Browny

It was a usual drive to the nearby supermarket to pick our culinary. Just we four, mother, father, 4 year old daughter and her browny. Browny who is not any pet, a bit more than that, a puny soft teddy bear which she adores all the time. It was she who insisted to carry him along. As I get busy in the shop, picking stuff and supervising her, browny skips my mind from then on. And she too loses track of him as she is now cajoled by the things lying on the aisles. As we bill, pick the stuff and reach home, she asks for browny. For us, grown-ups, to whom browny was just a stuffed toy till then, feels like we left a family member somewhere midway. Her father rushes back to the supermarket to find the lost one and we await his return with browny. But then, he is back empty-handed after informing the service desk to keep the teddy bear if found. I just realize that fathers don't hesitate to do any silly things for the sake of their daughters.

Since then every time I visit that shop I try to sneak around the nooks and corners of the shop wishing to find him somewhere. I squeeze my neck when I pass through the service desk because that would be the place where he will be waiting for us if at all found by any generous person.

All these toys to which kids are attached to, seems just a little toy to us until they are lost. But when lost we too miss them as much as they do. In fact, her memory with browny appeared to dissipate earlier than mine. Even today after five months of losing browny every time we visit that shop, I anticipate to find him somewhere around.