My WORST story is a winner!

Golly! Today is a stellar day for me. I just got another awesome email. This one just informed me that I won the Lulu's Valentines Day story contest on All Women Stalk with my tale of my WORST Valentines Day, ever! I feel it's only fitting that I share that "winning" story with you:

Valentines Day. 7th Grade. My friend John and I met up at his locker at the end of the day.

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” he said, “I got you something that I overheard you saying that you wanted.” He opened his locker and pulled out a shoe box wrapped in notebook paper. There were skyward drawn arrows on the side of the box and a pencil written note that warned “this side up”.

“Thank you, John. That is SO NICE.” I was having a tough day because the day before, my 8th grade boyfriend had broken up with me so he could take a different girl to the Valentines Day dance that night.

I gingerly peeled off the paper and stuck my fingernail under the lid to break the scotch tape seal. I lifted the top.

A dead hamster. John had gotten me a dead hamster.

John was kind of a weird kid… the sort of kid who reveled in stealing teachers’ chalk, eating anything on a dare, and going weeks without a bath. This was a cruel joke.

“YOU SUCK. A dead hamster? You are a disgusting person!” I pushed the box back in to his hands.

John’s grin switched to an open mouthed gape. His eyes brimmed with tears, but he tried to blink them away in his macho middle school way.

“Mr. Hammy! Oh, I forgot to poke holes in the lid. He probably suffocated in my locker all day. I thought…” he trailed off and tried to regain his composure, “I overheard you say you wanted a pet, and my mom said it was okay if I gave you mine…”

Saddest Valentines Day, ever. Rest in peace, Mr. Hammy!

Oh, and thank you, John and Mr. Hammy and Lulus.com and All Women Stalk for making this happen. My love for Lulus has been well documented over here, and I will have absolutely no problem spending the $50 gift certificate this sad story won me! Plus, I think we've all learned a valuable lesson here:

Comment of the Day: Is it bad that I laughed for a full 5 minutes after reading your story? The picture was what finished it for me. I am still laughing. Congrats on your win! Mr. Hammy would be proud! -The Daily Fashionista