When I was in the 6th grade, I coveted a clear red Duncan yo-yo that was being sold at Pearson’s Drug Store (the only store that was within any kind of reasonable distance of our house, and it was far enough away that special parental permission had to be obtained before we went there).   I don’t know how much they cost in those days.   Memory says it was a dollar, but I’m not entirely sure I remember it correctly.   In any case, it was more money than I generally had on hand, and scraping up the required coins took me quite a while.

But I did eventually get my clear red Duncan yo-yo.   I was never very good at actually playing with it, but I loved the color and since it had taken me quite a while to manage to buy it, it was one of my prized possessions.

Alas, I got stupid one day and took it to school.   I kept it in my pocket, but every now and again I’d take it out just to look at it.   My teacher, Miss Wilmoth, told me in no uncertain terms that I was not to play with it during school time.   No problem.   I, foolish kid that I was, figured that while we were standing in line in the hall during our mid-morning bathroom break was not “school time,” and just looking at it was not “playing” with it, so I took the yo-yo out of my pocket to look at it.

Miss Wilmoth promptly took it away from me and put it in her desk drawer.

And she never gave it back.

And that was that.   I didn’t have enough money to buy another one, and I knew if I told my parents that Miss Wilmoth had taken it away from me, they wouldn’t understand.   The clear red Duncan yo-yo became yet another on the list of lost objects of my childhood.   Duncan quit making the clear red yo-yos after that time, or at least they weren’t commonly available where I could see them.

Until today, when Vengeant and I were out shopping for a present for F’zer, and I spotted a display of yo-yos in the store, among which was…   oh my…   a clear red Imperial model from their Classic series.

I picked it up to look at it, and Vengeant kindly offered to buy it for me.   I’m still not particularly good at actually playing with a yo-yo, but that’s OK.   It’s sitting on my desk right now, where I can admire that glorious clear red color.   Ahhhhh.

So, Miss Wilmoth, wherever you are, thbft, thbft, thbft.   I got my yo-yo back.

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