisome happening in the home”. They left the restaurant, rushed home, and parked the car in driveway. And that’s when both heard a banging noise emanating from their basement room and feared the worst. Entering the house, they found Neil who was undergoing proverbial “terrible twos”, locked both Marsha and Keri inside the basement room, while tormenting them from outside. He explained to his parents that this was due to their refusal allowing him to watch his favorite show “Teletubbies”, a British invasion to American TV at the time.
Twenty five years later, recently Marsha was getting ready for her upcoming wedding. After a stressful day of wedding-planning, she fell asleep on her sofa. In a nightmare, the scene from her being locked inside a basement room during childhood appeared, with the added twist of her now being a prisoner of all the characters from that show. She woke up sweating and screaming “Oh my God, I forgot to invite Neil.” Next morning, Marsha called Keri (they remained good friends over the years) and learned that Neil, now being a high-ranking naval officer was in an assignment somewhere in the Indian Ocean. She sent him an invitation through US Navy’s high-security mail system. On her wedding day, Marsha, gorgeous in her white wedding gown, began walking down the aisle along with her father. She noticed seated Neil, clad in his white naval uniform decorated with badges and medals for bravery.
As she passed him, he tipped his hat, whispering “Teletubbies, forever.”
