SAR, BAHRAIN ___ Once upon a time, when I was a young girl I would love to be my own boss. One who indulges in her own fantasies being lived out loud with a few other people named Barbie and Ken; a place where even the characters that were used in said imaginations were all in control of my own self created reality. It was a place along with a state of mind where no one could tell me I was, “doing it wrong!” It was an ideal location where I wouldn’t get yelled at for taking the other girl’s clothes. No. This place wouldn’t have anything like that. I would yearn to be alone where I would love to have the final say. Well the only say really. It was a place where only my rules and ultimate indulgent lifestyle were being lived in the ultimate fantasy. One that wasn’t, still isn’t, allowed to be lived out loud in the society I was born and raised in but I lived it through the lives of both Barbie and Ken. It was fabulous. Those were the best years of my life. I had it all: the ultimate role model Barbie along with all of her ugly sisters and some other Barbie dolls that I had received as presents from friends and families. These dolls were all apart of a family living in the dream house with that pink dream beach car, which was most appropriate for the desert climate I resided in. Then there was Ken. Oh the tall, chiseled, rugged, Ken who was only ever Barbie’s boyfriend but all of the other dolls wanted him. I think there’s a word for that in current American society. Every time I felt sad or lonely, that 6-year-old version of myself would take the Barbie house out and start to play with the characters. Every time, a different scene was set. From being on the beach one day, to going out to a romantic dinner with a giant roasted turkey, that I had never seen anywhere other than in the movies before coming to college. Yes, I was living the good life through the use of these dolls. What could go wrong? Years later, it started to rain a lot which ironically for Bahrain made it a rare day. But for me, it was the most inopportune day.