Don't Ask How I Know This

I bet you're wondering why I've posted a picture of this tiny, scrambled up bit of rubbery purple stuff.   Especially when it's something that I found under the rug the other day. At least, I think it was under the rug.  It may have been something I swept up or dug out from a crevice in the floor or something.  In any case, it was garbage.  The reason I'm posting it is because the moment I saw it  I knew exactly what it was and I shouted in amazement because it's something I spent HOURS looking for about two years ago.  It just so happens that mangled little thing is Ariel's Bra.  You know... her seashells?  Bitty got a polly-pocket-sized Ariel doll many moons ago.  It, like so many other toys for preschoolers, came with several accessories such as her shoes (each approximately the size of a single grain of rice) which are so tiny that the use of a magnifying glass is required when putting them on the doll.  And of course all those little things get lost instantly, causing floods of tears from your 4 year old daughter.  The shoes went first, naturally.  That wasn't such a big deal because Ariel still had her fin.  A little more disconcerting was the loss of her scanty top, thus illustrating the toy manufactuer's lack foresight because poor Ariel was left looking like she was going swimming on a nude beach.  I got a lot of questions from Bitty's fellow preschoolers.  I looked for that dang little top for weeks.  Almost as long as I looked for mini-Cinderella's missing glass slipper - fitting that she only lost one of them, don't you think?  Finally we replaced the little streaker with an updated doll who came equiped with a more permanant, painted-on pair of shells. And then, lo and behold, the bra makes a sudden appearance.  Where did it go?  Did it migrate much?  How sad is it that I was able to instantly identify it?  Pretty sad.  Well, little seashells, I'm going to send you back into the ebb and flow of the garbage because sadly, that's where Ariel already went.  (Yikes, now I'm thinking about Toy Story 3; I hope I didn't hurt Ariel's feelings too bad when I threw her away!)